I personally don't see anything wrong with growing pretty plants in the vegetable garden - that's why I always grow Scarlet Runner Beans and Ping Tung Eggplants. The beans are heirlooms which most people, if they grow them at all, grow in the flower garden and just throw away the beans - what a waste! It's true that the beans aren't quite so tender in the "green bean" stage (you have to pick them small), and perhaps some people are a bit put off by the idea of having fuschia and black beans in their bean soup; but the flavor is great and the plant's themselves, with their vivid red flowers, are gorgeous and attract hummingbirds to boot. Also, the beans are velcro-fuzzy - you can stick them to your clothing, which is just goofily fun! I also grow Lowell's Evergreen sweet corn - another heirloom. It doesn't produce as evenly as the modern hybrids do, and you have to get it in the pot almost instantly to enjoy the sweet flavor, but if it's happy, it grows huge stalks (higher than the roof of our carport), and the silk is bright fuschia when fresh - just gorgeous! So I say, if you want to grow beautiful garlic, go for it - a good garden can feed the eyes as well as the body!

I want you to know that my wife and I have lived in a mobile home for 31 years now. We lived in a mobile home park for 3 years until I just couldn't take it anymore. We finely found 7 wooded acres in the country with a small stream flowing through the north side of the property, and as soon as we closed on the deed we moved the trailer onto the property. After 28 years of improved foundation, insulation, siding, upgraded thermal windows, attached greenhouse, solar array, wind turbine, and many more improvements, we now have a house (and home) that we are very proud of and paid for in full. People would be better off if they would learn to live with less.

Ikwig --- you're right that beauty is important all by itself. I tend to forget, and just plant for flavor, but this year I got smart and put flowers on my gardening calendar. So today I put in a lot of annuals --- the kind that even I can't kill with neglect and which will brighten our garden edges in the summer. Cosmos, sunflowers, Mexican sunflowers, marigolds, zinnias, and some mixes. I'm looking forward to even more beauty coming right up!

Zimmy --- I'm so glad to read your comment! Sometimes I think I must be crazy since no one else agrees that it's far more important to have a blissful life and acres of land than a fancy house. Even most back-to-the-landers seem to go into debt building their dream home, if the glossy pages of Mother Earth News are any indication. Now I really want to make it easy for users to post photos because I'd love to see images of your mobile home!