Sometime, in the late spring early/early summer of 2023, I wandered into my backyard accepting that it was definitely too late to plant the seeds I had bought for that year and feeling pretty defeated by my tendency to procrastinate even on things I want to do. My yard was overgrown. I’d picked up dirt and filled grow bags and pots, but none of them we planted.
On that day I decided to just do it, to put seeds in the ground and let nature run it’s course. And run it did. The corn was in the front yard along the house. I planted squash along the fence in the backyard and just let it compete with the grass. I dumped some compost in piles in the middle of the yard and planted more corn. It wasn’t much, but it was something.
Things grew. Squash and pumpkins hung from the weeds they had scaled in pursuit of more sun. Corn was blown down in a mid July storm and produced anyway (except for the backyard corn, which got, what I have since learned, is very tasty fungus).
I decided that I was never going to be the sort of person that can beat back the weeds and native yard plants and I bought three raised beds. By August, it seemed very likely that we were going to have a warm fall so, I made a few more trips to Mt. Trashmore for compost and filled one of the beds. I planted it with things that can handle some frost. Carrots, bok choy, and radishes and managed to harvest up to the first week of December.
At some point during that first summer, while plants did what they do without a lot of intervention from me, I stumbled on a book called “Grow a Little Fruit Tree” and I got big ideas. I measured and plotted out my whole yard. Made long and short term plans and set off. In September, I planted four apple trees, and a couple of honeyberry bushes, and more than a few strawberry plants.
The 2024 Chaos
This is the yard as it stands today.
The front yard strawberries have disappeared into the violets and beans along the side of the house don’t seem very interested in coming up at all, but there are things growing. The long-term plan involves 7-10 more trees and a chicken coop. There is also a plan for some rewilding and a couple of nature ponds for more biodiversity. Below are some of the resources that I have used to get to this point. I’ll update them as I find more and update the blog as I make changes