A guest post by Michael Nolan
After spending most of my life in an urban setting I decided that it was time for me to move on to greener pastures – literally. I wrote a book on urban gardening and then figured that the best thing to do would be to find new challenges that involved less concrete and asphalt and more honeysuckle and hummingbirds.
Now I share a virtual blank slate of about 2.5 acres with my partner as we work to walk that fine line of renovation and restoration. As we whittle away at the yard replacing it with garden beds we started to look a little closer at those “weeds” that were spreading colorful flowers across the property. The more I researched and learned the names of these native species that have been around far longer that we have, the more I wanted to learn.
I started The Herbarium on our homestead website as a way of chronicling the species I had identified both as native and introduced. It has been a part of our plan from day one to reintroduce as many native species as possible while we work with the land to build our new home from the ground up. Trees will only be removed when absolutely necessary and they will be replaced whenever possible. Erosion issues are being dealt with naturally, as seen in this video I made recently:
We are lucky in that much of the local wildlife still inhabits the woods around the property (half of the homestead is still wooded), including the deer, rabbits, hawks and lots of birds. With every day that passes we fall in love with nature all over again and learn that sometimes the best course of action is no action at all.
Mother Nature knows what she’s doing and she does it really well until we get involved!
[Michael also wrote a guest post as part of this challenge for Ecosystem Gardening: Whose Garden is it Anyway?]
Michael Nolan, The Garden Rockstar is an author, blogger and speaker on gardening, sustainability, food ethics and homesteading. He is currently in the process of writing a new guest post on a different site for each day in May. To follow his progress, visit MyEarthGarden.com
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Michael, thanks for sharing the beginning of your homesteading journey with us! Best wishes to you and your partner for attracting some of those birds to make their homes with you. And the herbarium sounds amazing. I always wanted to do that
Carole Sevilla Brown recently posted..Early Spring Blooms in My Wildlife Garden
Thanks, Carole. And thanks for allowing me to be involved here on NPWG!
Isn’t it amazing what happens to the soil under a piece of decaying tree? The natural pits and mounds created over time slow water and create niches for plants and creatures to do the work of restoring health to the soil. Excellent video!
Gloria recently posted..Fritillary life cycle evolved around its host the Violet
It truly is, Gloria. But then again, Nature always amazes me.
ROCK STAR! ROCK STAR! ROCK STAR!
Shawna