Thursday, or Thereabouts - May 21, 2015

On the Wild Side

It's a gorgeous if but coolish day here the rural routes. In four days the temperature has gone from a sultry 30°C (86F) down to a low of 2 yesterday morning and now crawled up to 17, and all without a drop of rain. It's dry out there on the land, not nearly so desperate as California, but when the soil underneath your feet is mostly sand with only just a few narrow bands of clay, it doesn't take long for green to turn to brown.

In our early days here, the pioneer days as I like to call them. we worked hard to maintain lush green lawns, a beautiful but small garden and three, count 'em! THREE bountiful vegetable patches. The lawn was the first to fall from the maintenance list, then the corn and potato patch, followed by the pole beans and tomato patch and finally the salad crop patch. The rhubarb plants have flourished, mostly because all they need is watering. They will be joined by a half dozen cherry tomato plants in about two weeks. And I do keep two small gardens of annuals (slated for planting this weekend and next) but most of the floral beauty I just let swing from hanging baskets.

Though I do cut the grass, (well most of it is grass but there's also a lot of indeterminate green stuff too!), there is no weed and feed, no lawn watering beyond what Mother Nature provides. The rest of our land is rather unkempt and I'm being generous with that adjective. What has/is happening is that the grounds are returning to nature. Still there's much to celebrate in fresh greens and blooms outside my door.

So come with me, let's step outside and take a walk on the wild side.

A mix of perennial rye grass, twitch, sumac sprouts and those lovely yellow flowers...

Just look at that smiling Dandelion face! What's not to love?

Forget-Me-Nots - these are spreading wonderfully along the western edge of the yard.

The last of the choke cherry blossoms. These tress were here before we arrived in 1978

Apple blossoms - the trees have been untouched for nearly 30 years.

Oregano escaped from the herb garden in 1980. It's everywhere now and joined by creeping thyme.

Wild strawberries run throughout and the berries are delicious if I get to them before the birds do.

"But in every walk with Nature one receives far more than he seeks."

John Muir, July 1877

©2015 April Hoeller