Goin’ Native: Transforming Our Yard into a Thriving Native Oasis

Welcome to True Nature Adventure Blog! This is our first foray into the wide open spaces of the blogosphere and we are so excited to start sharing our adventures with you!

We welcomed the New Year with good intentions, building on our plans that we had been discussing and plotting out a rough sketch for what we would like to do and get accomplished.

One of the most important things to us is completing the revamp of our yard. For over 18 years, we have called this little plot of dirt our home and every now and then we like to change things up a little.

Each year brings new adventure as nature reveals herself. We make adjustments as our lives change, we may be getting older, but we continue to grow (and get more interesting!) Our dreams are evolving and we try to make the time to slow down and see ordinary things with new eyes.

This year, with climate change and water issues in the forefront of our minds, we decided that it was time to 'Go Native' on the homestead.

We took the plunge and removed our beautiful lawn! It has been a labor of love for many years, with my husband doing the majority of the work. It was time for a change and we embraced it. Although, I had my reservations. (No grass = No fun! :) (No, not that kind of grass, Bermuda grass!)

When our house was built, this lot was nothing but dirt. Our little piece of heaven has come a long way. We have prepped, plotted, planned, and planted almost every part of it for 18 years.

We raised three children, two dogs, half a dozen white turkeys and a flock of Barred Plymouth Rock hens. Plus, one prized little rooster, who got munched by a certain canine with a taste for chicken, but that is another story.

"After 18 years of love, labor, and a little chaos, we said goodbye to the grass and hello to a yard that works with nature, not against it."

If you know anything about yard work, gardening, livestock, lawns, dogs and children, then you know all the above equals a lot of work. 18 years of work also means many hours of love and care that went into the raising, planting, gardening, tending, harvesting, eating and mowing.

We had successfully created a backyard that was a nice place for our family, dogs, friends, birds and insects to enjoy. Our yard was a favorite gathering spot for neighborhood kids and for cookouts. We didn’t mind a bit.

Before long, our kids grew up and left us, one by one, off to start their lives and to create adventure or ankle biters of their own.

So, with a quiet house (yeeeesssssss), an empty nest, and some ‘spare’ time, we decided to start brainstorming about things we wanted to do.

One of the first was lessening the amount of work Mark was doing on the lawn. By removing the grass, we could also reduce the amount of water we're using and that would be a win-win for us and for our environment.