We love projects, me and Cade. Especially if they keep us outside. This year I decided we needed a wild meadow on the property.
The back courtyard has been an ugly, hard packed expanse of dirt for a few summers. Every time I look out there I just long to see some green. It gets so dry and windy here I am reluctant to plant a lawn that just endlessly consumes water. I have fond memories as a kid of exploring for bugs and plants in the long grasses of my hometown. I wanted Cade to enjoy this, too. So we are making our own native grass and wildflower meadow. The seeds I chose are xeric (drought tolerant species), so hopefully this kills two birds, one stone.
Here are a few photos of the yard being prepped in stages for planting our seeds. I cleaned up the big rounds, raked out the sticks and debris, rototilled the area, raked in all our composted chicken manure and such, added a temporary fence to keep dogs and chickens out while it germinates. I also lugged over a bunch of granite boulders from along the driveway to create some areas of visual interest in the meadow. The top photo is the before, the bottom is the after pic.
You can also see the "halfway house" for the baby chicks along the fence. It's a mini coop they can go into during the day when they are a bit older, but still too young to hang with the big girls. The love to hunt bugs, take dust baths and practice flying in the "halfway house". We might plant some corn or some other tallish plant in front of the coop to provide shade. To be continued.
April 1
The meadow is planted!
June
July
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