My Goals

My Goal is to allow nature to do more of the work, as my gardens mature. Trees will begin to fertilize the beds with dropped leaves, twigs and bird manure. This will add nitrogen to the soil. I can add more nitrogen to the soil by planting nitrogen fixers around the trees and insectaries to attract beneficial insects and pollinators close to the fruits and vegetables. In this way also beneficial , small mammals and birds will remove some of the damaging insects, so I don't have to remove them.
We should always strive to cover all bare soil with some type of mulch or plants, bare soil is damaged soil. However, a few small areas of dust and mud are helpful for animals and birds to dust themselves and mud feeds birds and bees and butterflies, and helps wasps to make homes. It is important to plant most of our plantings in polycultures, avoiding monocultures except in the instance of some plants that need to be planted in large groups, like sweet corn that is wind pollinated. Even corn can be interplanted with beans and squash as in the three sisters formation that the native Americans  used.

If you choose food producing plants to fill in bare areas, you are lessening your needs to purchase non home grown foods, or medicines, or craft materials that you can grow on your own property. You can also accelerate succession by creating a more mature landscape planting partly mature trees and plants around the ones you already have on your property. Woodland edges are always going to attempt to encroach on your lawns and gardens, if you plan for that you can choose what plants are growing there.

Bare areas will be created when a tree falls or an area is disturbed by work done on your property. You have an opportunity to choose before nature does, and if you choose a food, craft or medicine producing plant, you have given your property the ability to produce items you'll need in the future thus reducing your purchasing needs for foods, teas, medicines and craft supplies. You can even grow your own firewood over time.

All of these trees and shrubs were planted in the last 30 years except the one maple tree on the left. 

The area to the right of these trees was a low unusable field, swampy and flooded in the spring. When we had our housefire the contractors dug out this area for fill around our drainfield, and made a shallow pond for the wildlife. We have dug it larger and added a few deep areas and an island and waterfall, but we keep it very "wild" for the animals and birds to enjoy.

Here I am slowly removing as much lawn as I can on the property, although leaving trails all over the property made from mown field grasses and herbs. All of the drive through areas on the property are filled with wildflowers and wild grasses except where they go through the woods and there is too much shade for plants to grow, then it is mossy and covered with leaves.

I have enjoyed opening up trails through the woods to walk on, and I keep them open with a riding lawnmower and d r trimmer.

 These are trails that I have cut into the woods so that I can enjoy walking through them. There are morel mushrooms, several kinds of berries and even some apple trees back in the woods that my paths lead to.

Our neighbors also have paths through their woods that connect with our paths and trails in the woods, and the bear and deer take advantage of the trails to maneuver through the woods without any obstruction. 

We have even planted some plants in the woods for animal forage, such as Jerusalem Artichokes. I have planted several fruit and nut trees near the woods and in the south edges of the woods. Black Walnut, Carpathian Walnut, Butternut, Heartnut, Chestnut, Hazelnuts, Plums, and Apples.