THE MINI-MEADOW WORKED!
Dear friends —
Those of you who have been following this page since last summer may remember that I was attempting to uproot a bunch of my lawn last August and replace it with my dream of dreams: A small wildflower meadow.
I am anti-lawn, generally speaking. I grew up on a farm, where every inch of our property was cultivated into SOMETHING productive (garden, Christmas tree farm, goat pasture, chicken pen) and maybe that's where I learned that almost anything is more interesting to look at than a tiny perfect golf course in your backyard. When I learned a few years ago that the most prevalent botanical monoculture in America these days is lawn grass (even more than King Corn!), this only made me even more committed to pulling up the turf and planting some REAL LIFE. Also, I love my local pollinators, and I wanted to give them something to live for.
So my dear friend and garden mentor Bonnie Girvan helped me make it happen — helped me kill the grass (naturally, chemical-free, smothering it with tarp all summer long and then raking it away come fall) and then cast forth thousands of wildflower seeds in September. Through the winter, we chewed our fingernails nervously, wondering if the experiment would work.
It worked!
Right now, I can look out my window and see this — this place of refuge from the lawnmower and the sprinkler, this microcosm of local wildflowers, this butterfly condo, this bumble-bee disco, this food court for song birds that is my own little tiny private meadow. The cats love it, too. They have mistaken it for a vast savannah.
Thought you all might enjoy this photo, you lovers of beauty, you.
A toast to all that buzzes, grows and flies!
SUMMER!
Liz
