My yard

Partly it was the very hot weather and partly it are the chickens but my yard is changing. It is losing the look of an suburban manicured place to host gatherings. I noticed walking across the straw like grass that there is chicken manure all over the place. Maybe it's this the heat and we spend half of the time outdoors that we normally do but I am seeing a evolution going on this summer. All my lilies are in bloom at one time and the yard is a perfume factory. The lavender on the other side of the area is home to a hundred bumble bees at the moment.

We haven't been putting away tools this past month. Of course, there is a good reason for that, the shed is home to a hornets nest right inside the door at waist high and we are avoiding the trips to visit them. I believe in the balance of nature so it is hard for me to just kill all of them and the man that is professional in this field doesn't return my phone calls. Leaving the hand tools on the sides of the raised beds does save me the time and energy of getting them out each day. This evening between the bumble bees, the assorted other flying pollinators the garden has a concert of tiny noises. I recognize it as a balance of nature but at the same time I am turning over this property ownership to the creatures. May be it is the other way around, I am simply sharing their space.

The issue of the patio collecting these stains of the chickens and tiny feathers that are now floating around offers more of a look for a country home than a city house. I have also added a couple more watering stations to service the birds during this hot weather so the yard has more of untidy look, actually more of the Tuscan rental than a Olympian house.

On the west side of the lot we have put in the three poled t bars for the kiwis. Eventually it will look to the untrained eye like another grape arbor. I have plans to add four more raised beds toward the back of the lot next to the other raised beds. All gardeners know that rotation is the answer to healthy planting and I need more beds to achieve this. My passion for the garden grows with each season.