Springing into summer at the homeplace

So life on the homestead has officially begun! Not realizing the magnitude of the task at hand until in it, we quickly have come to understand just how much there is to do, and are starting to get a good idea of just how much effort it all will take- it’ll take a village - whether you’ve offered encouraging words, help on the property, plants or seeds from your garden, joined us in a session or class you are part of that village! We are excited and up to the challenges ahead, and are really pleased to be able to share a bit of what we’ve been up to!

When we were finally to settle in and were ready to start getting to work after 3.5 years of building our home, the first step was identifying where amongst the heaps of tasks we should begin to get our hands dirty and busy again. We decided on two places; the front yard and driveway and the wellness sanctuary. We wanted to get moving on the spaces that allow us to welcome people, guided by function and beauty.

We have organized most of the boxes and cleaned in the wellness space- continuing to simplify and shed. We have finalized a plan on paper - after many iterations- and have begun to acquire the materials needed to create a wellness area that speaks to what we are all about here at In True Nature (a more challenging and timely process than we anticipated given the pandemic and what’s happening astrologically). We’ll have more updates and photos as this process begins in earnest! Stay tuned….

As for the front yard and drive, we want to start by showing you a little context. This is where we started- clay and a few grasses that were planted to hold the soil in place long enough for us to get to work.

View of the house from the middle of circular drive upon moving in- hello clay!

Because we had to do a fair amount of grading to create the homesite on a hillside, we ended up with a yard and circular drive that was mostly exposed clay. This created a number of issues. The biggest being the massive disturbances in the natural soil. This had greatly affected the environment and likely taken out most of the good organisms that live in healthy soil. We needed to rebuild the earth and create the proper conditions that would allow us to give back what had been taken in the building process.

We also had to trudge through 50 feet of mud all winter long to get to the house. We had potential erosion issues, it was unsightly, and we were beginning to have some major drainage issues.

Water built up around circular drive after a (not so big) rain

We decided to begin our work by having a French drain dug around the circular drive and piped under the driveway to the hillside. After that was put in place, we began to create our space on top of it, in the center of the circular driveway. We also built a large gravel path to the front doors of both the main and bunk houses solving the mud and erosion problems in the front yard. This path also created a beautiful garden space in between the two houses.

For the space within the circular drive (about 38 feet wide by 44 feet long) we decided on a lotus flower shaped garden that is a mixture of pollinator attractors, medicinal plants, edibles, and nutrient accumulators (plants that are meant to mine minerals and provide nutrients to the plants around them). The lotus flower has significant meaning in yogic and Buddhist traditions and reminds us to keep traveling toward to the light even when we’re in the mud (or clay;) and holds a place in both of our hearts. The first step was planting a Japanese maple which we had moved around with us for two plus years in a pot— it was so comforting to see his tree find a home in the earth again! All of the gardens and paths were put in place without further soil disturbance by building on top of the existing soil and using sheet mulch (more on that here).

Upon your arrival, the space now looks a little more like this …

View of mandala lotus flower garden and path to our home

A garden set in between the main house and bunkhouse- a water feature is underway to meet up with the other drainage in the area.

We have seemingly solved all of the drainage problems in the front of the house. The plants are beginning to settle into their new homes, and we are seeing an explosion of growth and life. We can’t wait to share with you all how these gardens develop. The process has not been without hiccups of course and we are humbled and learning each and every day. Recently, we have begun having visitors to our gardens who like our edibles just as much as we do!

Tomato plant with main stalks chewed off……midnight visit from a deer???

This is giving us the opportunity to learn how to make and test different homemade animal repellent recipes. Reach out and share with the community if you know of a good one that works- it’s great to learn from one another!

So far, we are really enjoying designing and creating this space that we are so grateful for and excited to welcome the community into soon. We wouldn’t have gotten here without your support! We hope this inspires some ideas and maybe gets you out there with your hands and feet in the soil!