13 Comments
Jun 6, 2022Liked by Jonathan Kauffman

I love that you are turning your lawn into something useful, tasty and beautiful! Weeding is one of the most difficult tasks in a garden, and i hope your mulching and cardboard lasagna will be succesfull. I was a volunteer at Harvest for the Hungry garden in Santa Rosa, CA, and we used that method a lot, and it helped a lot, although we did a lot of weeding too. Make sure the plants you use for ground cover in some areas will be tough and beat out the weeds. My method to beat out weeds is to weed them out and put another plant where the weed was, also pull the weeds with their roots out. Good luck, I will be waiting to see how it turns out. There is nothing more rewarding than eating the fruits of your labor, and enjoying its beauty.

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Oh wow this is synchronicity! We are in the planning phase of turning our front yard into a wildflower meadow for the same reasons (we don't care about our grass enough to nurture it into looking nice, and also grass lawns are food deserts for native birds and insects). We are going about it in a different way but hope to get similar results. I am going to rent a sod cutter for the open part of the yard but will have to sheet mulch around a couple trees so as not to hurt the roots. This fall I will sow wildflower and native grass seed and maybe put in some anchor plants.

I sheet mulched an area in our backyard last year, and the grass has already retaken it. I think you will have more success since you're sheet mulching your whole yard. Good luck and I can't wait to see the results!

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Jun 3, 2022Liked by Jonathan Kauffman

Fascinating! I am more of a non-gardener than you. Yesterday my sister gave me ONE sprig of basil and it was so much more fragrant than grocery store basil that I felt a twinge. Your house looks lovely. I would love a glimpse INSIDE of it, although I know that's outside the scope of this ongoing series...

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Jun 3, 2022Liked by Jonathan Kauffman

Ah, yes, time...time...the time it takes to cooperate with nature; the way beauty can be haphazard; the impatience and then the satisfaction of a job well done. Congratulations on your huge efforts.

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Jun 3, 2022Liked by Jonathan Kauffman

I actually think the house and yard are looking great!!!! This is what C is also feeling "The anniversary makes me feel a little resentful about the fact that, after all this time, I have still never quite settled in to my new city." I'm actually even feeling that way because of my two years in NY. I'm ready to feel settled at home again. <3

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