"Pursue some path, however narrow and crooked, in which you can walk with love and reverence. "
Henry David Thoreau

This little path was built as part of our permaculture-inspired, front yard renovation.   As with all things, building the path brought a little surprise into our lives.  A nice surprise, so okay, I'll take it  :) 

As I worked in the front yard (on the path and on plantings), I had the opportunity to meet many of my neighbors I had not yet ran into.  In our suburban neighborhood many people keep to themselves.  Busy lives full of jobs, family, commitments, fill up time and building relationships with next-door neighbors just isn't as important as it used to be. 

One of my neighbors, who must have noticed me working in the yard all weekend, drove by just as I was setting the last stones in place and honked at me giving me a big thumbs up ~ but that was not the best compliment -

The children love it!  It is as used as any play place I have ever owned.  Neighborhood kids on walks can't seem to resist, they just zip onto and then back to the sidewalk.  I have to admit it even brings out the child in me and from time to time I skip from stone to stone, arms outstretched, hoping I keep my balance.

We installed the path to protect the trees as we walk to and from the house on our walks, and to help manage a water-pooling issue.  But the fringe benefits are better than the practical benefits.  Who knew sticking to the path would be so much fun!

It has been an eventful and happy April.  My family and I have been busy working to convert our Overland Park yard into a permaculture-inspired, food haven.   We have a 1/4 acre already chock full of trees and traditional plantings.  2 huge pin oaks stand sentry in our East-facing front yard, reaching over 70 feet high they dominate the entry of our home.  Joining the oaks, we have traditional box hedges (with a less traditional shape : ), a mature Japanese maple, and an azalea hedge.  To the north-facing side of our house we have a driveway which wraps around to the back of the house and nothing else but the neighbors side-yard.  To the south-facing side we have 2 small beds of purple irises and a gate which takes you into the back yard.

In the backyard, which faces mostly towards the West we have a deck, and a gentle sloping hill that has one terraced garden (gone wild) towards the bottom of the yard.  There is a 10-foot privacy fence at the back of the yard buffering us and our yard from Metcalf Avenue.  Chain-link fencing flanks all other sides and are spattered with a wide array of plantings (lilacs, rose-of-sharons, small crabapples, honeysuckle, English ivy, peonies and a wide variety of rogue saplings).  The backyard also supports 6 maples, 4 cedars and a 12 foot long, Forsythia hedge.

Our first spring in the house I tore out some holly hedges alongside the South side of the deck and put in a mini-herb garden (bronze fennel, dill, chives, oregano, thyme, mint, basil and some small sunflowers).  Our second spring here, my husband and I worked on the terraced bed, took out a lot of the turf and put veggies on one side and flowers/medicinal herbs on the other.  The flowers and medicinal herbs are doing well but the veggie garden didn't do very well (too much shade, too many deer : )  Which brings us to this year, spring of 2010 and our 3rd spring on the property.

Over this growing season I will be sharing pictures and stories of our suburban, Permaculture adventure.  I will talk about which things work and which things don't, as well as, share information I collect and further define and explore permaculture and its principles.  As a quick overview we are going to be growing a wide variety of veggies in a raised bed, in containers and in a straw-bale garden.  We will continue to have herbs growing throughout the property with a focus on increasing our variety of medicinal herbs.  We will be planting Pawpaws, Persimmons, cherries and 4 other fruit trees (don't know what at this point). And a lot of berries ~ gooseberries, currants, elderberries, strawberries, raspberries, lingonberries, cranberries, blueberries and grapes.

I will also share stories and information from our Visionary Circle, which is an informal group my husband and I host.  Visionary Circle offers an opportunity for discussion and sharing and is our attempt to help build community and comararderie.  If you are reading this and in the Overland Park, KS area contact me for additional information.  We have an eclectic group of attendees and new people are always welcome.  Topics of conversation cluster around ecology, social responsibility, spirituality and consciousness.

Thanks for spending some time with me this morning.

Take care and happy creating -