Please Offer Some Wild and Open Areas on Your Property. For Homestead Sunday #9

Welcome to Homestead Sunday, where we share what we have learned, what we do on a regular basis, and what projects we are building, rebuilding or working on. Who are we? We are a three generation family living on six acres in South Eastern Texas. 

And while we have only been in Texas a short time, we have had the homestead mentality and lifestyle for quite a few years. Starting out with our time living in Montana. And, although we are not experts in any way, I hope that what we share with you with this series is helpful, as well as inspirational for you and your own homestead journey. Or even with your own home and yard in the suburbs. Because to homestead is an much an action as it is a lifestyle.

We are coming up on two years in Texas. 

And everything has been different here, from what I knew and was a part of before moving to Texas. And not just bigger as the saying goes. From the growing region of zone 9A to everything that grows here. Along with the unique critters we have encountered to the unique plants that for some reason insist on growing in our yard in place of what we I want to grow! But this land is stubborn and in it's own way has worked some of the stubborn out of me...

While I would love a picture perfect garden, 

I appreciate that I pull a large bucket of weeds almost each day and that is enough. Why? Because pulling them only tidies up the place it does not stop them from growing back the next day! So instead of weeding until it is all done, (here in Texas the weeding is never done.) I complete my morning weeding until the bucket is full, and toss those pulled weeds into the compost. Where the hens have their way with them, and I get on to something else. I know there will be more tomorrow, and another chance to stretch and bend and tug and tidy up the garden. 

And while I love an English style garden with beauty everywhere my eyes search, I have learned that here in Texas the real beauty is found in the set aside spaces. So I actually planned for them, and in the long run, they are a time saving blessing. The center of our yard is mowed and tended to like a standard city yard. But all around us are wild and open areas. We do not water these areas, nor do we spray, treat, or plant anything. These wild areas are more important than our tidy and mowed front yard, because this is where the bugs and the birds live. Along with the fireflies! We have flickering fireflies here in Texas, and they like the bees need some help to survive. 

Setting aside wild areas also frees up your time, 

and need much less work to keep it all tidy! We do walk through and gather any dry trash that might have blown in during a storm. And remove any fallen branches that could trip us. Without disturbing the area with too much busyness we have noticed some wonderful changes since we moved here. Wild flowers are once again beginning to bloom in the wild areas and we have more birds than ever! And on those warm nights we also have little fireflies blinking on and off in the wild areas. I love it when the the fireflies are out and about! 

What does a wild area look like? That really is not an easy question to answer, as each growing region will determine what grows naturally and easily together. But I can show you what our wild areas look like, and share some of the easy recycled and upcycled projects we have added to our yard....come, and take a tour with me. 

The only preparation we added was to lay down a heavy layer of mulch (free shredded tree limbs from our local power company). The mulch helps to keep the water where it falls when it rains and eliminates runoff. From there we simply let the ferns take over. You can see a stacked bird habitat in the upper left hand corner of the photo. Also my husband did make a couple of feeding stations from log pieces and soup bowls. This is the only wild area to have feeders. We usually fill the feeders once daily. On the fence is a large wire open shelf where three bird houses have been placed, so for no renters, but we have not lost hope. 

This is the bird habitat mentioned in the previous photo. This was made from recycled pallets (free) pipe pieces both vinyl and metal found on our property (free), old large gauge wire also found on the property (free), ceramic pieces, bricks, flattened aluminum cans all free as well. Everything in the pallet openings was recycled and free. Also everything in the pallet holes was chosen to offer nooks and crannies and various small places for bugs to complete their life cycle. The habitat helps keep the local ecology intact. Many of the birds that visit, eat bugs, and if you don't have bugs (free from spray and poison) you will not have birds visiting your yard. And trust me, those birds eat a lot more bugs than you will ever know. Through the years I have observed that yards with lots of bugs, usually do not have birds visiting...

This is wild area #2, located between our Tiny House and the county road. There are no feeders in this area, this is left completely natural for the seed eating birds. What grows here is self seeding and those same seeds are food for many of the birds. We (wild?) Texas Wisteria along the fence, it was there when we arrived. Ironically when taking photos for this post, I realized that it had been an unwise idea to put roses in a wild area. Honestly they do not stand a chance of survival where they are. They have now been moved to large pots in front of the Tiny House. Plus we have a large wind chime and the two leaf silos seen in the photo. I do have plans to add two more leaf silos, because the garden will need the dry compost next spring. But otherwise it is all Texas natural! But that is one of the best things about a wild area, you can change things for what works best for your home, yard and growing area. 

Wild flowers are literally everywhere in Texas. And they are beginning to return to our yard as well. As the wild flowers die along the county road, I will some dried seed tops when there is a large patch of flowers. And then scatter the seeds in this area. Essentially replicating a breeze bringing in some seeds. But otherwise this is a self seeding area. 

Ironically we had purchased a large package of wild flower seed mix for Texas, and nothing grew. I had to wonder, were the seeds not really compatible for our region? Or did we have a lot of hungry seed eaters and those seeds never stood a chance of sprouting? 

We do mow the front yard, but a thick grassy yard is next to impossible with our sandy soil. Not being able to grow a thick lawn where we live is frustrating to my husband, who grew up in Oregon where grass sod is a highly profitable crop! But from my perspective, this yard doesn't take much time, and I am good with that. The pots in the upper right of this photo are roses. 

Around here flowers do much better in pots, than in the ground. Plus I mulch everywhere! It sure saves on weeding!

Even our chicken run has a wild area. Our ladies and their rooster do forage during the day. They walk the entire run, foraging for bugs, and green shoots. I take them a large pan of fermented seeds, grains and beans for their dinner in late afternoon. I gather the eggs at that same time.  

Only this center section is mowed about every three weeks, that way I can spot any snakes when feeding the ladies as well as keep from tripping over a chicken!

To help in the garden there are six Bluebird Houses up on the fence posts. Bluebirds are hungry bug eaters, and perfect for the garden. We have observed birds coming and going from these houses regularly. This bird house design was found on YouTube and it only takes a single cedar picket to build. When we picked up the pickets they were under two dollars each. A cheap price for a cedar bird house. Plus they go together fast!

How do you have your yard set up to keep a healthy ecology for the birds and the bees?  If you have additional ideas, I would love to hear about them in the comments. Thank you for visiting today, Melynda @scratchmadefood!

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