When we moved to the “country” some ten years ago neither my husband nor I had known what to expect, what that means to be relatively self-sufficient. We have a well and a septic tank… we have power so it really feels no different than anyone living in town. I was born in a small town in North Dakota, my parents helped run the family farm. My dad died when I was young and our lives took an unexpected turn, a story for another day but since then I‘ve been labeled a “Country Girl”. In reality the closest I’ve come to being a “country Girl” were the few months every summer that we, my brother and I, spent with our Grandparents. I’m getting off track here, I’m here to talk about our yard and the evolution of our yard. When we relocated to Minnesota John was to start his new job in January, it was October when he accepted the job so that meant we had find a house, now! We came to Minnesota in December which as you can imagine was actually the snowy frigid tundra I’ve been told it was. Really, it is. We looked at probably ten houses, none of them really meeting our idea of what we wanted. It was late and the day and we had almost decided that moving to Minnesota might not have been the greatest idea in the world. I’d been seeing a listing that looked perfect for me but over Johns set price limit. He was worn down enough that he was willing to take a look at it, to us it was perfect! Seven acres, two ponds, a very large detached garage and a two story house. Yes, it needed work but we’d done plenty of remodeling so it seemed no big deal… we signed on the dotted line(s) and it was ours. Little did we know that in the spring when all that lovely snow melted we would find a young boys dirt-biking paradise in the front yard? Our house sits at the back of the property, there’s probably four acres out front and let me tell you, it was a huge mess. There were holes big enough to stand in. There were ramps and jumps. I’m sure the prior owner’s kids had a blast. That was all coming to an end. As soon as possible we rented heavy equipment to start leveling out the property. We leveled, we planted, grass and trees. We landscaped all around the house. We also put in a raised bed garden. It was a lot of work and there is still a lot left to do. With a large yard I think it’s easy to get lost in all the possibilities.
[T]here is no practice... which tends to renovate the constitution, than a temporary retirement to the country... ~John Sinclair
