creating wildlife refuge

[Victoria Pich]

As I sit here in the middle of the night, pondering what is good kung fu, I am soothed by the chorus of frogs outside, which are so loud I can hear them through the walls. A few people have told me that's terrible, that the frogs would drive them crazy. But I find them a comfort, a sort of praise for what we are trying to do here. They are an indicator species, telling us that we are improving our land, creating clean space for wildlife. They hide among the bamboo, which we use as both a fence and a hedge and for bean poles. It also sucks up some of the water that pools on that side of the yard ( a low area ) and sequesters carbon. I'm trying to observe our yard to see where things like to grow, which way the wind blows, where the water flows and pools. And we are trying to have plants that nourish bees longer, i.e. not all flowering at once for a short time, but plants that flower at different times, so there is always something there for them. And we try to rotate our beds, so that pests don't always find the plants. I'm letting things grow more densely, eating only some of the weeds, not letting the soil lie exposed. I don't want that soil to dry up and fly away!

My dream is to make this little place a refuge for creatures, to garden in a way that is restorative. The frogs make me happy.

[Joseph Bronson]

Awesome post. Thank you for doing such good and important work.