Going Wild

When we bought the house
more than ten years ago,
the area behind the garage
served as the garden area.
The ground consisted of hard baked bare clay.
After a few years we moved the chickens
to this area
and moved the vegetable garden to the back yard.

The first summer ran hot,
and we strung up tarps around the coop
so the chickens would have shade.
They also lacked shelter and protection from
watching hawks and airborne predators.

So we decided to let the goldenrod grow
for shelter and shade.
As beekeepers
we also knew that goldenrod nectar
provided a source of the bees' winter honey stores.

We've watched the goldenrod
grow taller than our own heads,
and the subsequent gathering of so many
varied pollinators coming to drink of its nectar.
Often bumblebees spend the night
hanging on a golden bloom.

You could say
our back garden is full of weeds,
neglected.
I've come to think of it
as the most beautiful garden
I've ever grown.

For further reading on wild lawns...