Back in March of 2014, I wrote a post about change. In that post I said there are some changes that we cannot control, and some that we can. Waking of the Bear is going to take on a new direction. It is going to change. In fact, it is going to be about specific change.
A couple of years ago, Regina and I decided to begin a process that will eventually change our twenty acres of hay producing, grazing pasture into a natural, wildlife environment that welcomes birds, butterflies, bees, dragonflies, rabbits, frogs, moles, possums, skunks, – well you get the picture.
This year we applied for, and were granted the designation as a Certified Wildlife Habitat, from the National Wildlife Federation. The plaque on our front gate states, “This property provides the four basic habitat elements needed for wildlife to thrive: food, water, cover, and places to raise young.” We will honor that designation.
Little by little, we are changing our little piece of the earth into something very natural. Wild flowers, weeds, and natural grasses will be living together, as they were meant to be.
So, this blog site will become a chronicle of the process and progress of this change. We will continue our practice of no chemicals – herbicides, pesticides, or chemical fertilizers – on our property.
We started with the small area in front of our house, an area that was watered and mowed on a regular basis. First we mowed the grass very low, almost to dirt. Then we aerated it and spread some wild flower seed mix. After that, we just let nature do whatever it wanted. The result, as you can see, was very pleasing.
In the Fall or Winter, we will cut back all the growth, put the remains in the spreader, and spread it in the northwest pasture. We will also scrape, aerate, and plant another area in front of the big tree. These areas will not be watered regularly, and will rely solely on nature’s rains. It will be interesting to see the difference.
This year we had an unusually large amount of rain during the Summer. Other years may not follow suit. We will try to keep up with that bit of information also.
Stay tuned as we go through this long process.
Waking of the Bear 
I loook forward to seeing the changes in your landscape Bravo!
Thank you.
Living in the suburbs of Dallas, I bemoan the fact that our world is being taken over by concrete. This is called “progress”, to some. We have a reservoir/lake nearby that attracted wildlife and had some prairie land adjacent with wildflowers blooming. It is now to become a “faux blue lagoon”/resort with hotels, retail, restaurants and apartment buildings and more than 3,000 houses are to be built. I ranted and raved against it but I was in the minority. No one cares about nature!!! And now the bulldozers are raping the earth and someone will be making big bucks!
I live in a standard small one-story brick home in a suburban development with a privacy fence. I used to live on a back road in the woods in N.J. in the beautiful countryside with a brook and pond and nature all around before moving to Texas (kicking and screaming, I might add).
I crave nature and was determined to have it out my back door and started planting native plants. No, it is not a nice tidy garden but rather, one to attract the little critters, birds, bugs and butterflies. And yes… they have found it and every day I retreat to my garden to photograph the flowers and the wildlife that visit. I talk to “Lucky” the mourning dove and “Anatole” the anole, and every day the drama plays out. If I lived in the country and did not have an HOA, I would do exactly what you are doing!!!
Thank you for supporting nature and I will be anxious to follow along as you wildscape your land making it eco-friendly!!!
It hurts me to see the destruction of nature all around me. We will keep our part safe as long as possible.
Hello brother,
Looks like we’ve both been busy. I love the project you and Regina are working on. I’m sure the earth will thank you for your gentle footstep. It already has sent its reward of beauty.
Your other brother
Good to hear from you, brother. Thanks for the comment.
I’m so looking forward to hearing about the ch-changes on your 20 acres. I’ve always been a suburb kind of person (right now we live in a more urban area…), and, at this point, will probably always be a city dweller. But I often wonder, “what if…”
It’s great living in the country, even though our area is less country than it was twenty years ago, when we moved out here.
I will, indeed be following you and Regina as you transform your acreage to wildlife habitat. I appreciate and admire what you will be doing and am fascinated by the process you are using. Bless you, Troy; how I wish what you are doing will become a fad across the nation and hope your blog will nudge others to do something similar. Right now I am looking at our lawn and wondering…
Yes, manicured lawns are one of the worst things being done to nature. Just think of all the fossil fuel used by the equipment. It’s hard to think of our yards that way. Thanks for the comments.