Starting Out

      My mother was often stating, "I'm a jack of all trades and a master of none." A rather fitting title: an associates degree leading to a brief career in architecture, an even briefer stint in the first female class for New Jersey State Troopers, she even competed for Ms. New Jersey with a ballet performance, before settling on teaching wood shop and ESL, all the while gardening, cooking, and preventing our old home, originally built by some very poor farmers, from falling down, but the squirrels use to poke out of the old wood-burning stove vent so that was always amusing. 
    Now with my own home and teaching career, I find myself more an amateur at best of all some trades. I will preserver, and I'm dragging you with me as I attempt to turn my invasive ridden, shame inducing garden into a wildlife habitat fit for a Sunday afternoon of preening.

   The before. That is the greenest that lawn ever looked  Once purchased it quickly turned brown and patchy. Easier to convince the husband we should eliminate the lawn

The backyard, from the porch overlooking my car. The brush pile to the left is an improvement. There was a sunken in above ground pool we removed shortly after the closing date. 

A NEW FRIEND!! The driveway was so overgrown with English Ivy and Poison Ivy, it was even growing on the roof, we had no idea this little fellow was hiding back there until we started to pull invasives up from the asphalt. 

Thankfully all gone now, except for the donkey he of course stayed, but I made darn sure that invasive Tree of Heaven was taken out of the yard, just need to convince the neighbors to take out the ones growing on their side of the fence. 

The dutiful husband in action, after all the underbrush had been ripped out. As you can see Donkey is still safely in yard but with some potted petunias to keep him company. The first summer we spent ripping out pretty much everything and waiting for it be hulled away. I was so excited to see the last of the brush go I even took a picture of town truck. 

Next up getting rid of those forsaken overgrown evergreens in the front yard.