The Coup

There is a subtle revolution going on in my home and I am the instigator. Local this, sustainable that - it has seeped into the way we live, look and feel.

Take my back yard for instance.

Right about this time of year, I would have been cleaning up the winter debris, weeding the paths and tidying the herb gardens - dreaming about warm dinners on the deck and how much aesthetic pleasure my back yard can bring me.

This year aesthetics have been chucked out for practicality. Three more raised beds for vegetables went in on the grass and a chicken coop is being built under my son's fort. I am working on a water collection system that will mean large plastic barrels where my patio furniture used to be. My compost piles have grown to three permanent containers and there is all manner of garden and building supplies stacked here, there and everywhere. Throw in the laundry line I have extending almost the full length of the yard, and I wonder where my sense of "environment" has gone.

Although some of my friends aren't really sure if I've grown a hippy bone or just gotten lazy, I think my sense of environment is just as keen - it is just very different. Manicured lawns and perfect flower beds are luxurious and greatly appreciated at other people homes - at my house I want the environment to feel substantial, sustaining and vital. I can dry my clothes, feed my family and conserve resources in my backyard, even if it does look a bit Beverly Hill Billies. Maybe stirring up a big, stinky batch of home made soap is the next backyard project I should take on.....