Food Forest

We love our home that God has so graciously provided us. But when we moved in, the backyard needed some work.

I saw it as a blank slate that over time, we could transform into something beautiful.

The summer drought killed our glass very quickly, and we took down some trees.

Things looked bad, but then Sandy decided it was time for an immediate change.

She applied for and won the opportunity to install a Food Forest in our backyard through Benicia Community Gardens.

One day a big pile of dirt showed up.

Then a whole mess of plants and trees came.

Then all of these people started digging and tearing out stuff.

Actually, we were all involved in the process. Sandy mostly, with the boys and girl working hard too. Andrew showed off his new manhood abilities. I was the least involved since I had to take care of other family matters that weekend. Really, I wasn't slacking off!

Slowly, the backyard started to transform.

Thanks to a ton of hard working folks and a big collaborative effort, our wasteland of a backyard startedto change into a permaculture, drought resistant, water conserving, forest of food.

Thanks to the rain, things are growing.

We put in a new fence which connects us visually to the open space out back.

Hopefully, in a year or two, we may have some blueberries, pears, peaches, grapes, raspberries, goji berries, lemons, pomegranates and tangerines just to name some!