My 89 year old father-in-law, “Papa”, has lived a life of show business and performance art. Having traveled the whole world over and been in nearly all the major metropolitan areas on the globe, the hustle and bustle of city life is comforting to him. Nature, though nice, has been more of an abstract idea. That said, it was deeply significant when he expressed to me the other day that each day he finds himself pulled to the window of our home to watch the garden. I know what he means, sometimes we both enjoy our chai at the window observing the changes in the landscape. For some reason this year the life in the backyard seems more exuberant. Day by day we have been able to actually watch it grow. Perhaps it has been the addition of the bee hives. Some of the plants are just going crazy. Our one boysenberry bush, a young vine, has already provided us with thirty cups of ripe berries, and it is not done.
 
In fact, as Papa has noted, all the plants are lush and there are more wild birds and squirrels. They too are drawn by the good harvest. In the evenings, we have skunks that frequent, possum and the occasional raccoon. It seems that in addition to providing food for ourselves, we have also provided habitat for the local wildlife. I am not sure if they too enjoy our harvest. These city animals tend to bring remnant of their urban meals into the yard. (I have found fried chicken, apple cores, and fast food wrappers stuffed in safe places. Even the crows secure fast food on the limbs of our pine tree.)
 
It has taken these last few years for the household to truly appreciate what our experimental, edible, and permacultured landscape can bring to a home but it has been worth every moment.