10/31/2026
This year I was met with a challange I saw coming but could not solve with money and tools.
The YARD. We arrived with the land covered in Poison Hemlock. It has taken 2 springs to transition that to chicory, amaranth, dandelion, clover, and a variety of prairie grasses. In the process, however, this year my lawn mower, w**d whackers, and push powers, and vehicles, all died in a stretch of 2 months or so. Leaving me completely at a loss for tools, with big expenses on vehicles crippling my ability to pay for fixes, even cheap ones. I was a mechanic for 8 years, I can fix anything with a little time and resources. So this proved to be very difficult for me this year, having a new property with tall overgrowth and no equipment to manage it and no resources to remedy the equipment.
That combination had me reflecting on my dependency on these things. My Property is one being planned from scratch, an open field and fresh construction, disturbed seed banks, rocky poor soil, and extremely limited funding. This wouldnt be top big a deal, if everything didnt beak at the same time. Im sure the chances of that are slim, but suffice it to say I am that one in a million most days.
Anyway, this is why it is so important to design for INDEPENDENCE. The Independent American Gardener initiatives include an element of community barter and trade. This came into the picture for us when a good friend loaned us his lawn mower and we were able to chop and drop a perfectly timed adult stand that munched out soils right before the big heat wave set in recently. That left 1 to 2 inches of mulch across our grounds, where we cut, and tall stands of chicory where we skipped it, and pasture grasses where we left it alone entirely for the cows.
This observation of experience, coupled with the wars and spikes in oil prices, shifted my focus for next spring into a gasoline and diesel independent lawn and garden plan, much like what we started with intentionally some 6 years ago. Specifically, manual crimping, ground covers and heavy mulching on even unplanted zones simply for w**d mitigation, grazing routes and fence line perennials for edge value, big leaves make shade, shade reduced w**dseed germination, thick mulch suppresses growth of w**d starts, preserves moisture and keeps soil fluffy, ideal for fruits and vegetables, etc. Etc. While all of this has always been in the plan, its front and center for spring. Its interesting how what was true 6 years ago is still true today:
Fragile systems will eventually fail, and when they do, everything that depends on them will too.
The lesson?
Design for Independence this winter, so your family can manage the unexpected this spring.