Business in the Front, Party in the Back: Why Our Farm Resembles the Mullet

Remember the mullet?  That almighty hairdo of the 1980s, that has been succinctly described as "business in the front, party in the back?"  Byron and I were in a bookstore once (remember those??)  and spent the good part of an afternoon giggling over a book depicting the surprisingly diverse variations of this hair style.  And just to keep it real, I grew up in the 80s and owned parachute pants.  They were black with fluorescent pink zippers. 

Recently, Byron decided that the landscaping plan for our farm will resemble the mullet by taking on the look of "business in the front, party in the back."  In short, the front of our house will be meticulously landscaped, much like carefully coiffed, feathered bangs.  And the back?  Think less managed, organically flowing, and sometimes downright messy.

In actuality, this is a marriage between our penchant for visually pleasing aesthetics and the reality of life, having kids, and farming.  Ever read The First Four Years by Laura Ingalls Wilder?  I recall well her description of their yard: farm implements scattered here and there and projects unfinished due to the busyness of starting out.  Reading that made Laura a bit more real and human to me.

So here's a peek into what we're doing. 

We have a circle in front of our house, around which we park the cars.  A getup like this usually boasts wrought-iron gates and a fountain, right?  Not so for us.  Check out the wilderness in the background.  We can't stand it.

Though we're not the wrought-iron gates and fountain types, like I said, we like our aesthetics.  So Byron spent an entire day recently measuring and weeding out the circle, and then spreading gravel to the front walk.  Trust me, it looks a million times better.  He'll soon plant grass in the dirt circle in the middle, and in the spring or fall we'll plant boxwoods around the perimeter (yes, I know they're not edible).

OH MY! I am keeping it real today!  This is the knock-down, drag-out, all-night version of "party in the back."  The calf hutch that we need to fix and the rain barrel system are members of the backyard, but the toys are usually put away.

So we did a little clean-up.

Included for cuteness alone.

How obsessed are you with aesthetics?

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