Day 251

Speaking of lemonade, the kids have taken advantage of our house to host a few lemonade sales over the last few summers. Of course, they also offer fruit punch and golf balls. While they are certainly not making a ton of money, it keeps them busy, motivated, and excited about the prospects of earning some extra cash.

As an adult, I don't plan on hosting a lemonade stand anytime soon, but we have contemplated a few things we might be able to do to earn some extra funds to help with furthering our rewarding (and expensive) restoration efforts.

Besides unloading our chicken’s fluffy buttnuggets to interested parties, we have contemplated adding a future honesty cart farmstand to our yard considering how well our garden has done. We credit a great deal of this to our composted chicken manure. This garden gold is another option for selling/dispensing  to those who may want some. However while having eggs, vegetables, fruits, and composted manure are viable options for the future, we tend to look bigger. 

With our big backyard as inspiration, we know that restoring it to a more diverse and wildlife-friendly property can and should be shared with others. With my educational background, I have lots of experience in working with children, taking them outside, and designing lessons and even courses in an outdoor environment. In the past, I've used these skills in various places including my school, summer school, and the Ice Age Trail. There is now potential and opportunity to create outdoor experiences in my own backyard.

I see opportunities to not only host daily or weekly nature camps during the summer. I see opportunities to have nature play days in all different seasons. We could catch butterflies in summer, pull invasive plants in spring, create nature art and collect seeds in autumn, and snowshoe in winter.  I see opportunities to host citizen science events involving butterflies, cranes and other birds, wildflowers, reptiles, and insects. I see opportunities to lead and/or host educational events for adults, children, and families on topics such as native plants, wetlands, and restoration.

The possibilities are essentially limitless. I am so excited for what the future might hold.