I came across a three-year-old photograph of the front of our farmhouse (we bought it seven years ago) on the day our friend Jay Bridge brought over the Little Free Library he builds and installed on our front lawn.

When we bought the farmhouse, it was barren, there were no trees out front and the farmhouse seems exposed to us, needing some green and also providing some privacy.

We had planted three maples trees out front and some bushes, the trees were young starting to grow. We have since added a dozen other trees along the front and side of the farmhouse.

We are greening up the farm, we are learning just how much ordinary people can do to bring beauty to their homes and help the earth. Please note we are also allowing the grass out front to grow naturally.

I see from the flat grass that some deer are sleeping out there at night. We’ve also added solar power, given up plastic bottles and I just bought a hybrid small SUV that gets 41 miles to the gallon.

There is no -plug-in required, every time you touch the brake, it charges the battery. And I almost forget. Our Little Free Library is a hit, we’ve seen hundreds of books go through there, and parents stop with their kids looking for books all the time. We love it.

The photo below shows the progress we have made out front. The trees soften the noise from the road, offer shade from the sun, and give us the privacy we wanted.