Years ago, we pulled a holly bush out of the foundation bed in front of our house and Farmer Bob threw it on a burn pile of debris out in the pasture. Well, the darn thing took root and started to grow! Having no need to prune it, we just allowed it to go natural and grow as big as it could. FB pulled all the debris away from it when he was ready to burn the pile so it wouldn’t get damaged, and it continued to grow.

Fast forward to now. We ended up putting the hen houses next to it and the chickens love it, as you’ve seen in other pictures.They love its protection from hawks and even flutter up to sit inside the bush, where you can barely see them. Every once in a while, one or two will roost in it at night. See how big it is?

This morning, as Carly, Blaire and I rode the golf cart down the lane, we caught the perfume of thousands of blossoms on the holly, so I did a U turn and we headed for the gate to the pasture. I pulled out my camera and, before I even got to the bush, I could hear the bees!

There were thousands of blossoms! And tens of thousands of honey bees gathering nectar and pollen!

Thank goodness that little discarded holly bush took root all those years ago. Who would have guessed back then what a blessing it would be to our farm? You just never know, do you?

EIEIO
Deb