Our Mission:

Our Mission: To enable individuals and communities to take an active part in the cultivation of systems that provide the highest quality fruits, vegetables, herbs and other yields, in a way that benefits themselves, cares for the land and environment, and provides a surplus to use, share and reinvest into the system.

Monday, November 28, 2016

Giving Tuesday


Continuing the recent posts following the #HashTagsOfTheSeason, I would like to encourage you this #GivingTuesday to consider supporting the Forest Avenue Outreach Community Orchard Project.


I've highlighted the orchard and the good work my friend Ralph Chiodo is doing at Forest Avenue Outreach before-

For more videos follow this link to WHO-TV 13's coverage

Their current needs to consider for #GivingTuesday include:
  • Funding for a tool shed
  • Steps to enter the garden
  • Sponsorship for an AmeriCorps Worker (~$3000)
  • 2017 liability insurance ($2500)
  • 2017 irrigation ($850.00)
  • Funding/materials for raised beds in new community garden
  • Funding for 3 bee colonies
  • CPA for taxes

You can donate money directly here: https://forestaveoutreach.com/get-involved/donate/
Contact Ralph through their website to help them out with materials. 
LIKE and SHARE their Facebook page and needs with your circle of friends.

Blessings for the rest of your week!


Friday, November 25, 2016

Small Business Saturday


This Nov 26, we want to celebrate Small Business Saturday with you! It's a special holiday created so communities can show love for small businesses like ours. And it wouldn't be a celebration without customers like you joining us!


So mark your calendars for Nov 26, the Saturday after Thanksgiving, and get ready to Shop Small with our great local businesses and of course us.

Email, Call, Text or FB Message ABUNDANT DESIGN to schedule an appointment!


#ShopSmall Deal of the Day
 
Take $50 OFF a SITE VISIT & CONSULTATION!


And please don't forget to share your favorite Small Business Saturday moments on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram with #ShopSmall.


Thanks for your support!

Thursday, November 24, 2016

Happy Thanksgiving

 
Happy Thanksgiving Everyone!
 
 

Big thank you to my customers and followers, too. I am glad I could help you on your journey to a more sustainable lifestyle and bring beauty to your landscapes, with a strong foundation for abundant yields of the highest quality fruits, vegetables and more. In time, I trust the bounty from what we have created will be on the menu at your Thanksgiving celebration.

 
My hope in the future is for those who follow us will be thankful for the trees we've planted, the rich soils we have made and the clean water we've contributed to.
 
 


Wednesday, November 23, 2016

Black Friday Deals


I wanted to get this post out early so that we could all enjoy our Thanksgiving Day.  I hope you can gather with friends, family and food this holiday.  Travel safely.  If you cannot join others in celebration due to commitments, try to be mindful of the good things that have happened in the last year.

A great way to continue the celebration of abundance would be to schedule an Abundant Design landscape project!




Call or email ABUNDANT DESIGN today to schedule an appointment!

Black Friday Specials
Two SITE VISITS & CONSULTATIONS for $200
Get one for yourself and give one as a gift, or give both as gifts!
Upgrade to a Full Edible/Ecological Design and take the full price refund off each
 



3-Bin Compost System for $500 installed!  That's over 25% off! 
 Abundant Design's New Zealand style compost system is built to last with rot resistant cedar construction.  Not some random pile of food scraps and yard waste, this sharp looking addition blends into any neighborhood.  Reduce your contribution to the landfill and capture valuable organic matter to boost the structure and fertility of your soil.






Don't Forget our Amazon Store
-These are the items I would have if I had a brick and mortar store.  Most of these are books I've read or tools I use and can recommend.  


If you purchase any of these items, or any other items you find while on Amazon, your purchase will support the work Abundant Design is doing at no additional cost to you. 

I also recommend an Amazon Prime membership where you get Free 2-day shipping on most items, plus lots of free streaming TV & Movies.


Sunday, November 20, 2016

PermaEthos - Learning Opportunities


This weeks post talks about PermaEthos, the organization where I completed my Permaculture Designers Certificate Course.


The word PermaEthos is made up of two parts,
  • Perma – to be permanent, to last and endure, to be sustainable
  • Ethos – ideals that characterize a community



Four Primary Missions at PermaEthos
  1. Design, implement and manage profitable Permaculture farms
  2. Deliver top quality Permaculture training programs
  3. Empower real world and virtual communities built on Permaculture Ethics
  4. Create educational and entertaining Permaculture-based on-demand video programming

PermaEthos conducts multiple training courses and workshops.  Some of the educational programs consist of short term field workshops others include online training courses with interactive instructor support.


The first such online program was their 72 Hour Permaculture Design course which attracted over 1,300 students, including me, during its first open enrollment period. 

Additional online courses, some with a free preview lesson, include-
  • Permaculture Bee Design Course (BDC) conducted by Michael Jordan, also known as “The Bee Whisperer”
  • Plant Propagation and Small Nursery Establishment Course conducted by Nick Ferguson of PermacultureClassroom.com
  • Soil Restoration Course with Michael Vertrees
  • Creating Gaia's Garden with Toby Hemenway
  • More to come
 
Also available FREE are the live PermaEthosTV seminars.  Each week a new presenter and topic covers .  Past presenters have included Marcin Jakubowski of Open Source Ecology, Paul Wheaton, and Toby Hemenway, author of Gaia's Garden.

Past seminars are available on Vimeo for $2.99
https://vimeo.com/ondemand/petvpresentations/175643403?autoplay=1
 
 
If you would like to take an online PDC through PermaEthos, or any one of their other great classes, you can use the affiliate link below.
 
 
Watch for special Black Friday, Small Business Saturday and Cyber Monday deals from Abundant Design and most of all...
 
 

Sunday, November 13, 2016

Save the Leaves

 
Red maple leaves with our garden and bagged leaves in the background














Leaves are a great way to add organic matter to your soils. Both in your yard, landscape plantings and the garden. Worms love to eat them and they burrow around and under them aerating the soil and spreading that rich material into the soil building structure. This added organic matter helps sandy soil hold moisture and improves the workability of compacted clay soils.

Here's a somewhat humorous video on how you can use your leaves.

Too many leaves, wet and flattened to the ground can suffocate your grass.  But some, well mulched with a mower, will be great to leave in place.  Any extra grass-clipping/leaf mulch blend can be bagged and dumped straight into the compost bins or on your fallow garden beds.

Some leaves such as black walnut contain a chemical called juglone that can inhibit other plant growth.  Avoid these in the garden.  However, they can be used around trees that are tolerant, such as black cherry or mulberry.

Here are some pics of my garden beds today:

Waited too long to cover crop, Popcorn bed covered with leaves for winter


Great mulch to protect strawberries

Garlic, with mulched grass and leaves underneath
 

This maple tree in our backyard is so pretty, I'm glad it takes its time dropping leaves.
Bright red leaves with pink clouds behind
 

Save your leaves, maybe acquire some extra SPBs and enjoy the Super Moon!

Sunday, November 6, 2016

VOTE with your life

Well most of us made it through the time change...

http://www.vox.com/science-and-health/2016/11/5/13522178/daylight-saving-time-2016
And now its time to vote...
The good news is the election ads will all be over soon but the commentary will no doubt continue.  I'm so glad we've pretty much turned off the TV at our house, although the final game of the World Series was worth turning it on!

Whether you want to #MakeAmericaGreatAgain or are #NeverTrump, #WithHer or #NeverHillary, or voting for a third party candidate, do you wonder how you can really make a difference?

Hey America!  It's your new First Family!
 You can!

VOTE with your LIFE!


Upset with Industrial Food?

Grow some of your own food in your yard or a community garden.  Make many of your meals at home, using ingredients that you believe in.

"“Eat your view!” takes work, however... Much of the appeal of the industrial food chain is its convenience; it offers busy people a way to delegate their cooking (and food preservation) to others. At the other end of the industrial food chain that begins in a cornfield in Iowa sits an industrial eater at a table. (Or, increasingly, in a car.) The achievement of the industrial food system over the past half-century has been to transform most of us into precisely that creature." - Michael Pollan

NoDAPL

Protests draw attention to your cause.  I don't know enough about Standing Rock to make an informed opinion.  I have heard facts and arguments from both sides.  Unfortunately I think its one big mess of propaganda that is brewing serious trouble.  I feel for Native peoples, despise Eminent Domain abuse, and want clean water

What to do?  Reduce the demand!  Reducing the demand for natural gas and fuel will reduce the need for expanded infrastructure.


Rising Healthcare Costs

Stay healthy by making healthy choices!  Again, reduce the demand on the system.
Have a sore throat in the night? Skip the ER and give it a couple days.  You might not need a round of antibiotics.  These are only helpful against bacteria, not viruses, and can really do a number on healthy gut bacteria.
Over and inappropriate use of medical facilities, amongst other factors, has contributed to rising costs.

Our bodies are pretty resilient, let's give them a chance.


Moral and Community Decay

Teach our children values, by word but mostly by example
Get to know your neighbors.
Get involved with your church or faith community.
Build community!
Host or join a Permablitz!






You see, WE can make a DIFFERENCE,
WE can make a CHOICE that will REALLY MATTER!