Thanksgiving 2017

Looking back from the track loader

A little late on the post this week.  As the weather changes, and there is less and less daylight each day, I've been trying to spend more time with and reconnect with my family.  I'm very excited for this Thanksgiving holiday!

Work still continues, and yesterday dug in the water catchment swales/rain gardens at the healing garden project.  I'm thankful for the beautiful weather before this chilly wind rolled in.

What is a swale?  A swale is a ditch for collecting water, generally to move it elsewhere without undue erosion.  In my projects we usually use a swale on contour, meaning it is nearly level and water collects and soaks into the soil hydrating it.  If there is too much rain, it will move off site in a controlled manner, but we try to infiltrate as much as we can into organic matter rich soil for our plants use.

This video shows one of this summer's rain garden projects where we elongated them to act as hydrating features of the landscape, which will drought-proof the hazelnut, aronia and raspberry plantings.

Video Tour of a large Rain Garden

Back to the healing garden, I am also thankful for Beemer Landscaping who did the initial site grading for the walking paths. I've also used them for some retaining walls and other projects.  Their water features are top notch and Korey and his team have won awards at home shows where I have had feature gardens.

I'm also thankful for Bob and Tessa at Blooming Prairie Nursery.  I have had Bob help me on a couple projects and purchased many plants from them, check them out for your prairie and native plant needs.

Brandon at Browne Atlas has also been a friend and cooperator of Abundant Design.  They have worm castings available and can be used with our landscape installations for an early boost to your plantings.

Will and Jonathan are great guys over at Trinity Tree Care. They have also been a great resource, tree clearing/trimming help and helpful tree care advice.

Although I didn't get to work with Ralph as much this year, I am thankful for his friendship as well.  You can help out the Forest Avenue Community Orchard on Giving Tuesday and/or head down there on December 2nd to help with fall cleanup, meet new friends and enjoy refreshments.

I'm also thankful for my summer intern Michael, Ray at Cherry Glen Learning Farm, Drew at Land Matters and all of my wonderful customers.

I'm also so very thankful for my wife and family and their support this past year as the business has grown and I haven't always been home as much as I should have been.  After getting home past dark last night, with two of my kids helping me out, my wife had supper waiting, so I could eat quickly and get to the board meeting at Cherry Glen on time.

God has truly blessed me, and I am Thankful!