Abundant Design, LLC provides Des Moines and Central Iowa with Edible & Sustainable Landscaping, Regenerative Land Use Consulting, Permaculture Design and Installation services.
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.
INSECTS?
Last week was Pollinator Week, unfortunately we ended up with a bee sting :(
Barefoot + clover + bees = Sting!
We got the stinger out right away, applied a plantain leaf poultice, then ice and an essential oil blend. Still hurt for awhile, but thankfully we don't have any allergies. So be careful out there, especially if barefooted, watch your step. Stay Safe!
DIGGING? Another way to stay safe, is ALWAYS "Call Before you Dig!" You can Dial 811 from your phone or in Iowa visit IowaOneCall.com to schedule a utility locate online. It's FREE and it's the law!
I cut through this old cable TV line last week. It wasn't marked by the service but I called it in just to be sure. Had I not called 811 before I started working I would be paying for it, and had it been a live electrical wire I could have lost my life!
A old coworker on the county bridge crew hit a live powerline with boom arm once, and a family member was in the hole when another worker hit the gas line they were working on causing it to explode! Both survived but had to endure severe injuries and treatments.
ALWAYS use One Call for any excavation you do from trenching to retaining walls, and even planting a tree! Stay Safe!
SMALL FARMS?
For on the farm safety, here is an episode of the "Small Farm SUSTAINABILITY PODCAST" put out by Iowa State University Extension and Outreach.
So for the rest of this month and always,
be aware of your surroundings and consider your tasks.
Celebrate National Pollinator Week! June 20 - 26, 2016!
Abundant Design is Celebrating with a Special
FREE OFFER!
Details below but for now lets talk Pollinators!
Did you know that pollinators, like bees, butterflies, bats, birds, and more, are estimated to play a key role in one of every three bites of food we eat?
Plus they are beautiful! Enjoy this clip from filmographer Louie Schwartzberg
National Pollinator Week began nine years ago with unanimous approval in the US Senate highlighting the urgent need to address the declining populations of pollinators and the ecological and agricultural roles they play.
Monarch butterfly populations have been critically low for the last several years. Honeybee population and health troubles are regularly in the news and our native bees are also facing many challenges. 30% of our 45 species of native bumble bees are at risk of extinction. These losses can also have serious implications for our agriculture systems (=our food).
But Corn & Soybeans?
Iowa's largest commercial crops corn and soybeans don't rely on pollinators like many other crops. However, new research by Iowa State's Matt O'Neal suggests growing more bee-friendly habitats could prove to be a worthwhile goal for soybean growers looking to improve yield.
A short-term Canadian study found bees’ presence was associated with much higher yields in food-grade soybeans.
Australian researchers demonstrated yield increases of 10-40% in honey bee-pollinated soybeans, compared to self-pollinated beans.
In 2005, a Brazilian research project compared soybean seed production with and without honey bee colonies by raising plants in cages, and reported 50% higher yields when bees were present."
What can YOU do? 1. Plant Food, both nectar plants and host plants for butterfly larvae. The flowers of many culinary herbs are attractive to pollinators, like the Sage, Chives and Thyme pictured. Milkweed is a great plant for monarch larvae, and Swamp and Butterfly varieties are quite attractive in plantings. Echinacea, or Purple Cone Flower is a favorite of many pollinators.
2. Provide Water as they get thirsty too. A water feature or birdbath with a few stones can provide a shallow drinking area and also a place to bask in the sun.
BONUS - Supplemental food, like nectar feeders, sliced oranges or jelly can also attract colorful Baltimore Orioles or Rose-breasted Grosbeaks.
3. You could also Share aHome like this bee hotel. You can build or purchase many different styles to fit your landscape. Also, consider delaying Fall clean-up or doing so less extensively as some pollinators and other beneficial insects hibernate in hollow stems or leaf piles,
4. Avoid Pesticides as many are as harmful to good bugs as well, even "organic" ones like diatomaceous earth. Clover is good for your grass and a favorite of honeybees. Dandelions provide an early source of nectar.
The Xerces Society has a handy list of native plants that are quite attractive to butterflies, bees and more. These plants are targeted to Iowa and other parts of the Midwest. Visit Xerces.org for more information or if you would like a plant list for your area.
POLLINATOR WEEK 2016 FREE OFFER!
Any design & install scheduled this week will include a FREE Host Plant and Nectar Plant that will qualify your landscape for the Blank Park Zoo's Plant.Grow.Fly program!
Have a great Pollinator Week and Be a Friend to Pollinators!
These Top Tens are exactly what Abundant Design has been ALL ABOUT from the beginning!
Abundant Design has always offered custom and unique landscaping that focuses on producing food, medicinal and cooking herbs and wildlife habitat, all while doing it organically with reduced inputs (time, money and toxic chemicals).
We promote healthier yards and landscapes, focusing more on making your desired plants stronger and healthier by increasing their competitiveness with weeds and pests. Healthy soils, proper placement and partnering them up with good companions can do so much.
Abundant Design now offers these great steel planters for a more formal look to the front of your home or business.
Single planters are available for $199, or Three for $499
Also available with thick, long-lasting Powder Coat for $300 each or $800 for three
Another new offering this custom Wine Cask or Whiskey Barrel styled upgrade to our standard rain barrel.
Made from cedar to resist the elements, it has steel bands to hold them in place.
These wine cask/whiskey barrel style versions are available for $549.
Includes Deluxe Installation!
Did you know Abundant Design has access to a wide variety of natural flagstone & manufactured pavers, including Belgard Mega-Arbel that we used at the Home & Outdoor Living Show, to get just the right look for your edible oasis, patio and firepit area?
This last week I got to look at a few properties for projects including a follow-up on the Western Hills project from last year. Here is a custom 'whisky' rain barrel set-up we did using one from Rain Barrels Iowa for the base.
Here are some pictures from my own backyard and 'forest garden'.
Irises, blue flax and strawberries under one of the peaches. Might be a columbine leaf photo-bombing the lower left corner.
A Candy-striped Leafhopper visits one of the Milkweed and the seasons first Black-eyed Susan blossom takes a peak.
Sadly I won't get to taste these cherries... A bird cleaned every fruit off of the tree in one day. Netting might be used next year. And for now a 'cobra' is protecting our strawberry patch from robins and other birds. It seems to be working if I move it every day or two.
My kids sure were impressed to find this 'Ozark Beauty'
The unofficial beginning of summer starts this weekend. Many schools have finished the year, or soon will. There will be BBQs and picnics as the weather has been warming steadily.
This family friendly event begins at 10am on Saturday and goes until 1pm. 2600 seedlings were provided by People for Pollinators (Neil Smith Wildlife Refuge) who will also be teaching about pants and the need for prairies. Bring your work gloves! Drinks and refreshments provided.
But let's not forget why we have this long weekend. It is a somber occasion, to remember the sacrifice of too many young men and women in the service of our country. Many have given their lives for the United States.
My hometown has always had a wonderful Memorial Day observance. Dad would often present the colors with others from the VFW and the American Legion. This will be the first year without Dad.
The Clarion American Legion and VFW Posts will hold their annual Memorial Day observance on Monday, May 25, beginning at 10 a.m. in the Clarion-Goldfield-Dows High School gymnasium.
Other observances around Iowa can be found here or here.
Twenty-five years ago, I was honored to give the Gettysburg Address at the service.
Four score and seven years ago our fathers brought forth on this continent, a new nation, conceived in Liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal.
Now we are engaged in a great civil war, testing whether that nation, or any nation so conceived and so dedicated, can long endure. We are met on a great battle-field of that war. We have come to dedicate a portion of that field, as a final resting place for those who here gave their lives that that nation might live. It is altogether fitting and proper that we should do this.
But, in a larger sense, we can not dedicate -- we can not consecrate -- we can not hallow -- this ground. The brave men, living and dead, who struggled here, have consecrated it, far above our poor power to add or detract. The world will little note, nor long remember what we say here, but it can never forget what they did here. It is for us the living, rather, to be dedicated here to the unfinished work which they who fought here have thus far so nobly advanced. It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us -- that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion -- that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain -- that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom -- and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.
Abraham Lincoln November 19, 1863
I encourage you to attend a Memorial Day observance, to honor and remember the fallen. Also take time to reflect on other loved ones that have passed on, remembering their influences on us and the good times with them.
Another way to stay safe, is ALWAYS "Call Before you Dig!" You can Dial 811 from your phone or in Iowa visit IowaOneCall.com to schedule a utility locate online. It's FREE and it's the law!
