Our clients for this job have been working with us over the last few years to do a number of great changes on their backyard garden retreat. Last year we put in the long arbor and fenced off portions of the backyard for the chickens. Here is the before and after: This year we returned to put in brick and flagstone pathways between the studio and the raised beds to help keep the area dry and walkable during the rainy season.
The clients wanted to replace the original stone beds with something that looked a bit medieval, maybe with turrets, they said. This is what we came up with. These beds will last a very long time. Needless to say, we have two very happy clients. That's a wrap! We've completed this awesome permaculture paradise in West Seattle. It was a great deal of hard work, but a really rewarding process. The plants have been installed, the barked pathways and retaining walls are sculpted, the irrigation lines are set, the lawn has been seeded, and the owners are moving in!
We'll be checking in again on this client after the new year, so stay tuned as we watch this outdoor space develop and grow! This week we completed the installation of 6 cedar raised beds for our permaculture client. While cedar is a more expensive material to work with, it is rot-resistant, holds up well to weather extremes, and is easy and light to work with. Our team member Trevor was the lead on the bed construction. He did a fantastic job with the help of Joe, and the rest of the crew who filled and prepped the beds with garden soil. Next up is the installation of the desert stone patio around the sides of the home. Stay tuned for more pictures!
One of our designers, Aaron Buchholz, had a great idea for this contemporary space. The backyard was simply a patch of grass, but our clients wanted something that spoke more to the design of the home. By adding a brick patio, we created a more useful area for year round entertaining, while the addition of the raised planting beds will give an accessible way to incorporate different levels of planting space. Taking the boxy shape of the house, Aaron created the patio using hexagons and gently curving paths to create a more eye-catching landscape. To mimic this, he included a couple of seating areas in the hexagon shape, while also creating rectangular beds with a similar hexagon point. Now that we've completed the patio and beds, we'll plant out the space to enhance the curves and angles which will create a dynamic new backyard oasis. Summer is a busy time here at Stone Soup Gardens. There are so many awesome projects afoot. Here is a little sneak peak of a few of the great gardens we've been working on. Stay tuned, the final pictures are yet to come... These are masonry hugelculture beds done in the "roman-ruin" style. This is a new construction with a landscape design done by the fabulous Jenny Pell. We will begin on this project in August. Huge permaculture enthusiasts, these clients want a cistern which will overflow into the raingarden, and a fully edible front yard.
Come one, come all and see Stone Soup Gardens coop! We will be hosting this year and have lots of new elements in our yard to explore. Hugelculture beds, bike wheel arbors, a kiwi arbor, mushroom beds, a newly installed cistern, and a laundry greywater system, not to mention all of our wonderfully edible native plants!
Purchase your tickets today! See you on Saturday, July 11th! This month Stone Soup Gardens Chicken Coop is featured in the Seattle Tilth Way to Grow Newsletter, and on the Seattle Tilth blog!! Emma and I were interviewed about keeping a flock of lovely ladies in the city in their 'Portrait of an Urban Farmer' feature. It's just in time for the Tilth Coop Tour!
Our coop will be included in this year's tour. If you made it last year, you know we installed raised hugelcultur beds, showcased our massive mushroom patch, and had a food forest scavenger hunt! This year we will be featuring our new cistern and kiwi arbor, a new paint job on the house, as well as our newly installed greywater system from washing machine to mushroom patch. We've also installed lots of new edible plants in the yard, and would love to show you our fabulous new feathered friends. Be sure to stop by and say hello while you take your trip on the Seattle Tilth Urban Farm and Coop Tour! WHAT: Seattle Chicken Coop and Urban Farm Tour WHEN: July 11, 2015 WHERE: Various locations throughout Seattle For more information, visit Seattle Tilth! Do have your tickets yet? Get tickets today! We had a nice little mention in this Spring's P-Patch post. Judkins P-Patch is a wonderful place for growing veggies and community. For more information about Judkins P-Patch, take a peek at their Facebook page.
Interested in the work we did for the P-patch? Look at our previous posts HERE and HERE, or stop by and see our lovely patio and retaining wall for yourself! Would you like to read more, or perhaps receive the P-Patch Post for yourself? Click HERE. One of Stone Soup Gardens favorite events of the year is our chicken cuddling fest at the Seattle Tilth May Plant Sale. It's a wonderful time to bring out the ladies for a little TLC, and introduce them to a burgeoning community of urban farmers. This year was particularly wonderful, as the weather was sunny, we had lots of friends old and new to talk with, and as usual, everyone left with a garden full of deliciousness that benefits Seattle Tilth and gardens city-wide.
Thank you Seattle Tilth for all that you do, and thanks to all that came by for a cuddle! |
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