Our Story

Jake Harris

Jake has enjoyed his many pursuits in life as an educator, a community organizer, a bag monster, and a general contractor. For the past 9 years, he has devoted himself to the application of Whole Systems Design and Permaculture Principles. Jake has received a community education working with his hands, and is currently serving on the board for GrIP (Green Infrastructure Partnership.) He has studied the farms, forests, and gardens of the lovely PNW as well as Ecuador, Australia, Palestine, Israel, and throughout the USA. Jake loves getting to work on projects that advocate beautiful solutions right in our own gardens. This includes issues of climate change, peak oil, declining pollinator and wildlife habitat, water pollution, and access to sustainable food. He is overjoyed to share these pursuits with a great team, his wonderful wife Emma, his lovely daughter Luna, and their fabulous chickens.

Patrick Loderhose

Patrick comes to Stone Soup with a diverse background in all things outdoors. His experience includes work as a certified greywater installer, and as an advocate for proper greywater re-use. He also teaches and practices ecology, permaculture, wildlife tracking, and wilderness survival skills at Alderleaf Wilderness College. Patrick holds a B.S. in Sociology from the University of Newcastle, Australia. On the weekends you’ll find Patrick traveling, hiking, and canoeing with his wife, Meghan, and his best dog, Lucy.

Marco Downs

Marco Downs has a favorite plant for every situation, and then some. He has been designing with Stone Soup Gardens for two years, always seeking to spark delight - for humans, plants, and the countless creatures who share our spaces. After a year of living and working on a farm in Nicaragua and a Permaculture design course with Doug Bullock and Dave Boehnlein, Marco was inspired to help people live closer to Nature and design useful, ecologically responsible landscapes. He is actively involved with the P-Patch program as a gardener and homemade compost evangelist. Initially trained as an architect, Marco strives to maintain a holistic approach to design of all kinds. He maintains a modest jungle in his apartment.

Luke Templer

Luke grew up riding his beloved BMX bicycle through the vibrant streets of Delhi, India, and came to Seattle for college after roaming impoverished rural waste-landscapes. He has attended Seattle Central, Antioch University, Dirt Corps, and holds a deep passion for Permaculture and empowering communities through ecologically designed appropriate technologies. He strongly hopes to return to India to help guide development in a more just, meaningful, and resilient manner. He is overjoyed to have the opportunity to contribute and be part of the Stone Soup Gardens team.

Timothy Quam

Timothy Quam is a multi-faceted landscaper / artist / comic book illustrator / painter who hails from Iowa originally. After graduating with an Associate of Arts degree from Hawkeye Community College, he uprooted and moved to Seattle. Once here, he realized his great love of plants, nature, and all things wonderful about our Pacific Northwest environment. Tim is an energetic and enthusiastic learner of all things, and enjoys the hands-on Maintenance Lead work at Stone Soup which aligns nicely with his philosophical beliefs.

Bonnie Henwood

Bonnie Henwood grew up in Seattle and has always been in love with the Pacific Northwest and its ecosystems. A lifelong backyard gardener, she grew up hiking, camping, and exploring the outdoors. With a strong passion for wildlife and plants, she graduated from the University of Washington with a BS in Ecology, Evolution, and Conservation Biology. In the summer after graduating she undertook a wildlife internship at Mt. Rainier National Park, hiking and backpacking through the trail systems and beyond doing surveys for American pikas and cascade red foxes. She has previously worked on a restoration crew with the Washington Conservation Corps, removing invasive plants and helping to create stream buffers of native trees and shrubs to enhance salmon and wildlife habitat. She is excited about everything Stone Soup Gardens does with permaculture, and is pumped to be helping people connect to nature right in their own yards! Other interests include painting, photography, hiking and biking, guinea pigs, and playing trombone.

Forest Astill

Forest is an outdoor enthusiast and nature lover. Originally from the mountains and deserts of Utah, she began her journey with plants there in 2014. She started working in greenhouses, then a nursery, and quickly moving into landscaping and yard maintenance. Since moving to the PNW she has grown interested in rainwater catchment and permaculture, and happy to be involved in helping create and design sustainable landscapes in the community. In her time away from work she’s skiing, skating, traveling, or just having fun with her beautiful toddler and husky!

Alex King

Alex grew up in a desert state and has always been fascinated by 'wild places'. Her first visit to the PNW spurred her green thumb enthusiasm. She spends as much time as possible outside and never tires of the lush wet scenery. Alex realized that she wanted to turn her hobby into a career. With a degree in Psychology and Anthropology, she knew that training on the job would be the best way to gain plant knowledge. She passionately dived for years into landscaping, nursery work, tree farming and now feels inspired to be building edible gardens. In her free time, Alex explores alternative healing methods such as Reiki, medicinal herbs, sound healing, forest bathing and volunteers as a meditation instructor. One of her life goals is to visit as many national parks as possible and she jumps at every opportunity to travel internationally.

Why Stone Soup?

The namesake for Stone Soup Gardens is from one of our favorite children's fables about building community through food, Stone Soup. It is a story told throughout the world in many different ways but its fundamental message is that a community's greatest strength is found through sharing together. We seek to develop landscapes and infrastructure for our clients to share in this community strength. As gardeners we take a pile of stones and soil and turn it into a community meeting spot, a school, a sanctuary, a farm. Beyond just the landscape we teach the lessons of getting your neighbors involved.