Guild Kits, Seed Bombs, & Herb Spirals
What are Guild Kits?
Guild Kit* is a phrase I coined in 2007 to describe a list of guilded, or companion, plants specifically aimed at making it relatively easy for marginalized and low-income families to create perennial food gardens at home. My Guild Kit differs from a Permaculture guild in the sense that it is meant to be plopped down into an apartment planting strip or doorstep dirt patch following basic soil preparation, whereas in a Permaculture design guilds are built into a larger pattern of the entire landscape design.
In addition to supporting low-income families, my Guild Kits can also be utilized by
individuals of all means to jump-start a Permaculture food forest or to learn more about
permanent agriculture through hands-on experience. Schools may find Guild Kits an exciting
way to teach young people about gardening and nature while contributing fresh foods to
the cafeteria menu, and ecological groups may want to use Guild Kits to do restoration work or for fund raising.
I have created several different Guild Kit designs to address specific needs or scenarios. The
first is based on a dwarf fruit tree, and is designed to augment a low-income family's
diet with basic vegetables & fruits.
The second Guild Kit focuses on riparian restoration via a simple clumping method of establishing
points of healthy mini native plant communities. More Kit designs are on their way.*
There is so much more that goes into each Guild Kit than just the foods it will produce for a
family or the plant communities it sets up in a degraded natural area. Everyone will be able to enjoy the life cycle stages of the plant community within
the Guild Kit, including observation of beneficial insects, flowers, and humus creation.
My main intention is to help families who don't otherwise have the means to go camping or put in a new
patio can gain what Nature has to offer in their own back yards or even the tiny
triangular planting bed in front of their apartments.
Each Guild Kit contains five to ten basic plants that grow well together and support one another in a variety of ways. These include structural support, nitrogen production, and the attraction of pollinators like butterflies and other beneficial insects, for example. In some cases centered around a tree, each Guild Kit design comes with instructions and an 8.5"x11" or 11"x17" plan that illustrates how to plant and care for your food, restoration,or other* Guild.
For every Guild Kit design that you purchase, I will donate 10% of the money to procuring and
installing a Guild for a low-income family in the Portland area for free. If you are or know of a
family who could benefit from this community service program, please refer them to me. Interested
candidates can request an application by sending me an email. The application process is
simple and straight-forward.
*More Kits are in the development stages and will be available soon. [Patent/Copyright/Trademark Pending.]
What are Seed Bombs?
Seed Bombs are earthen balls containing seeds and soil nutrients. I make them and provide recipes for Guerrilla Gardening projects. The balls are to be placed by hand or lodged into the air over targeted areas, depending on their function (the recipe).
Several recipes are available for different restoration projects. Riparian Bombs are designed to jump-start natural reclamation of degraded and invaded river and creek ecosystems through introduction of Native plant guilds or communities. Pond Bombs are to be hand placed along shorelines of degraded ponds and lakes. Meadow Bombs are for dry meadow ecosystem regeneration. Wet Prairie Bombs re-inject Native wet prairie areas with appropriate plant groups. Forest Bombs build up the Native under story for healthy woodland ecosystems.
Each Seed Bomb package contains ingredient lists for soil and seeds and instructions for making and distributing them. Packaged sets of 10 to 20 Seed Bombs each can be purchased by sending me an email including the type of project you want to do and its location, your address, the number of balls you would like, and your project time line.
Schools may find Seed Bombs a fun way to teach young people about natural systems, and ecological groups may want to use Seed Bombs to do restoration work or for fund raising.
For every Seed Bomb Project Recipe that you purchase, I will donate 10% of the money to making and distributing an equal amount of Restoration Bombs in the Portland area. This might include actual Guerrilla Gardening projects of my own or for use by other local activist groups. If you know of a group who could benefit from this Nature service program, please refer them to me. Interested groups can send me an email including the type of project they want to do and its location, their address, the number of balls they would like, and their project time line.
What are Herb Spirals?
Herb Spirals are special herb gardens that utilize several Permaculture principles at once. Rising vertically to conserve garden space, these attractive spiral gardens create microclimate conditions for a variety of herbs and salad greens.
Schools can utilize an herb spiral for educating young people about Permaculture and garden-fresh cooking while supplying their cafeterias with tasty salads and seasonings. Families can add an herb spiral near their kitchen to supply fresh herbs and salads year-round only a few steps away.
One of the principles of Permaculture is Growth by Chunking; an herb spiral is an interesting and beautiful introduction to this exciting and effective ecological approach to landscape.
I will come to your site and in a couple of hours install an herb spiral for you! Materials are included in the price, and plant lists can be tailored to your preferences.
Prices
Guild Kits.....$100
Seed Bomb Packages.....$50
Seed Bomb Recipes with Instructions.....$25
Herb Spiral (Includes Materials & Installation).....$250