About Us
Owner Laura Sweany is a Puget Sound native having enjoyed this distinctive maritime bioregion for over 40 years. She is a 5th generation Washingtonian; farming and gardening are in her blood. Having avidly studied garden design since the late 1980's gives Laura a firm grounding in traditional ornamental design and maintenance. When Laura discovered the concept of Permaculture in 1999 her entire focus shifted. Gone were the plans for elaborate ornamental beds and water-guzzling lawns; instead Laura realized that gardening could be more than 'making things look pretty'. Now her passion is using the whole systems design principals of Permaculture to create sustainable designs that include the whole site, not just the garden. Using techniques like water catchments, solar harvesting, natural pest management and guild based polycultures to create vibrant and resilient soil, Laura encourages others to recognize the invisible inputs that nature showers each and every property with all the time.
E-Mail: lauraflora@msn.com Phone: (206) 369-7590
Featured Speaker:
West Seattle Summerfest Greenstage, 2011 – “Winter Gardening in the Pacific Northwest”
Green Festival, Seattle, 2010 – “Permaculture Guilds - The More We Grow Together, the Happier We'll Be!”
Bellevue Home Show 2010 – “Introduction to Permaculture” - “Edible Landscaping”
Montlake Library, 2010, as part of their Urban Resilience series – “Can You Eat Your Yard?”
Puget Sound Beekeepers Association, 2010
Bellevue Nursery, 2009– “Edible Landscaping”
Minter’s Earlington Greenhouse & Nursery, 2009 – “How to Eat Your Yard”
Sustainable West Seattle, 2008, 2009 – “Introduction to Permaculture”
Sustainable Seattle at Downtown YMCA, 2008 – “How to Eat Your Yard: Using Permaculture Tools to Create Edible Landscapes”
Guest Speaker:
Antioch College, 2010 – Guest Speaker: “Theories & Practices of Social / Environmental Change”
SSCC Landscape Horticulture Program, 2010 – Guest Speaker: “Careers in Horticulture”
Songaia Co-Housing, 2008 – “Permaculture & CoHousing”
Instructor:
Community Orchard of West Seattle, Staff Instructor, 2011:
"Elements of Site Analysis"
"Homemade Gifts & Craft Industries"
"Cover Crops & Winter Edibles"
"Maintaining and Increasing Soil Fertility Naturally"
"Annual Plantings: New Strategies with Old Favorites"
"Perennial Plantings: How to plant a garden Once & harvest for Years!"
Permaculture Design Course w/Larry Korn, Deston Denniston, Laura Sweany – Sahale Learning Center, 2009
Primary Designer:
Community Orchard of West Seattle
Rain Garden, Environmental Science Center, Burien, WA
School garden, Campbell Hill Elementary School, Skyway, WA
The LearninGarden, Cedarhurst Elementary School, Burien, WA
Sahale Learning Center, Belfair, WA
Primary Organizer:
2010 NW Permaculture Convergence (attendance: 350) – South Seattle Community College
2009 Washington State Permaculture Convergence (attendance: 180) – Sahale Learning Center
Permaculture Design Course w/Larry Korn, Laura Sweany, Deston Denniston – Sahale Learning Center, 2009
2008 Washington State Permaculture Convergence (attendance: 120) – Sahale Learning Center
Ecovillage Design Workshop, Local Food Production Workshop w/Michael “Skeeter” Pilarsky – Sahale Learning Center, 2008
Permaculture Design Courses w/Michael “Skeeter” Pilarsky – Sahale Learning Center, 2007, 2008
Research Participant:
by Maartin Dankers, “Overcoming Barriers to Growing Food in Yards”, Master’s Thesis in Strategic Leadership towards Sustainability, BTH, Sweden
by Audrey Leiberworth, “Seattle’s Orchards: A Historic Legacy Meets Modern Susainability”, B.A. Thesis, Scripps College, USA
Joe Royce has lived in the Puget Sound Region for over 9 years. Having no prior history with gardening, Joe brings a fresh and different view point to both design and maintenance strategies. Graduating from his Permaculture Design Course in February of 2009, Joe continues to be an avid student of permaculture both philosophically and practically, diligently incorporating his discoveries and insights into everything he does. Specializing in soil health, food production and synergistic plant relationships, Joe's input is an asset in any design, ornamental or otherwise.
E-mail: shamanmonkey@gmail.com