The wintertime and end of year darkness asks us to quiet the mind and body. After a full year of going and doing - now is the time for being.

Before I (and everyone around me) get too busy for the holiday season I try to spend some time reflecting on all that I am happy and grateful for. I recently heard someone on the radio say “happiness is a by-product of effort” and that has really resonated with me the last few days. 

Nature Guides our Resilience- [Campaign URL]

Replicate nature and natural systems in our spaces to create and foster ecosystems with the ability to recover and repair themselves.

Show gratitude towards your gardens that provided bounty so far this year. Tidy up the spent plants, rake in some fresh compost for new energy, sow fall crops to welcome in the Equinox.

I am grateful to share the abundance with those that have already supported me, and ready to greet those yet to join in whatever adventures come next.

Design focus on increasing diversity, soil health and production!

Slowing down, moon gardens and more…

Watching, listening, smelling the spring unfold into summer, and the garden buds open into new blooms that have never been here before; I am reminded that nothing is constant, except for change itself. How we carry ourselves through those changes is how we cycle from new growth to bud to bloom to new growth again.

This season brings much joy, collectively, and for me personally, as new milestones are reached - and I am filled with gratitude you are all here to have helped make it happen!

Growing the team - Welcome Byrd!

Byrd is taking the reins as Eco-Restore's new Assistant Consultant and Site Coordinator. She will be leading new client consultations, overseeing the care of existing accounts in north Seattle and bringing fresh eyes to the design table. So excited for her to step into this role!

Where can you build in yields that also give instant or almost instant gratification? Plant mass producing berries or other foods around the garden so you can snack along the way.

Over the last couple of months focus has been on turning inwards for rest, reflection and reintegration. Now is the time to take what you observed and gently began to interact with - shift that energy outwards and upwards

Welcome to another trip around the sun for those of us that consider January 1 the start of a new year. Maybe you are one of many who already celebrated turning the page on the Winter solstice a couple of weeks ago.

It is the year of the Rabbit in the Chinese new year starting on January 21 (January 22 in China). A time of peace, calm and healing!

No matter what new year you celebrate a new year is symbolic of many new beginnings, a refresh, another chance, another chapter.

Whether you celebrate Christmas, Yule, Winter Solstice, Hanukkah, or Saturnalia* take a moment to bring awareness to how you receive what is given to you. After all, much of the focus lies on the recipient as each gift giver is seeking just the perfect thing.

Upcoming changes in pricing and services. Time to update your contracts for 2023

As many of us may be spending time with family and friends over the next several weeks I invite you to arrive fully present, with good intentions and no expectations on the outcome.

Take time to stop and look at the yellow, brown, red, and golden leaves up in the trees and scattered on the ground. Have you ever wondered what is going on inside the leaves and the trees at this time?

Keeping the Salish Sea clean and healthy for everyone is the responsibility of everyone.

Everyone can take at least one simple action to join. This may be picking up after your dog on walks and in your yard, washing your vehicles (and bikes) on a lawn to help capture soap and debris or at a car wash where the dirty water full of heavy metals and pollutants go to a proper drain and not directly into Puget Sound.

Permaculture is the application of a set of ethics & principles to care for the whole Earth and all of its inhabitants. Originally from the term 'permanent agriculture', now has expanded for applications to all landscape scales and other fields.

I have been able to turn to the gardens I am growing personally and those I am designing for others as inspiration and my guide to what is next. 

Whether you are looking to grow more flowers, harvest more veggies or pick fresh herbs from your garden - the best garden tool is a healthy population of beneficial insects and pollinators.

Creating habitats for birds, bees, butterflies and other insects is such a rewarding experience for any level gardener.