Seasons greetings from Uganda! We hope everyone has a Merry Christmas. We are doing pretty well, other than a trip to the hospital for Paige due to a bacterial infection that made her rather I'll for a few days. She is doing better now, thank God.

We made a trip to the coast of Kenya and back. The traveling was rough, but we had some highlights. Paige and I were invited to plant a tree on the grounds of a Maasai tribe church, so the would remember us visiting. I was happy it was a nitrogen-fixing tree, but even more excited that local leaders expressed interest in permaculture after I described it, and invited me back to teach them.

We also spent a few days in an area called Kibwezi, which is a dry place. I had the honor of co-teaching a dryland sustainable agriculture conference with a native Kenyan. The 35-40 local leaders and farmers in attendance were receptive and encouraged by our practical hands-on workshops, and we had follow-up reports they had already begun implementing what they learned.

We are back at the Connect Africa Hub, and have been continuing the work on the land for the permaculture design. We have dug over 300 feet of rainwater harvesting Swales on contour with the land. Plantings of many trees, including orange, guava, coffee, cocoa, macadamia nut, mango, avacado, and nitrogen-fixing varieties, as well as passion fruit vines! We are preparing to teach some smaller home-scale permaculture garden techniques appropriate for villagers as well.

It has been a tremendous learning experience for me, and I am looking forward to working hard the last monh of our time here in Africa. Thanks for the support and prayers.

Grant and Paige

Update on Africa Permaculture Project

Greetings from Africa! Paige and I(Grant) have been enjoying our time in Uganda so far. The fresh produce here is so flavorful and delicious; I've been eating a good share of pineapple, avacado, and mango. It is so nice to enjoy good clean food, and makes us hope for more accessibility to good clean food for more people back home as well as in Africa. We are working with our friends, Trevor and Jana Tychon, and the organization they started called Connect Africa. We have been spending time observing the land and creating the start of a working npermaculture design for their 20 acre Hub, which will be a training center for permaculture practices in the future.

We have spent the first few weeks spilt between traveling about and staying at the Hub. When back at the Hub, we have been spending time in an amazing treehouse we helped finish under the shade of a pair of mango trees. It is a relaxing place to pray and meditate and listen to the variety of birds that share the beautiful little piece of God's wondrous creation.

We have taught a composting workshop, and now have all the residents of the Hub recycling the large quantity of fruit and veggie scraps that were previously being thrown out. Now the members of Connect Africa are learning to compost, in order to simultaneously build soil and grow nutritious food. I have enjoyed getting to know and work alongside the farm staff, who are eager to learn more about permaculture. They have expressed a desire to take the ideas of permaculture back to their villages, which inspires me all the more. We'll be posting pictures and hopefully some video as well, so you all following us back home can share in our adventure. Much love from Paige and I. Take care and God bless as we enter the holiday season.

HERB SPIRAL (Permaculture design)

We have had the privilege of being commissioned to do 'edible landscaping' for one of our clients this summer! The entire backyard is being transformed, and will be finished about a week! More pics of finished project to follow!

This picture is of Grant's proud work. Not only is it a brilliant method of permaculture, but it is also very aesthetically pleasing to the eye. He planted mostly perrenial herbs, so it is essentially a gorgeous art piece that takes care of itself every year! And the excitement continues as Grant is currently getting his permaculture design certification! We are looking to create many more spaces of beauty, abundance, and sustainability both here and in Africa.

Garden Q & A Time!

QUESTION: Ready to shower the bride and groom with gifts this summer?

ANSWER: Why not edible gifts? Not that kind, silly. How about a beautiful, very low maintenance Square Foot Garden (or a gift certificate for an hour consultation)!

QUESTION: Want to give your parent, spouse or best friend thee most special gift for their birthday?

ANSWER: Urban Eden provides everything from small herb gardens, all the way to large veggie & fruit gardens, and even edible landscaping!

QUESTION: Ready to experience the best tasting food of your life?

ANSWER: Start growing your own little backyard Eden! Give us a call.

QUESTION: Did you know that when you use Urban Eden's services, you are helping send us over to Africa in the winters to teach natives there how to grow their own food?

ANSWER: Yes, you are indeed! We are using a percentage of our profits to fund our trips there!

Our favorite summer garden recipe!

Basil and brandywine pasta:

6 large homegrown brandywine tomatoes (or whatever is in your garden), diced

1/2 pound cooked, ground up beef (we prefer organic & grass fed, but meat is optional)
a handful of fresh basil, chopped
3 garlic cloves, finely diced
2 fresh sprigs of thyme
2 fresh sprigs of oregano
a couple generous splashes of red wine (your choice)
salt and pepper to taste
a Tbs of milled flax seed (to help thicken, plus added nutrition)
1 pound of Organic whole wheat penne pasta (follow directions on container)
a handful of shredded Parmesan cheese (or whatever raw local cheese you have)

Directions: First cook and ground beef in large sauce pan. Then put all of these delicious ingredients together in same large sauce pan as the beef. Let simmer for 35-40 minutes. Add this to cooked pasta. Sprinkle cheese on top (and any leftover fresh basil). It is as simple as that! (Serves 4-6 people)

THERE'S STILL THYME... (it can be challenging for me to resist cheesy puns).

What a lovely beginning to the gardening season! We have already had the honor to install several Square Foot Gardens! We also have been able to teach this method at several families homes, an elementary school, garden parties, Eco-classes at Hallmark, home association meetings, Whole Foods trainings, and formal courses through Communiversity. The word-of-mouth excitement is spreading like wild fire (thanks to our clients from last year who are now successful organic gardeners and are a little bit richer because of all their savings)!

If you, or anyone you know, is interested in our services, please contact us. There is still a 2-week window of time to get all of your favorite summer fruits and veggies planted! Nothing is more delicious than homemade basil & brandywine pasta sauce (with caramelized onions and sauteed zucchini & yellow squash)! And don't forget about your homegrown (whole food) mixed melon coctail, to complete the meal! Here's to enjoying all things organic fooding! Cheers!

THE WINTER HAS PASSED, SPRING HAS COME!

Well, it's a brand new year, and we are beyond excited to get back in the garden! To start off the season rightly (and mischeviously), Grant and I took a stroll down the produce section of an organic grocery store. The secret project was to figure out how much money we saved, approximately, from just ONE 4'x4' Square Foot Garden garden bed, last year. Like any gardening spy, I very casually had my 'grocery list' in hand, writing down the pertinent information that I required. We knew we were saving a lot, but the final totals were astounding! For last spring, we saved close to $275! As for our summer crops, we saved nearly $325! A total of $600. Additionally, this was an underestimation. I didn't even calculate fall crops. Whoa!

So, for anyone who wants to garden, but doesn't have the time (or determination) to learn Ph levels, OR hours daily doing back-aching, weed-pulling work in the garden, OR lacking a ton of extra cash to shop at organic grocery stores, give us a call.

SERVICES FOR DO-IT-YOURSELF-ERS:
--We sell the All New Square Foot Gardening books for $20.
--We do 1 hour consultations (the entire method can be learned in just 1 hour because it's so beginner friendly)! This costs $60. And every hour after that is only $50, which we can answer additional questions, help design garden area(s), and so on.

SERVICES FOR OTHER FOLKS:
--We do consultations (see prices above).
--We help design garden beds.
--We build/supply garden beds.
--We build/install metal vertical frames (to grow vine plants UP--like tomatoes, zuchinni, etc-- which takes less space, keeps ground critters away and prevents ground rot). Price varies on size.
--We dig out area where garden beds are to be installed.
--We install garden beds.
--We even 'nanny' (water, harvest veggies, etc.) your gardens when you're on vacation!

Our signature cedar 4'x4' garden bed, organic soil mixture, Square Foot Gardening grid, and 4'x5' vertical growing frame, delivery and installation is only $400 (on average)! You can grow your money back in organic produce before the end of summer (and every year after that is a ton of money saved on organic food!!!)

Additionally, we are setting aside 20% of our profits from our Square Foot Gardening business to support teaching Square Foot Gardening, and other sustainable agriculture methods in Africa. We started this business last Spring with the hope of being able to spend our winters empowering people with the knowledge to develop sustainable food systems in their local communities, where hunger is an overwhelming issue. Join with us in the effort to bring health locally and hope globally!