makeMIsustainable

Work with me

Visit the yard

See the systems running before you decide on any of them. By appointment.

A compost bin at 130°F and a fish tank feeding a grow bed are more convincing in person than in any photo. Most of what is on the menu is running here, and you are welcome to come and see it.

How visits work

  • Visits are by appointment. Send a note through the inquiry form and tick “See your yard and the systems in person.”
  • I will suggest a time, and send the address with the confirmation. It is a home as well as a demonstration, so the address isn’t published.
  • Wear shoes you don’t mind getting muddy.
  • Visits run 30 to 60 minutes, and they’re free. One household at a time, or the adults from up to three households together.

What you will see

Food

Growing it — in the ground, in bags, on walls and in water — wherever the yard has room and sun.

  • Food

    IBC aquaponics

    Fish and a grow bed on one pump, built from a reused IBC tote. A lot of food per square foot, and its water feeds half the other systems here.

    Roughly $300–650, mostly the pump, media and fish

    Details

  • Food

    Felt wall pockets

    Felt pockets hung on a wall or fence: herbs, strawberries and cut lettuce at the back door, on almost no ground.

    About $4 a pocket, mix included

    Details

Soil & fertility

Turning kitchen scraps, yard waste and woody junk into the stuff that grows the food.

Water

Catching the rain that already falls on the place, keeping it, and getting it to the roots.

Got a yard nobody wants to touch?

Shade, a slope, a wet corner, a layout that makes every contractor wince. The awkward ones are the interesting ones — and the answer is rarely to start over.

Tell me about your yard