Soil is life
We are in a crisis. Our soil is being depleted. Soil is the life-blood of all of mankind. Without soil, we have dirt and with dirt we have no life present and nothing will grow. One of our missions at Healthy Sprouts is to help our communities become more self-sufficient by ensuring the soil they are using is full of life, one client at a time.
Growing food is freedom
With more and more uncertainty in today’s environment, whether geopolitical or economic, it is imperative to know where our food comes from.
When you grow your own food, you know where it came from, what’s in it and more importantly, what’s not in it. You also will not have to deal with scarcity and rising prices when you control your own supply.
It all starts with a design
“Though the problems of the world are increasingly complex, the solutions remain embarrassingly simple.”
-Bill Mollison, father of Permaculture
When establishing your food forest, you need a starting point. With a food forest design, you will have the blueprint to your own grocery store and nature’s pharmacy right in your own backyard.
You wouldn’t build a house without first having a plan. The same can be said for a fully-functioning food forest. When planned properly, this space will continue on with a life of its own as it becomes its own ecology.
Permaculture is at the heart of what we do at Healthy Sprouts. Through this methodology, we look at the environment as a whole and making sure everything within this environment has a purpose and works in relation to everything else. Thoughtful design is looking at the space through multiple ways: the path of the sun, the flow of the wind, where water is and how it is to be used, topography of the land, and many more ways.
The word ‘Permaculture’ was coined in the 1970s by Bill Mollison and David Holmgren, two Australian academics. Their original intention was to create a ‘permanent agriculture, but later they discovered that their design ideas were also creating the foundations for a more ‘permanent culture’.
Permaculture is primarily a system of ethical land use and design for sustainable human settlements. The study of Permaculture Design encompasses traditional knowledge, ecology, sustainability, organic food production, efficient energy use, natural home design, recycling, appropriate technology, ecological economics, and much more.
Permaculture Designers realize that the present systems of big agriculture and agribusiness, their use of harmful chemicals, GMOs, and pesticides, the unnatural treatment of animals, and monoculture farming (corn, soybeans, corn, soybeans, corn, soybeans….) are all seriously flawed. Scientists speculate that these practices are responsible for the disappearance of many species and are the main cause of disease in countries that still farm using these outdated methods. When humans fail to work with nature and instead impose their own will, economy, and destructive methods on it, all humans and the rest of nature inevitably suffer.
The Permaculture approach is to work with nature through careful planning and design and create systems that nourish the earth and ourselves – with less work and more favorable yields.
Our Services
Soil Analysis
What kind of soil are we working with? Is there any life present? Will the current soil support the expected growth of your food forest? Proper soil biology is essential for not only the success of your food forest but also the suppression of unwelcome plants (aka weeds).
Permaculture Design
Designing your food forest places an emphasis on functional space and utilizing the environment over traditional ornamental agriculture, which can cause competition between the plant species.
Food Forest Installation
During the design process, we will work with local professional installers to ensure the completion of your food forest. We take the stress out of the process as budgets and timelines will be confirmed upfront.
Healthy Sprouts 