Creasy Homestead and Larkspur AmC
In 2009 the Creasy family moved into a little house in the city with a very average sized yard. The home has become a major project in sustainability, gardening and business development. We’ve put just about all of our permaculture design ideas into practice on our little postage stamp of a yard! Alyssa Creasy has even developed a garden-based art and cut flower business called Larkspur AmC that is based on the flowers we grow! This site will be an ever evolving section of the website where we continually update the projects and design of 1400 Hawthorne Street!
Zone 3: Food Forest Design
The backyard of the property consists of many perennial food plants creating a small food forest. Plants are organized in berry plots and fruit tree guilds. Primary food crops included in the food forest include apples, peach, elderberry, red currant, gooseberry, blueberry, raspberry, blackberry, rhubarb, strawberry… and more. We also include dozens of flowering plants and nitrogen fixers. Our favorite element is the “peach tree guild” which includes about a dozen plants that support our super productive Elberta peach. In the middle of the food forest is a tiny plot of grass and space for grilling and bonfires.
Zone 2: Water Management
Every drop of water that lands on the property should stay on the property. All of our down spouts feed into water catchments including a pond and gravel overflow, three rain barrels and a long swale that absorbs hundreds of gallons of water when it rains. This water is absorbed by plants and trees in our zone 2 flower gardens and our zone 2 fruit tree guild. Other water is stored in barrels for water of zone 1 and 2 plants as needed.
Zone 0, Our Home
In many ways the home, itself, is nothing special. We live in a modest, 1600 square foot home that was missing something when we moved in… a furnace. For twelve years we’ve heated out house with scrap wood from a local lumber mill. Our electricity is produced on our roof using solar panels and we’ve transitioned to almost all electric appliances. Our quest is to get this house completely off of fossil fuels, including natural gas, and we’re almost there! Some design that we’ve been able to incorporate into the flow of the house are the new French doors off of the first floor bedroom that lead right onto a deck (made of laically sourced lumber) which leads into the garden. In 2023 we’re planning too add heat pump heating and cooling with rebates from the federal government! We’re excited to continue to heat with our beloved wood stove, but also have some support from these new high-tech and super efficient tools.
Zone 5: Knowing all our Neighbors
For us, our neighbors include people, children, families and their dogs. It also includes deer, turkey, ground hogs and all the living creatures connected to the woods and park near our house. In any design work we consider the neighborhood of life that lives near a property but is not managed. This is zone 5 in a permaculture design. The photo to the left shows lady beetles eating aphids on a native wildflower, on the laby beetles are tiny white parasites. A plant being eaten by the bugs, being eating by another bug, being eaten by yet another, this is part of our zone 5 ecosystem that effects our garden and food forest.
Zone 1: Annual Garden Design
Our annual food garden is located in a fenced in plot in the back yard surrounded by the food forest. There are four raised beds protected from ground hogs and our two very active dogs. We grow what you might expect in these beds, a mixture of tomatoes, peppers, squash, beans and much, much more. We’d love to have more space for annuals, but also are happy to get produce from Garfield Community Farm and other local farmers.
Larkspur AmC Income Generation
During the pandemic Alyssa began experimenting with cut flower growing and pressed flower art. Every good permaculture design can be a positive income source, whether through trading, bartering, cash income or some other way of support. For home grown flowers or art, contact Alyssa: