Proverbs 22:9 A generous man will himself be blessed, for he shares his food with the poor.
The idea of CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) is nothing new, but by truly putting the community first Seed of Life Nurseries has set themselves apart from the competition. For less than $23 a week a family of four can share in the all natural, pesticide free harvest while supporting an organization with a wide range of programs to address the needs of poor and at-risk families.
Founder Michael Dickson is a self taught horticulturist who has been in the landscape and nursery business for 20 years. He is passionate about the plants he grows, and about sharing knowledge with the young people of his community, building a generation of people from all walks of life who know the value of hard work and can take ownership of their futures. For Michael and his wife Michelle, farming is about more than food– it’s about family and community.
In partnership with The Asian American Center of Frederick, Seed of Life has developed a summer program for children K-10 where they learn about planting, sustainable farming, harvesting and cooking. Kids see the food go from seed to plate, and each Friday they take home food to their families. Children see what a little hard work can accomplish in a safe, fun environment with “Farmer Mike” and his AmeriCorps volunteers. And yes, the children learn about weeding too.
Currently Seed of Life Nurseries is working on installing urban gardens around Frederick County. They have already assisted in gardens at Lucas Village, the Frederick County Fairgrounds and at Restore (Habitat for Humanity). They’ll soon be installing a community garden for the Housing Authority City of Frederick
(HACF) near their main office. They build and maintain these gardens to provide communities and families access to fresh produce through their own efforts.
Seed of Life Nurseries and CSA was founded 7 years ago with the idea to beautify local areas in crisis and build community around the production of all natural produce. They approach their mission from every angle by from providing programs to meet the needs of local restaurants to stimulate the economy to food bank donations (over 60,000lbs of produce donated to date) and community programs.
Michael and Michelle have really put their mark on the community. Come see them at the Frederick City and G.R.A.C.E. farmers markets to get a taste of what
they’ve been growing. www.solnurseries.info
Edible landscaping is a specialized form of gardening where your average, everyday ornamental plants are replaced with a variety of plants that have some food use. This style of landscaping has been gaining popularity in recent years as issues of resource conservation and sustainable living are becoming more visible and popular.
20 years working throughout North and South America to promote edible and ecological landscape design. In Nicaragua his non-profit organization Project Bona Fide (
Inspired by the natural flow of the landscape, Ecologia works integrates its designs into the surroundings with Fibonacci inspired spirals, tiered rain gardens, dry stack stone terraces, earthen ovens and permeable drives and walkways. Ecologia is also famously responsible for the edible woodland garden at Frederick restaurant Volt where Chef Bryan Voltaggio can be be seen gathering herbs for his acclaimed culinary creations.
Another approach to edible landscaping is the idea of a “food forest.” A food forest imitates the natural arrangement of a forest where multiple species of plants grow together symbiotically in close quarters. Rather than leaving a single fruit tree to defend itself in a sea of grass, the food forest approach produces a dense arrangement of edible plants and also allows the different species to build their own intimate and complimentary ecology.
Founder Michael Judd is also a lover of all things fungal and promotes the use of fungus to speed up habitat recover and building more fertile soil for projects. Using wood chips colonized by Wine Cap mushrooms to boost the growth of other plants can also provide a harvest of mushrooms to compliment the other plant species.
Using crowdsource funding through Kickstarter. com, Michael is publishing his first book, “
Between food forests, permeable paths, edible landscaping, sustainable henhouses, holistic equine property design and charitable work in Central America, Michael Judd, Ecologia and Project Bona Fide are providing a wide range of services for Maryland locals and the world at large.