LOCATION
At Red Oak Permaculture, one of our main goals is to transform traditional suburban properties into productive, diverse and beautiful ecological landscapes. It would be only fitting then that we start on our suburban properties in Cherry Hill, NJ. Situated about 10 miles east of Philadelphia, Cherry Hill is largely a middle-class community, laden with eateries, amenities and single-family housing developments. In fact, if someone were asked to imagine a stereotypical suburb, they would likely describe Cherry Hill with a high degree of accuracy.
The developments are filled with homes constructed very closely to one another and property sizes generally range from about 1/10 – ¼ acre. The people tend to lean progressive and are mostly a friendly group with a strong sense of community. Children ride their bicycles through the streets and dogs drag their humans down the sidewalks. In the warmer months, the sounds of lawnmowers and the smell of cut grass fill the air as homeowners take care of their lawns. In short, Cherry Hill is quintessential Americana.
Cherry Hill certainly seems to be experiencing an upwelling of eco-friendly ideals. For example, there are two large organic grocery stores in town, a backyard chicken advocacy group and community gardens. This coupled with relative affluence makes Cherry Hill a prime location to implement landscape transformation and replace lawns with fruit trees, garden beds and abundance. Practicing what we preach, we at Red Oak Permaculture have created just this type of space on our own land. We hope to be able to inspire folks in Chery Hill and other suburbs to do the same.
HOMEGROWN
Hello! We are Red Oak Permaculture and we are excited to help you reach you food security goals!
Ready to grow healthy, organic, nutrient dense food at home for you and your loved ones at home?
Ready to take the next step towards food independence and true FREEDOM?
Ready to start living a more sustainable and environmentally friendly lifestyle?
If so, a Permaculture Production System is for you!!!!
By utilizing natural, ecological processes, you can produce veggies, fruits, flowers, herbs, meat, eggs etc, while IMPROVING the land around you!
Permaculture is method of food production that mimics natural patterns and processes. By identifying the existing environment’s potential and implementing careful design, a permaculture system provides perennial food stuffs, while regenerating the land from which it came. Incorporating water collection, soil building, composting and other sustainable practices, permaculture is so much more than gardening in the traditional sense. It’s truly “Permanent – Agriculture!”
Do you have an outdoor area around your home or business that could use some loving attention?
If so, you have a wonderful opportunity to transform your space into a sustainable, native, and edible landscape—one that is also ornamental, creating beauty and joy when you see it!
There is no space too small to incorporate ecological landscape design. At Red Oak Permaculture, we can help with various aspects of design and landscape installation, depending on your needs.
Aquaponics can be thought of as the marriage of aquaculture and hydroponics. In this closed loop system, water containing fish waste is pumped into a soil-less veggie grow bed where that water is utilized as fertilizer by the plants. The now cleaned water is then returned to the fish tank, clean and oxygenated.
This cycle results in higher yields than conventional gardening, while using only a fraction of the water and energy required in terrestrial cultivation. Plus, you get the fish!
Once the system is set up, all that is required is fish feed and a very small amount of electricity to run a pump and an airstone. This can easily be connected to a solar panel for off-the-grid production!
Whether you’re looking for a large system to supply your business or a small kitchen set up with basil and goldfish, I can help you reach your food production goals.Pricing ranges depending on size, complexity, materials, style and goals of each individual system. I can design systems for every budget!
MY STORY
From leading eco-tours in Panama to opening an Earth-friendly eatery in the Florida Keys to working as a veterinary technician in Philadelphia (and not necessarily in that order!), my journey to sustainability and permaculture has been anything but linear. Vast and varied as my experience has been, there has always been two common themes in play: First, is a profound fascination for the natural world. This includes its creatures, its processes, and certainly its protection. Second, a passion for sharing that wonderment with others. As amazing as it can be to experience nature for one’s self, I find that experience to be lacking without being able to convey my excitement to people.
After having searched for the proper platform that truly encompassed those two themes for some time, it often seemed that I was trying to fit a circle peg into an oval hole: it worked but the fit wasn’t perfect. It wasn’t until the universe revealed Permaculture to me did I discover that the perfect blending of my passions did exist!
Permaculture (at its most basic definition) can be described as “permanent agriculture,” but it is so very much more than that. It is the implementation of careful design using natural processes to transform a landscape into a perennial food production system that actually improves the ecological health of that land, benefitting the soil, and promoting biodiversity. I was also in love with the main themes of Permaculture philosophy which emphasize caring for the Earth, caring for people, and sharing the yield.
From that point on, I immersed myself in Permaculture. Initially, I dove in academically. I received a bachelor’s degree in Environmental Studies and Agroecology from Florida International University in Miami, FL. I then received my Permaculture Design Certification from Permscape Permaculture in King of Prussia, PA. I next began to physically immerse myself into the practice. This included internships at Permaculture farms, creating large aquaponic systems to supply restaurants and officially creating Red Oak Permaculture with my brother-in-law.
Today, we are vendors at the Collingswood Farmers Market in Collingswood, NJ where we sell composing worms and perennial plants and design and install food production systems into customer’s properties. This venue has proven to be a wonderful platform for our business, but perhaps more importantly it allows us to encourage people to live that Permaculture life!
This work has proven to be deeply fulfilling and perhaps, finally, the oval peg has found a home. I look forward to helping others unlock the potential of their properties and discover true freedom through food security!
OFFERINGS
We have over a decade of food production experience during which time we have created large systems to provide food to restaurants and small home systems for kitchen herbs.
Pricing ranges depending on size, complexity, materials, style and goals of each individual system. We can design systems for every budget!
Contact us via the contact form below and let’s Keep Growing!
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