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THE LIVING CLASSROOM

I've noticed that seeing, touching and smelling something is a lot more fun AND inspiring than simply hearing about it.  

I've sought a place to show the beauty and practicality of living simply, of creating an urban yard that is a vibrant ecosystem, of growing perennial food for people, birds, bees, butterflies and other wild things all at the same time.   It's towards Resilience for climate challenges, Reversing ecosystem collapse, and sharing within a lively human community.  I need green wildness and human "village" around me, and it's possible even in the city!

That's where I'm heading with my urban corner lot and small home.

The living classroom is already alive!  I'm sharing plants, seeds & knowledge.  See the Programs page!  Trez, Caitlyn & I just completed this year's class series "Tending the Land We Call Home: Urban Gardening Through a Permaculture Lens".  26 people joined us from around the country via Zoom. Small-group backyard in-person labs are still to come this summer & fall.  I imagine we will teach a similar series this winter and next early spring.  Contact me to be on a mailing list for updates on these events!

I'll add more narrative soon, but along the same lines as seeing rather than simply listening, I'll start with some pictures!  

It took most of a year and a half to renovate the house with lots of hard work along with some good help, especially super-duper team-with-me-on-anything contractor Mike.  The deer fence is only a year in place.  Most of the perennials have been in the ground for just 9 months.  It takes time and you'll see that it's a work-in-progress but the shift is already huge.

The top two photos are house inside and out, 2018 & 2021.
The next two are yard outside, 2018 & 2021.
 
Finally an overview of my design, and other images throughout the yard and native Montana meadow.  These include the raised beds and converting from a lawn desert to rich deep soil for perennials.  

​The tall & wide native living deer hedges will be easier to see & photograph in future years as they take on more mass!

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©2015 Phoenixes Rising, All Rights Reserved, Missoula, MT  59801
email: info@phoenixesrising.org
All photos & art on website are by Carol "Kate" Wilburn except for those Creative Commons banners otherwise credited.
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