THE SEED OF LIFE GARDEN
AN OUTDOOR CLASSROOM FOR YOUR SCHOOL
THE SEED OF LIFE GARDEN
The Seed of Life Garden has a round checkerboard pattern alternating walking areas that are bricked or mulched with planted beds.
The concentric rings determine the kind of plant.
The center contains flowers, the next ring out is for culinary herbs, the third ring is for therapeutic plants, and the outermost ring contains food.
Residential Use of the Seed of Life Garden
Residential Use of the Seed of Life Garden
The beauty and simplicity of placing the Seed of Life Garden in a residential setting is that it offers a feature element that provides thematic consistency across your landscape. The strong geometry can be used as a focal point allowing you to extend outdoor dining areas, patios, hammock stands, orchards or horseshoe pits in a balanced and cohesive manner. No matter what outdoor feature you add, when you tie your lines to the core Seed of Life Garden pattern; the result will always be a unified design… and nothing pleases the eye more than cohesion, unity, and balance.
Public Parks Utilize the Seed of Life Garden
2017
Watch a short video.
Gardening with inmates is so rewarding. We together with the Recycling Department created the Full Circle Demonstration Garden to share the Seed of Life Garden with our community.
The garden also featured composting systems and a solar irrigation timer.
Full Circle Demonstration Garden
Nevada City, California 2018
Public or Community use of the Seed of Life Garden
Your use of the Seed of Life Garden in a school, community, jail, church, or any other public institutional setting has a terrific chance of becoming a successful and rewarding project. Social distancing can be maintained in an outdoor setting while the gardeners educate, entertain, and even rehabilitate one another. The Seed of Life Garden is a great venue for musical performances or outdoor yoga classes, group therapy sessions, poetry readings, or for acquiring basic life skills. In Nevada County California we used it as the focal point of our “Full Circle Demonstration Garden”. Multiple composting methods were built and demoed by our local Boy Scout troop. Our recycling team created a self guided brochure tour featuring all this (plus!) fire safe plants via identification markers and a map. Inmates from the local jail provided the labor and local businesses contributed the funds and materials. The kiosk and pergola were built by a local artist carpenter with recycled materials.
Flower of Life Homeless Community Plan
THE FLOWER OF LIFE HOMELESS COMMUNITY PLAN
As I became more familiar with working with the Seed of Life Garden it began to grow on me. As a visionary’s seed there were expansive exponential possibilities here! This Seed of Life Garden is the seed pattern that grows quite organically into the Flower of Life Village.
Creativity caught fire (as it tends to do) and when our Covid-19 lockdowns arrived I decided that my Quarantine 2020 Project was to build a diorama.
I hereby present the Flower of Life Homeless Community Plan.
Each Cluster of dwellings share a Seed of Life Garden and this centralizing of the group focus on a common garden is essential to building this particular community. To have a common focus on an actual place on the earth, on the soil itself, on a common garden…this is what makes this homeless community plan distinct. This has the potential to be a Creative Development Project that offers homeless people a place to drop down roots and grow. Their address can be permanent and people’s living conditions can steadily improve. The health of the Seed of Life Garden within each Cluster will reflect the health of the people involved. The gardens themselves will provide floral beauty, spices can be grown that remind folks of home, the garden will offer preventative remedies like echinacea and garlic, and provide an old fashioned corn, squash & bean patch.
This “common ground” focus on the Seed of Life Garden (design is copyrighted) will provide a sense of purpose and place to the residents… and a solid measure of a cluster’s wellbeing. It is a built in measure that holds residents accountable for contributing. As clusters mature over time they are supported in upgrading their emergency Homing Platform to a MicroHouse that can support the future addition of a second story.
TrailerClusters can provide temporary transitional shelters as residents upgrade their Clusters into permanent MicroHouses.
Marcia Louise Fudge, our new leader of HUD, has inspired me. I longed to present this design as an official 2020 Creative Development Project when I listened to her acceptance speech.
My goal is to raise enough capital to duplicate the diorama. I would like to make this diorama available to assist rural communities in addressing the homelessness crisis in the United States. This project could further serve to assist in creating healthy refugee communities internationally. I want to make it affordable for communities to purchase the diorama as a tool to aid in the planning of their own Flower of Life village. The scale of the project can fluctuate according to the needs of the people and animals in their care.
The Flower of Life Homeless Community Diorama
This diorama of the Flower of Life Homeless Community Plan features “Homing Platforms”, trailers, and mini housing clusters…these are centered around Seed of Life Gardens, community centers, and bath houses.
Gallery of close up photos of the diorama with descriptions of each component of the village.
FLOWER OF LIFE BASEMAP... The Flower of Life Basemap offers an outline for town leaders to follow as they themselves move the diorama pieces around to accommodate the local topography and customs. The Basemap keeps the village unified and organized while allowing for many variations in density, scale, tone, and architecture.
DIORAMA BIRDS EYE VIEW... These are my feet. I am standing on the table taking a photo with my phone up over my head. I included my feet so you have a sense of the size of the diorama.
BATHHOUSE... This Bathhouse has indoor and outdoor washing areas for pets, clothes, and people! Each Cluster of Homing Platforms has one section of a Bathhouse. The Sections each have 3 bathrooms, 3 showers, and a washer and dryer. The center of the BathHouse is equipped with tubs for washing pets and hand washing. There are outdoor showers as well.
HOMING PLATFORM... A Homing Platform is to a homeless person what a "Glamping Platform" is to a tent camper. It is a platform raised off the ground providing dry storage and pet shelters underneath. It is stable and has a roof and heavy curtains for shelter. The roof is equipped with changable signs so residents can draw family and friends or advertise a micro business. The signs also signify the Cluster's solidarity, its name or trade, as well as forming the contract that entitles that resident to a corresponding section of the bathhouse.
HOMING PLATFORMS... Homing Platforms are the bare minimum shelter. They can be lived in while maintaining safe sanitation and distancing requirements in a humane and beautiful way. Several Homing Platforms form a Cluster which shares a Seed of Life Garden. The intent is to provide people with emergency shelter as well as a permanent place to reside. These structures are later integrated into the foundations of permanent dwellings or MicroHouses.
SEED OF LIFE GARDEN.... The Seed of Life Garden is at the heart of each Cluster. It is a checkerboard pattern that alternates planting beds and walking areas. Flowers, culinary, therapeutic, and food plants lie in concentric rings.
SPARSELY INHABITED HOMING CLUSTERS... Here you see a Red Cluster of Homing Platforms in the foreground and an Orange Cluster of Homing Platforms in the background. The BathHouse is the blue structure with flags in the middle. Each Cluster has one section of the BathHouse and is responsible for cleaning and maintenance.
HOMING CLUSTER... This is a close up of the Orange Cluster Homing Platforms around a common garden. The orange flags serve the purpose of identifying the Cluster (and the BathHouse) one belongs to. They also provide a way for residents to make signs to promote family groups or micro businesses.
BATHHOUSE... Here you see the BathHouse with flags signifying the corresponding Cluster. The Orange Cluster lies beyond centered around a garden.
CLOSE UP OF BATHHOUSE AND CLUSTERS... Now you see the yellow, blue, and green Clusters have been added. Although it is densely inhabited, extra walking areas ensure that nobody lives right next to a BathHouse and even the BathHouses face a Seed of Life Garden.
CLUSTER OF HOMING PLATFORMS... This is a Cluster of Homing Platforms around a Seed of Life Garden. Each Homing Platform is elevated off the ground and has a roof. Heavy curtains provide emergency relief from the elements. All residents have access to the BathHouse correlated with their Cluster. Drinking water is located at the center of each Seed of Life Garden.
FLEET OF TRAILERS... When the 2020 Pandemic struck I decided to build this diorama in hopes of it offering a way for people to move forward out of homelessness that had a paint by numbers kind of simplicity to it. The first thing I did was build a fleet of trailers to show that the transition from FEMA to the Flower of Life could be seamless.
TRAILER CLUSTER... This is a bird's eye view of a Cluster of Trailers around a Seed of Life Garden. Solar panels are on the roofs and they have indoor plumbing. They share responsibility for the garden as a Cluster. The trailers are transitional housing for when Homing Platform Clusters are being remodeled into Micro Houses.
15 MINUTE COMMUNITY... This is a community design that encourages living and working and shopping within about 15 minutes walking. The tiny scale of the diorama makes the community appear less spacious than is would really be.
TRAILER CLUSTER... This is a TrailerCluster. They have indoor plumbing and solar panels. They too participate in a shared Seed of Life Garden. These trailers are movable.
MICROHOUSES... MicroHouses are the permanent structures that eventually replace the temporary structures. Residents can remain in place while securing upward mobility. Some units can be rented to help fund the Flower of Life Community. Second stories or rooftop gardens can be added.
TRAILER CUSTER AND SEED OF LIFE GARDEN... Here is a close up of a TrailerCluster. The Seed of Life Garden thrives within the circle. TrailerClusters provide temporary shelter for HomingCluster residents who are upgrading to MicroHouses.
FLOWER OF LIFE COMMUNITY... This is a close up long view of a Flower of Life Community. In the foreground a MicroHouse Unit is developing it's second story. in the middle you can see the IntakeCenter and MarketPlace surrounded by TrailerClusters. MicroParks containing fire pits and picnic areas create open spaces. HomingPlatforms can be seen in the background.
FLOWER OF LIFE COMMUNITY... Here is a long view of a Flower of Life Community. In the lower front of the image are the Homing Platforms, parks with fire pits, trailers, MarketPlace, and Community Center. MicroHouses can be seen in the upper rear of the photo.
PARKS... Community Parks are essential as they provide an outdoor venue where people can gather while maintaining social distancing health guidelines. These parks provide fire pits, pick nick tables, and a place to hold weekly gardener markets and provide outdoor child care...these centralized areas are open spaces with or without shade structures.
FOOD TRUCKS... Food Trucks are to be owned by community members and make up an integral part of the local economy. Outdoor and take out dining only. Delivery services provided.
MICROHOUSE CLUSTER... Here is a close up of the MicroHouse structure. Each Homing Platform Cluster is the foundation of a MicroHouse Unit. One grows into the other. This view features a parking area in front and doors opening into an internal private courtyard or garden.
MARKET PLACE... This structure provides the community with it's shops. It's courtyard houses an open area. The rooftops can easily be turned into balconies or gardens. *Grocery Store *Laundromat *Barber/Salon *Consignment Shop *Pharmacy/Apothecary *Arts and Crafts Shop
COMMUNITY CENTER... *intake center for people and pets...people are assigned Homing Platforms or Trailers *community kitchen *houses the PO Boxes *Social services and Veteran's benefits are accessible here * access to medical and veterinarian expertise via virtual consultations
FOUR TRAILER CLUSTERS WITH MARKET... Here you can see four TrailerClusters each surrounding their own garden and in turn surrounding a common MarketPlace.
MICROHOUSES... A MicroHouse Cluster is what the Homing Platforms Cluters are remodeled into. Each house includes a bathroom, kitchenette, and sleeping quarters. Second stories can be added above in order to accommodate growing families or living quarters can be built above shopfronts.
MARKET PLACE.... This is a side view of the MarketPlace. It is the hub of commerce within the Flower of Life Garden. All residents are able to sell their wares here. These businesses are owned and operated by local residents.
HOMING CLUSTERS W/ MICRO BUISNESSES... Homing Platform Clusters in this image have named themselves according to the kind of plant starts and seeds they sell. Flowers, Culinary, Therapeutic, and Food have become the names of these Clusters and the residents have made signs on the roofs of the Homing Platforms to identify themselves.
DENSELY INHABITED EXAMPLE OF FOL ... This design allows for variations in density, plant varieties, and scale. These variables will need to be determined by the situation at hand. Organizations can adopt this diorama and basemap as a Creative Development Project. It can serve as a template that they themselves expand upon and tailor to meet their local needs. It gives towns and villages a place to start as they set about relieving the suffering of homelessness. Please donate so that I can duplicate the diorama and provide a hands on way for interested people to plan their Flower of Life Homeless Community Plan.
Make a donation.
If you think this is a good idea please Donate. It will cost a lot to make the first batch of diorama kits, Thank You!!!
