Laura Marie Neubert is a West Vancouver-based certified urban Permaculture Designer and will speak to us on the creation of her “front yard urban orto”.
“I studied at UBC and Cornell, and in fields, forests and farms close to and far from home. I studied soil biology, weather systems and hydrology, animal husbandry, regenerative farming and forestry, mushroom farming, and culinary anthropology.
Duly inspired during the spring of 2020, at the onset of the panademic lockdown, we began turning our urban front yard – a relatively large expanse of nothing but soccer-worn grass – into an urban permaculture demonstration project. A beautiful, cultured, semi-classical style production and recreational space complete with trellises, potager, berry patch and mini orchard. By mimicking nature wherever we could and were permitted, the project evolved unbelievably quickly, feeding and protecting itself intuitively. It’s been remarkable. To be sure, my urban permaculture project is an experimental work-in-progress, and by necessity it deviates wildly in places from the zones and design principles of textbook permaculture, But, piece by piece I am applying and re-imagining traditional permaculture design ideas in what I think are beautful new ways to improve the quality of life for my family and our community.”
