About Us
Ivan Chan
When I first came across the term permaculture, it perfectly connected my lifelong ideals for abundance, deep ecology, and community resilience.
I was a water resources engineer back when all these permaculture ideals tugged at my heart. I am blessed to be experienced in GIS mapping, drainage plans, erosion control, stormwater ponds, ditch designs, navigating regulations, and public presentations.
In 2011 I completed my Permaculture Design Certificate at the Finger Lakes Permaculture Institute.
In 2012, EDEN in SEASON was born. EDEN in SEASON represents the marriage of my 7 years as a professional water resources engineer with my passion for permaculture (ecological and community design), also known as ecological engineering. That year, I started my first edible forest plantings, established a school demonstration garden, and experienced working on a diversity of edible landscapes and landowners.
In 2014, the Garden of Eating is established as EDEN in SEASON's demonstration farm. The timeline continues on that page.
Yan Yan Ki
2019 WWOOFer, self-declared 2020 WWOOFer of the year, creator of the virtual property tour, web site rebrander, beekeeper, and aspiring to increase her self-sufficiency in growing vegetables and perennials while not eating everyone else's.
Our Inspiration
Nature, like ourselves, is an abundant, self-perpetuating organism. Once healed and enabled to blossom, it not only provides us with a long-term food and income stream, it also builds the foundation for a living legacy that regenerates both our spirits and the earth.
Though we have chosen a life away from monetary richness, we choose to be enriched with a land base which is now providing beauty, abundance, healthier soil and ecosystem benefits. Maybe that sounds like your paradise... pure, healthy, forever fruitful, self-renewing, and thrives naturally in your landscape.
By integrating permaculture into your home, you can be assured we are committed to creating an enduring edible landscape that is ecologically sound, sensitive to your family's goals, and brings you year after year of enjoyment and health. We will walk through the 'hard stuff' with you and blaze your way forward.
Top benefits of a forest garden of trees, shrubs, vines, herbs, and/or mushrooms:
- Enjoy nutrient-dense food that is beyond organic
- Create a beautiful, bountiful landscape that feeds our bodies and spirits
- Succession planting breaks the continual labour of plowing, planting, nutrient inputs, and irrigation of domesticated annual vegetables
- Sun or shade, dry bluff or seasonal swamp, grow what naturally thrives
- Extend your harvest season, providing multiple harvests
- The satisfaction knowing each year is easier and more abundant
- Long-term investment value with annual 'dividends'
- Regenerate soil and ecosystem's services
- Food and income security in a world of increasing weather extremes and social and income instability
- Invest in an inspirational legacy for future generations
EDEN is the harmony of drawing upon the wisdom of wild nature with the efficient design of human-scale agriculture.
| wild | EDEN | manicured | |
| ecosystem | late-succession mature forests | orchard, berry patch, herb garden, and mushroom patch all in one |
lawn, annual row crops, ornamentals in early succession perpetuity |
| typical crops | some wild foods | abundant and diverse perennial harvests of gourmet nuts, fruits, herbs, mushrooms | abundant annual vegetables if at all |
| needs | minimal | naturally adapted to your landscape, requires timely attention |
maintained high disturbance environment of full sun, consistent moisture, heavy feeding, and constant attention, highly susceptible to weeds, infestations, soil erosion, and nutrient loss |
| productivity | low and slow to produce but nutrient-dense, high ecological productivity | slow but increasingly higher and more nutrient-dense | high and fast |
| design | complex by nature | complex by design | simple |
The verdict? Your own Eden is designed to provide the best of nature for your family.
As the Chinese proverb goes, "the best time to plant a tree was 20 years ago. The next best time is now."
Our Values
Other principles we live by:
- be present
- live local
- act multigenerational
- practice conscious lifestyle choices
- collaborate in community and social outreach
Our Community
Behind myself and the farm itself, relationships are fostered with:
- complementary properties to establish more mushroom laying yards, harvest from mature nut trees, propagate plants, and share skills
- welcoming friends, neighbours, visitors, and guests (WWOOF, HelpX) strengthen community collaboration while providing seasonal help
- volunteering in community projects: Transition Meaford, Meaford gleaning, Grey Bruce Climate Action, establishing food forests in Town of the Blue Mountains, Meaford, commemorating significant trees
- member of Ecological Farmers Association of Ontario
- Permaculture in Ontario map of regional permaculture projects
- Fiddlehead Nursery perennial friend and grower Ben Caesar
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