About

Why EcoFoodscapes?

Growing food is rewarding, exciting, creative, challenging, and wonderful for the mind, body and soul. We don't need to keep our edible gardens separate from the rest of our landscape. By entwining annual and perennial edibles throughout the landscape, we augment function and improve aesthetics.

Growing and nurturing native plants supports our native wildlife, which is functionally starved by most of the plants in our residential landscapes. Native plants, perhaps not as well-known as the exotic plants that fill aisles of most nurseries and home improvement stores, are often equally as beautiful. Native wildlife has coevolved with native plants and rely on them to survive and support their young.

By planting native, few inputs are needed to yield thriving plants. Native plants are adapted to our soils and unpredictable climate and do not demand the time-consuming, expensive, and environmentally detrimental inputs (such as fertilizers, herbicides and pesticides) that lawns and introduced species generally require.

These two goals-edible landscaping (or foodscaping) and native plants go hand-in-hand with EcoFoodscapes. Deploying principles of permaculture, our gardens synergize with nature.

Knowing about roles plants can play for each other and how to build soil fertility transforms gardens from collections of dirt to resilient ecosystems full of life, above and below the soil line.

Meet the Coach

Elizabeth Levien is an environmental educator and a self-taught urban gardener. After spending months working on organic farms throughout Italy, Elizabeth gained an unwavering passion for the way of life where folks live with modern conveniences and know how to coax nourishment from the land they call home. Her expertise in edible gardening and dedication to teaching others about growing healthy food in ways that benefit the environment drive this venture.

Along with her husband, Elizabeth has expanded her 'edible gardening' from just annuals like tomatoes and lettuce to include edible landscaping with perennials like asparagus, strawberries, raspberries, pears, and peaches. Their landscape provides four-season interest and beautiful curb appeal and it grows edible and medicinal products. Providing her children with fresh fruit throughout the growing season is one of her joys.

Living in an area with intense deer and rabbit pressure has forced Elizabeth to get creative with her gardens. Luckily, she knows that many of the native plants that wildlife so desperately need are able to withstand the grazing and her gardens equally provides for the visiting birds, pollinators, and creatures that come to visit.