Humble hive Consulting

08/11/2026

🥗 FOOD > GRASS 🥗 Why grow grass when you can grow food, flowers, and herbs instead?! This portion of my front yard used to house overflow parking and as such, it started out as nothing but crushed limestone with grass growing up through it here and there. I wanted food + flowers instead, so in late-winter of 2022, I topped it all with wood mulch and then popped my raised beds right on top of that; filling them with nutrient-dense compost + soil that would nourish the food that'd be housed here. At present, it's planted out with squash, melon, pumpkins, cucumbers, beans, cosmos, zinnias, and in the distance, you can see grapes growing along the fenceline to my front yard , with mushrooms being produced beneath that, just right off my driveway. Just inside the fence sits apple, cherry, fig, plum trees and elderberry + hazelnut shrubs surrounded by supportive plant communities that are meant to care for the life of the main food-producers; supplying them with regenerative sources of fertilizer and "mulch" that are grown right where they're needed!

🌈 Would you like to convert some or all of your grass-to-garden, but don't know where to begin? That's my specialty! We can meet for a consultation (virtual if you're outside of my local service range) to hatch a plan together, and/or you can have me create a custom design for you that comes with the shopping list for vegetation + materials, as well as the step-by-step installation instructions to see your dream space to fruition! Reach out for a consult today. I serve clients worldwide and am presently booking designs with delivery dates of Fall 2026. Also, be sure to check out my full line of "ready-to-go" garden designs that include plans for orchards, berry patches, food forests and more! You can find my "ready-to-go" designs in the "design shop" section of my website (✨LINK IN BIO✨).

08/09/2026

✏️ DESIGN SKETCH ✏️ Here's a sketch of my latest design for a family of clients residing in Aurora, Ohio; a side yard and with an edible, deer-resistant (and in some areas deer-deterrent) hedge. They reached out to me because they wanted to replace their grass-covered side yard with an edible garden oasis that would provide food + cut flowers for their family and you know I was immediately on-board!

✅ All of my designs begin with a hand sketch that allows my brain to play + freely think through all the details in a tactile way. Once I've thought through the basic layout, I move to creating a polished, digital version to ensure the finished design is easy-to-interpret for my clients; most of whom install my designs themselves. Because I specialize in working with DIY clients, each of my designs comes with the shopping list for vegetation + materials as well as the step-by-step installation instructions!

🌈 Would you like an edible oasis dreamt up for you and your yard?! Reach out for a consult today! I serve clients worldwide and am presently booking designs with delivery dates of Fall 2026. Also, be sure to check out my full line of "ready-to-go" garden designs that include plans for orchards, berry patches, food forests and more! You can find my "ready-to-go" designs in the "design shop" section of my website (✨LINK IN BIO✨).

08/08/2026

🥰💚 I'm honored to have been contacted for commentary for this Good Housekeeping article about common gardening myths! Give it a read, if it's up your alley!

Don’t let these misconceptions lead you astray.

08/08/2026

🌈 HOMESTEAD TOURS 🌈 It's SUCH AN HONOR to share my front yard and with everyone who comes out for my tours each month! This morning, I welcomed 20 thoughtful, curious, incredibly kind humans to my 1-acre and showed them all I've done since I moved in back in July 2021 to work toward our goal of generating 80% of the resources needed to sustain our existence by 2032. I'm welcoming another group this evening and so look forward to sharing each of my interconnected homesteading elements with them too!

💚 I feel, more than ever, it's important for me to share how I've transformed my 1-acre as 1 human with 1 income and a busy life. My hope in hosting these tours each month is to empower more people to grow more of their own food, regardless of how much money + land one has at their disposal. I share each step I've taken to transform my space and outline how the process can be replicated for free or nearly free, regardless of whether you reside in the city, suburbs, or rural area!

🌻 If you haven't been able to come out for a tour, but would like to, fear not! I host them monthly April through October and 2 more months of tours are still set to take place this year. September's tours will take place on Saturday, September 5th at 9 AM and 6 PM. Spots are limited and you can register now via the "classes + tours" tab of my website (✨LINK IN BIO✨). If you'd like to transform your yard, but don't know where to begin, reach out for a consult today! I serve clients worldwide.

08/04/2026

🙀 LONG BEANS 🙀 Have you ever heard of or grown Chinese long beans? They can reach up to 3' in length, but are best picked when between 12"- 18". Beans make beautiful companions for all summer crops because they're nitrogen-fixers and feed the soil while feeding the humans who tend them! are a pole bean variety unbelievably satisfying to grow, because just a couple of them easily create a serving for one person. I have them growing on my annual archways as well as companions to the raised beds containing nightshades, where they climb the bed's hoop house framework; making use of every bit of sunlight available to feed the soil and feed my family and I!

🌈 Would you like to grow more of your own food, but feel overwhelmed, or at a loss with your current garden? Reach out for a consult today! I serve clients worldwide and would love nothing more than to help you along on your gardening and/or homesteading journey. Also, be sure to check out my full line of "ready-to-go" garden designs that include plans for annual raised beds that come with planting dates too! You can opt to snag a plan per raised bed, or you can pick up a complete plan for growing annual food year-round! You can find my "ready-to-go" designs in the "design shop" section of my website (✨LINK IN BIO✨).

07/31/2026

🫐🍓 BERRY PATCH 🍓🫐 Perennial food crops are such a satisfying, low-maintenance way to grow more of your own food. Just plant once and be rewarded every year henceforth! Berries are a gorgeous perennial option and if you'd like a design and plan to work from, I have a whole line of berry patch + row designs available either in physical or digital form (✨LINK IN BIO✨ or found under "design shop" via my website). Pictured, I'm standing in our homestead's berry patch and am holding my "Medium Berry Patch" design for a 20' x 28' full sun space (USDA grow zones 3-7). I've included herbal companions and other edibles within the design too, so that your future berry patch is fleshed out with a community of plants meant to care for one another in the long-run!

✅ Each design of mine (custom or "ready-to-go") comes with the shopping list for vegetation + materials as well as the step-by-step installation instructions to see the design to fruition! If you'd like insight on where to place your future berries or any other edibles for that matter, reach out for a consultation today. I serve clients worldwide and would love nothing more than to help you along on your gardening and/or homesteading journey!

📸 ☼ Bo***ir & Portrait Photographer | Cincinnati / Dayton OH ☼ 💚

07/29/2026

💐 NATIVE POLLINATOR LANDSCAPE 💐 This native landscape design was commissioned by a family of clients in suburban Kettering, Ohio. They had a mostly blank slate to work with, though they wanted the existing lines of the beds to remain the same. They desired a landscape that would always have something in bloom from spring through fall, was easy-to-maintain, and was ideally drought-resistant. I've popped in some herbal and edible accents meant to attract pollinators, while also working to sustainably fertilize and provide mulch for the space over time.

✅ As with all of my designs, my clients received the shopping list for vegetation + materials as well as step-by-step installation instructions to see this design to fruition. Additionally, I provided instructions on how to "make use of" the plants within the landscape, as I work to design closed-loop garden systems that are self-sustaining.

🌈 Would you like to breathe new life into your yard, garden, or landscape, but don't know where to begin? That's my specialty! Reach out for a consultation today. I serve clients worldwide and would love nothing more than to design something stunning + sustainable for you!

07/26/2026

🌻 AUGUST TOURS 🌻 Between public + private tours, I've welcomed a little over 200 thoughtful humans to tour my food forest + homestead this year, and look forward to spending time with everyone planning to come out for August's tours! I've spent the past 4 years transforming my once grassy-covered acre into a bountiful homestead haven that will ultimately provide 80% of the resources needed to sustain our existence. I've done it solo as a testament to what one person can do on one income, alongside working and "living life." We'll begin the tour in my 5000 SF front yard and then meander over to the mushroom gardens, 5000 SF chicken food forest, fruit + nut orchard, earth-sheltered greenhouse/ rabbit warren where I raise my Silver Fox does in a colony, and finish the tour in the deer-resistant berry patch.

🌈🐓🐰💚 Tours will take place on Saturday, August 8th at 9 AM and 6 PM! Spots are limited, so snag your spot today (✨LINK IN BIO✨ or head to my website and go to the "classes + tours" tab). My goal as a human and as a business is to make gardening and/or homesteading attainable for everyone; even if you lack experience entirely! You can grow more of your own food and I can help if you'd like a thoughtful plan to work from. Reach out for a consult today! I serve clients worldwide.

07/25/2026

🌈 4-YEAR-OLD FOOD FOREST 🌈 Looking out over it now, it's difficult to imagine that this 5000 SF front yard of mine used to be nothing but grass when we moved in back in July 2021! I began transforming our front yard from grass-to-garden in February 2022 and within just a couple of months, it was already producing the bulk of our day-to-day annual produce. The annual raised beds are situated directly in front of my residence for ease of care and harvesting, while the perennial crops are housed around the perimeter. The perennial edge grows a biodiverse, abundant array of perennial foods including asparagus, elderberries, strawberries, apples, cherries, plums, figs, hazelnuts, rhubarb, horseradish, jostaberries, honeyberries, currants, gooseberries, wine cap mushrooms, blackberries, grapes, kiwi, chives, walking onions, thyme, oregano, sage, lovage, lemon balm, native mint, sorrel, native oats, native sunflowers, and more! 

👩‍🌾 I installed this space solo, and in one season, as a testament to what one person can accomplish with a thoughtful plan. The world may be slow to real change, but our yards can change in JUST ONE SEASON!

💚 Would you like to transform some or all of your grass to food production or native habitat, but don't know where to begin? That's my specialty! I create detailed custom designs that come with the shopping list for vegetation + materials as well as the step-by-step installation instructions to see the design to fruition. Reach out for a consultation today and be sure to check out my line of "ready-to-go" garden designs too (✨LINK IN BIO✨). I serve clients worldwide.

07/24/2026

🌎 VIRTUAL CONSULT 🌏 This morning, I virtually met with a couple in rural Ithaca, New York desiring guidance with a 4000 SF+ space they recently fully fenced in for food production. This space will house a mix of annual raised beds, annual in-ground beds, berries, culinary herbs, fruit trees, a compost set-up and they are also interested in possible chicken integration in the future once they get their egg-laying flock established. We discussed how to best situate all the elements they're looking to include in the space as well as how to best create a that is resilient in the face of pests, drought, excess heat, etc. 

🍓 Though our time together gave them some general ideas of how to lay out the space, they decided they wanted a custom design quote as well, as they'd love a thoughtful plan to work from. Each of my custom designs comes with the shopping list for vegetation + materials as well as step-by-step installation instructions to see the design to fruition. I provide design quotes within 2 business days of each client's consultation and serve clients worldwide. 

🌈 If you'd like something abundant and sustainable designed for your garden, yard, or homestead, reach out for a consultation today! I'm presently booking design work with delivery dates of October 2026 and would love nothing more than to help you along on your gardening and/or homesteading journey!