Earthworks

Our field season is over. We are analyzing data, writing publications, preparing for workshops, and teaching. We tend a few indoor inoculation projects, scoutfor next field season's restoration installations, & design palettes. If you have a fundable project in mind, please reach out if you are interested!!

Site Analysis:
through observing recording, tracking relationship networks, ecological community patterns, baseline information is gathered that inform design. This includes mapping soil morphology, testing & analysis, identifying hydrology flow paths, measuring slope, inventorying species ..to provide a base map for client goals.

Habitat Enhancement:
we help transition lawns to edible, medicinal, pollinator habitat through designing, installing, & maintenance of perennial polyculture cottage, window, forest, homestead....gardens. This can include putting in Threatened/Endangered Plant Sanctuaries.

Watershed friendly Landscaping:
to decrease stormwater runoff, we capture, redirect, and filter rainwater on site via native seeds, herbaceous and woody riparian species. Click here about rain gardens. We are grateful to collaborate with the City of Burlington through BlueBTV (formerly Salix Solutions) that offers watershed friendly assessment to commercial and residential spaces.

Hugelkulture:
is a technique where decaying wood, plant debris, compostable biomass are stacked in a raised bed. While providing space for plants, it sequesters carbon, improves soil fertility, builds a fungal base, retains & filters water.

Fungal Inoculation:

Incorporate fungi into your landscape to increase nutrient networks, retain & redistribute water, reduce need for inputs, filter water, remediate toxins, and provide local food and medicine for humans and wild kin.

Fungal Cultivation:
Learn to cultivate various edible, medicinal, &/or remediating fungi. Mycolab has a fungal culture & book library, flow hood, various locally sourced upcycled inoculation materials, an equipped lab, and local partners that grow and train local strains. These skills support community resilience.

Suburban garden images of before (left) and right after (right) MycoEvolve native species design and installation 2021

Greenbelt just starting to establish: salt tolerant, native pollinator habitat below; left is before and right is just after MycoEvolve design installation

"We were grateful for Jess’ incredible work ethic and knowledge about plant ecology. We gave Jess our budget and she worked within our means. She was incredibly knowledgeable about which plants would be best in which areas. She thinned plants, ordered and planted medicinals, and flowering plants that would bloom in different parts of the growing season. Her knowledge around creating pollinator gardens had immediate results. I loved noticing the native bees. Jess also built us a rain garden to deal with the water as it runs off our roof. She chose plants for our greenbelt, careful to select plants that were salt tolerant as well as helpful in stopping erosion of the soil into the street. We look forward to putting into practice so many of her lessons."
- Burlington Residents: Michelle Lefkowitz
& Stuart Weiss (Fall 2021)

"Mycoevolve has been a wonderful asset to the Soteria community in Burlington. Jess and her team have supported in planting medicinals and native plants that will support Soteria residents in reconnecting with the land, the larger Soteria community, and with themselves. Jess has supported in making the space joyfully wild, while educating staff and resident volunteers on the site install, all while building the soil and restoring the landscape."
---Loren Deron, Soteria House Team Leader (Nov. 2021)

"Thank you for taking our bare garden and with your design and installation, you made it look so beautiful and full. You arranged the variety of plants in a very organized and attractive manner. You are truly talented! We appreciate the hard work effort and expertise that you put into our garden."
---Devorah R, Burlington VT (Nov. 2021)

"Working with Jess is an absolute delight. Whether you have a small partial day project or are interested in designing a multi-year permaculture plan my family found working with MyCoEvolve to be amazing. She helped us reach our goals on our budget. She introduced us to medicinal plants that worked for our garden and taught us about how to care for our land with our goals in mind."
---Lauren Larken (April 2018)

"We inherited Jessica Rubin from the former owners of our 130-acre property in Cabot, VT. She had been their trusted gardener for years and came highly recommended, and since the property was stunning, we happily hired her to continue to nurture the expansive gardens throughout the three acres on which our house sits. The property is replete with rock wall gardens covered with flowers and vegetation of wide-ranging variety. Jessica impressed us immediately with her vast knowledge of the plants that grow on our property, as well as her passion and extensive expertise on the principles of permaculture. She is very reliable and works very hard and efficiently to complete each job. My husband always tries to work alongside her, so that he can learn as much as possible from her while we have her here. We have already learned so much from Jessica, and are looking forward to a continuing relationship, not only in growing and maintaining our gardens, but in also growing our knowledge of permaculture. We highly recommend Jessica Rubin to anyone who wishes to create a mini-ecosystem through a holistic approach designed to lessen the carbon footprint, reduce garden maintenance, and create a healthy and balanced environment for their garden."
--- Patti Wahlberg (November 2017)

"We live completely off-grid at the end of a 1.6-km driveway surrounded by a mixed northern hardwood/spruce/fir forest. The house is located in what the previous owners termed The Clearing. Jessica has worked here for years maintaining the soil health and fertility of the extensive flower gardens, the stunning beauty of which sometimes takes our breath away. In our quest for sustainability, we have planted vegetable gardens and fruit trees. When Jessica first mentioned to me about inoculating the soil with fungi, I mistakenly thought she wanted me only to grow edible mushrooms. Through conversations with her and my own research however I now better understand Mycoevolve’s work with fungal inoculation aims, in addition to increasing edible & medicinal landscape, to restore damaged soils, & improve soil fertility, while increasing nutrient availability and water retention. With Jessica’s direction, I constructed my first hugelkulture bed this fall. In addition, personal projects here at The Clearing, on which Jessica has given me guidance, include honey bees, a Farallones composting toilet, & a multi-reactor composting operation. Thank you Jessica."
--- Eric Wahlberg (December 2017)

"Jessica did a great job on my garden box project which was a massive hugelkulture bed. She educated me about the ecology of the project and worked hard to get it done in a timely manner. She also planted several edible fruit & nut perennials in the landscape to diversify the habitat."
-- Andrea VanLiew (November 2017)

"Jessica is very knowledgeable about garden improvement, and has tons of energy seeing projects through. She: helped us create a multi year plan based on our goals, planted covercrop in between my plants to build soil fertility, sheet mulched and built a hugelkulture bed for an polyculture hedgegrow, helped us start a worm compost, built a 3 bin outdoor compost system for us, and connected us with Lake Champlain International through which we received a BLUE evaluation and learned what we can do next to help our landscape be more watershed friendly. Her plans were an excellent mix of manageable and ambitious, easily tailored to my budget. I highly recommend Jessica."
Homeowner, Mary Ann Hollywood (December 2017)

"Jessica has come to my property for several years in a row and will likely return for several more years. I have 10 challenging acres, but Jessica has proved the land is workable. She has much knowledge regarding plant life and how to work with the curves and growth of nature and not against it. She is incredibly respectful of the land and works the land, tending to each plant and all soil with love and care. I am hoping as we add to the projects of my property year after year that it will continue evolve and transform into the natural paradise of my dreams; filled with food bearing and medicinal plant life."
--- Homesteadowner, Alison Van Arsdel (May 2014)

Suburban garden below (left) is before, and after design installation (right)

Suburban garden After, above: all native species