| When we launched Bear Creek Outdoor Living ten years ago, I never could have imagined what it would become today. It’s not just a business. Instead, it’s an embodied mission and vision to help our clients get outside in everyday life. This vision was not just something we pulled out of a hat. It was the same vision that shaped Brian and I’s own lives over the last 30 years of marriage. We love the outdoors and enjoy living in a place that allows us to explore outdoor spaces from the Blue Ridge Mountain trails to the gardens and ponds outside our own farmhouse door. For the vast majority of our business journey, the design and building of outdoor spaces for our clients has really come from Brian’s love of building structures. However, in the last two years we have begun to receive an influx of requests from our clients to include landscaping in the scope of their project. Just as much as Brian loves to build outdoor structures, my love for the outdoors really comes to life through nature and plants. I especially enjoy the marriage between edible and ornamental landscaping, a concept known as foodscaping. Growing up, I was blessed to be part of a family that came from a long line of traditional gardeners. My mom’s Mennonite background brought with it the knowledge of growing and preserving food through the season. Admittedly, I didn’t appreciate the garden very much as a child, but now, as an adult, I am incredibly thankful for the lessons I learned from my Mom. About ten years ago, I dove deep into the world of Permaculture and received my Permaculture Design Certification. This introduced me to a way of gardening, land management, and design that was regenerative but also productive and aesthetic. I began to learn ways of incorporating food in a non-traditional way, like adding herbs to existing flowerbeds or mixing fruiting bushes and trees along the perimeter. I learned about soil health and how to improve it so plants could flourish. I learned the value of capturing water to then slow-and-sink it in the right places. These, among countless other principles, have shaped my appreciation for sustainable land management and care. Then, two years ago, Brian and I purchased a farm property outfitted with an infrastructure of gardens, ponds, and orchards. I have come to enjoy cultivating this dream space into a foodscape that feeds our family and Bear Creek team, while also supporting a mix of small farm animals, native wildlife, and pollinators. Over the next few weeks, we will introduce you to our own farm and outdoor space to highlight the unique foodscape we are cultivating around our home. There are many amazing foodscape possibilities that can add form, function, and productivity to your outdoor space, while also promoting sustainable and regenerative practices. This introduction to the farm is intended as a precursor to introduce additional foodscaping services we are excited to start offering to our past, present, and future clients as we help bring the outdoors closer to home in new and exciting ways. Follow along on our social media for a forthcoming farm tour and fresh inspiration to begin incorporating foodscaping into your own home space! |
| Victoria MiningerFounder of Bear Creek Outdoor Living |