Although we work primarily in the Mantua and Belmont neighborhoods of Philadelphia, many people have approached us over the years about getting help with their natural building or homesteading projects. We try to make our skills and experience available, and Preston’s Paradise has extensive experience with many components of an urban homestead or natural building project. We can assist in the planning and design process, or build an entire system from scratch to fit your unique situation.
For 2010, we are able to offer a Backyard Farm package at low-cost (less than $100) to residents that are outside our core neighborhoods. If you are interested in growing food in your own space, contact us for a price sheet for raised bed gardens, fruit trees, or small permaculture orchards. We also have vegetable starts and seeds available to home growers. For more information, email info(at)prestonsparadise.org.
If you want our help in a larger project, we can help in a number of ways. We don’t pretend to be experts, but our experiments have shown us a lot about what works well in urban settings. Contact us if you are interested in learning more about any of the following:
- Raised bed gardens
- Rainwater harvesting and reuse
- Small-scale intensive agriculture
- Backyard chickens
- Cob building, including bread ovens
- Clay infill systems, including strawbale and woodchip/clay insulation
- Passive solar design
- Environmentally safe product recommendations
- Solar-thermal water systems
- Greywater processing and reuse
- Permaculture design and installation
