Updates for Thumbprint Endeavors and Thumbprint Design Services, LLC (AKA, TE and TDS)

I started this blog entry back in November and I’m just now caught up enough to actually finish it and get it posted.  Whew! We all think Winter will give us a chance to catch up and rest up.  

Not so, Watson.

What’s been happening?

Fall was a busy firewood season just as we harvested the last of the garden and all beds covered in leaves and put to bed for winter.  There are sooooo many dead and dying Ash trees because of the Emerald Ash Borer.  That shiny little insect came here from Asia in wooden shipping pallets and has proven to be incredibly invasive and, sadly, many huge beautiful trees are coming down one way or another. Unfortunately, no more Ash baseball bats, while firewood is extremely plentiful. 

So far, (fingers crossed) it has been a pretty mild December and January and those woodworking projects I’d been stockpiling have pushed their way to the middle of my radar screen.  One of my Christmas presents was a big box full of tools with rechargeable batteries.  Yahoo, someone really knows what I like (and that keeps me out of his tools, somewhat).  Needless to say, I had to try   them and so far I made two tables basically using the finest scrap wood I found in our garage. 

The beautiful tabletop was free scrap wood from a sustainably operated company in Wharton OH, Care Caskets. During a tour of their plant last fall, they said ‘if you see something you like, take   it, its yours’.  So I immediately knew that beautiful piece was going home with me and what use I'd have for it. 

The other tabletop is reclaimed wood that in a former life was a window sash in a 100 year old house in West Dayton.   Next up on my project list is to utilize the polished scrap slabs of granite from our kitchen.  I’m thinking perhaps outdoor versions for garden tables and benches.  So more fun things for me to design and more wood working skills to learn as I stay busy while wait for the Spring gardening season to begin.

Speaking of gardening, TDS is starting to get requests for consults and folks wanting plans for new landscaping projects.  Yeah! All those garden catalogues that come in the mail daily are getting recycled and repurposed to help clients imagine the possibilities.  It is going to be a terrific growing season this year!

Where we’ve been:

November 2015:  As a Planning Committee member, I helped out with the 4^th annual Montgomery County Food Summit which focused on local foods and ending hunger in the Dayton area.  Dayton is too high up on the list of communities that have huge numbers of citizens that are hungry or suffer from ‘food insufficiency’ as it is called.  Not a statistic that Dayton’s proud of.

I continue to be involved with the Environmental Education Council of Ohio and serve as a Board member and Chair of the Communications Committee.  That means I edit the quarterly EECO Newsletter.

As mentioned above, I attended the Ohio Association of Litter Prevention and Recycling Professionals meeting that toured the Care Caskets facility.

Mid November, I headed to GreenBuild 2015 in Washington DC.  Great learning experience.  Terrific variety of sessions – from deep in the weeds energy modeling techniques to, my favorites , Elizabeth Kolbert speaking about “The Sixth Extinction” that is occurring and “Food is everywhere”, including rooftops in NYC.

We’re still here -- just busy, busy, busy this summer!

Hard to believe it is already August and two months since I had time to update the TE/TDS blog. Today is rainy (again) so its time for an update. (Next on my list is my LinkedIn page; it is even more overdue!).

Someone asked the other day what I’ve been up to lately so I started a list:

Even before my final project was turned in for my Landscape Design course (yea! 100% A+), I started my 8-week landscape design internship with Jeremy Swihart.  Great person to do my internship with, very knowledgeable and willing to share what he knows.  Of course, May and June are the Busiest months of the year so the pace was frantic.

At the same time I was backing out of Wright State University after 20 years, there were many details to attend to on campus but it was definitely Time.  The Grounds Crew turned the Campus Garden into a wildflower bed and the Student Success Center was completed in April so just the LEED paperwork to compile so the architect can get it submitted.  Last month I cleared my office, handed in keys and said some farewells but I’m doing so many other interesting things, well, isn’t retirement wonderful?  YES!

I’ve also stepped up my involvement with one of my favorite organizations, the Environmental Education Council of Ohio (EECO).  Another 20 year relationship that I now have more time to support as a member of the Board of Directors and the membership committee.  I am also serving as Communications Committee Chair as well as Co-Editor for the quarterly newsletter.  Great folks doing much needed work with the general public, teachers and students to increase awareness and understanding of environmental issues and impacts of climate change while fostering appreciation of the natural world.

There’s also exciting news on the Local Food front (and I should know, given that I’m on four food-related groups in the Dayton area).  In a meeting of one of those groups, the Montgomery County Food Summit Advisory Board, it was mentioned that the long-awaited RTA Hub fresh produce market had startup funding from all three Montgomery County Commissioners.  A couple of us, along with Cathy Startzman who works with Comm. Judy Dodge, started in on the logistics of how to bring the market into reality.  We met, looked at the space, batted around ideas and I set to work on some preliminary design plans.  More discussion, more meetings and Teri Schock started building the rolling cabinets to store and display the produce while other folks secured commitments from food growers to supply the market and from guest chefs to do demonstrations, share recipes and cooking techniques.  The market will be open for business the end of August!  Just in time to enjoy the abundant harvest of fresh, locally grown produce.

And last but certainly not least – landscape design projects!
In addition to a 20’ X 25’ raised bed garden built from scratch this spring, I designed and built a Shade Garden, complete with my first retaining wall. It is the perfect spot for Azaleas, Rhododendrons and Hostas  – they're thriving and loving it.


The other major undertaking was a pond-less water feature (pond-less for canine and kid-safety reasons).  Inspired by a water feature at Denver Botanic Garden, I set out to design one on a slightly smaller scale.  Collecting and cleaning the rocks took many hours (yes, I collected a pick up truck bed full of rocks of varying sizes from several nearby locations – I certainly earned my official Rock Hound badge).  



We should have posted a video of the process from the start with a small jackhammering project, much digging and moving of Dayton Ohio clay, installation of a solar-powered pump, piping and outflow box, building the mound (many Thanks to my Master Helper, John!).

Then came the process of hand placing hundreds of scrubbed rocks (you name the rock type, its there – granite, limestone, marble, schist, slate, sandstone and more) and finally planting various varieties of sedum and other hardy sun-loving plants on the back side.










Looks great, doesn’t it?

Relaxing soothing, peaceful sounds of trickling water falling gently over the stones.

And that's what we need it after a crazy busy summer like this!

Thumbprint Design Services is out of the gate and off to a quick start!

Last month was Busy and busy is good. 

Several projects and opportunities have appeared on the horizon and its all good.  

Right now, I’m in the process of redesigning a driveway island,

adding garden space, shade and landscaping for a rear yard,

creating a small patio space and designing a cascading water feature

– and that’s just the beginning. 

I’ve also been busy doing ‘take offs’ of designated areas on building plans for mulch, sod and locating and pricing plantings for a local landscaping and irrigation company.

So much to learn and do – isn’t that what this stage of retirement should be like?  Retirement, what’s that?

We may be the new kid on the design block, which means we bring creativity and fresh ideas to your next project – We are only a call away at 937-477-8662 or send an email to:

thumbprintdesignservices@gmail.com

Sound the Trumpets . . . Announcing . . . Thumbprint Design Services!

Put 2 + 2 together and you’ll get the newest branch of TE -- thumbprintdesignservices.com

Yes, believe it, (and knowing us, you will).  We now offer Design Services!

Thumbprint Design Services is exactly that – a wide array of services offered to clients who need assistance with their upcoming projects, both inside and out. 

Thumbprint Design Services is our most recent offering housed under the TE umbrella. Linda recently completed her Landscape Design studies at Clark State and will be working on projects with clients and firms in the area this summer.  With years of gardening and her background in plant ecology, Linda is ready to step into a new Green endeavor with Landscape Design services, specifically and design services in general.

After completing several major remodeling and renovation projects, Linda discovered that she has a keen interest and a real knack for design.  She’d enjoy helping  with any number of projects that you might be thinking about -- just ask!

Maybe you have a house that’s going up for sale soon?  We can help with that all important “Refresh’ inside and out.  Often it is as simple as updating outdoor light fixtures and refreshing the landscaping, Curb appeal gets buyers in the door and a clean, fresh look inside generates interest and brings the offers.

We are also looking for more school garden projects, too! In the meantime, she is busy with teacher training and preparation for this season in the Ruskin School Garden. She will be helping teachers, staff, students and their families to learn about connections between healthy plants and healthy eating as they enjoy the newly created garden space this season.

Another News Flash! Just when you thought that was plenty of News – there’s more! Linda is marking off the days until her much-anticipated Retirement from WSU! After 20 years, it is time to move into a less stressful and more enjoyable day-to-day with designing, landscaping and gardening.

Watch for more news and photos in our Gallery as our Green and Growing efforts blossom and Thumbprint Endeavors continues to grow and branch out!

Contact us at thumbprintdesignservices@gmail.com or thumbprintendeavors@gmail.com or

(937) 477-8662 to learn more.

We look forward to hearing from you soon!

Continuing to Branch Out over Familiar Ground

 At TE, expanding the areas of service we provide just naturally follows from our areas of expertise and interests. For years, Linda has been heavily involved with Food.  In addition to the various school garden projects described here earlier, she’s been on the Planning Committee for the Montgomery County Food Summit that is now in its 4^th year.

Held on November 7^th, this all day event brought together food producers, consumers, gardener and local officials from government such as the health department.  This year’s theme was “Connecting Producers to Consumers ~ From our farms...to our tables”.  Two hundred attendees heard from twenty local presenters, representing all aspects of food production and distribution, on everything from CSA’s to Food Hub models to offering services like EBT and SNAP at Farmers’ Markets. 

We were also treated to a very entertaining and insightful talk by Don Carmody with the Detroit Eastern Market.  Comm. Judy Dodge’s office has spearheaded this event with the goal of increasing the Locally Grown Foods marketplace and growing that economy.  I have been so fortunate to be involved with this up and coming group and this year I was tapped to be the photographer! Check out the great photos!

https://www.dropbox.com/sh/fxvzx8j6e52papa/AABJhYT5-D22ms5Y9RtZv3c3a?dl=0

The other area of growth is school and community gardens.  Think of this TE service area as us working both inside and outside the school building to enhance the learning of everyone – students, teachers and administrators, parents and members of the community.  Greening doesn’t stop at the door and sustainability isn’t just about energy efficiency.  The integrated nature of gardening touches on everything from plant life cycles, why we need to compost food waste (and waste less food!), the living nature of soil, water use, biodiversity and the list just goes on and on.

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Of course I already have a tremendous amount of knowledge about plants, food and gardening but one can always learn more.  The day after the Food Summit, I attended a School Garden workshop presented by Five Rivers Metro Parks.  What a great group of like-minded teacher participants.  Much to learn, much to do, much to bring to our customers, too!

As winter commences, Linda continues to be connected to the Partners for the Environment’s Food Team, the Montgomery County Food Summit group and the Visioning Team for the future Miami Valley Food Hub.  At TE, we just keep on growing – from improving and greening inside facilities to growing and greening outside the buildings too – imagine gardens growing organic food right on hospital or church grounds, business and college campuses and utilizing retail open spaces as garden sites instead of turf to be mowed and sprayed.  Green has many shades and hues, and so many ways to Grow – Grow Green!