Our Work
Garden Green provides education on nontoxic alternatives to
toxic pesticides, for home gardeners, farmers, retailers, parks departments,
municipalities, nonprofit organizations, and corporations.
Located on Vashon Island, in Puget Sound, we
specialize in the green gardening needs of Western Washington.
• Development
of green garden product purchasing guides
• Educating
retailers about green garden products and the risks of toxic products and
encouraging them to stock more green products and less of the toxic products
• Giving talks
to the public, schools, community groups, and businesses
• Creation of
Green Ways that Work! for retailers and
gardeners, covering all major gardening categories
• Creating
Fact Sheets on key garden pests of Western Washington, and how to address them
without the use of toxic chemicals
• Writing
articles for publication on harm caused by toxic pesticides, and organic
alternatives.
• Secondary and primary research of organic products and methods
About Michael and Diane
About Michael and Diane
MICHAEL LAURIE
Michael has been researching and working to reduce
toxic pesticide use in the Pacific Northwest since 2003. He served on the
Washington Toxics Coalition board for 2 years.
His work on pesticide education on Vashon Island,
Washington has been done with retailers, home gardeners, Master Gardeners,
professional landscapers, and other Vashon organizations. He led the effort to
create guides to toxic pesticides for Vashon Island retailers to post in their
pesticide aisle, an ongoing effort since 2007. Over the years, his efforts have
been supported and sponsored by Puget Sound Partnership, The Vashon-Maury
Island Groundwater Protection Committee, Seattle Tilth, King County,
Washington, Sustainable Vashon, the Rose Foundation, and many individuals.
Trained as a Master Gardener and Master Composter,
Michael has been gardening organically for over 40 years. In his home garden
(with Diane Emerson) he grows over 200 species of culinary and medicinal herbs,
fruit, vegetables, native plants, and ornamental plants.
Michael has been a sustainability consultant for
over 30 years, and founded Watershed LLC, http://www.WatershedLLC.net/
DIANE EMERSON
Diane joined Michael in this work in 2014. She
knows chemicals, having a science degree and 17 years working in the specialty
chemical industry.
She, like Michael, has been an organic gardener for
over 40 years, and has found many ways to get the job done without using toxic
chemicals.
A past president of the Minnesota State
Horticultural Society, Diane has given many presentations on gardening, helped lead gardening tours to Europe, and advised and encouraged thousands of gardeners over the years.
She helped create the Minnesota Green community garden program, and spent the summer of 2011 bicycling and guerrilla gardening in France. She obtained her permaculture design certificate in 2012 from Starhawk’s Earth
Activist Training
In 2014 she organized a Permaculture Design Certificate course on Vashon Island, Washington, offered on a gift basis.
Michael and Diane live on Vashon Island, where they practice what they preach on 3 acres of forest and 1/2 acre of garden, filled with medicinal and edible plants. Diane offers organic gardening services to island residents, and advises on plant selection, garden design, eco-turf, and ways to decrease maintenance. Her gardening services website is http://emersongardening.webs.com/