CPI and Eden Urban Gardens are excited to announce a unique Permaculture & Organic Gardening internship! Get an immersive and diverse experience working on April's farm and in our nursery over 8-10 weeks.
Growing Value Nursery 2025 Fall Plant Selection
Find out what we’re carrying this fall at Growing Value Edible Nursery! We have selections for every layer of your food forest, specially chosen for what does best in our bioregion and growing zone.
IMPORTANT NOTE: This list reflects everything we’ve ordered, but may NOT show what we currently have in stock. If you are looking for something specific, we strongly recommend calling (513) 259-3504 or emailing cpinursery@gmail.com to check on what is available.
FOOD FOREST TREES
APPLE
Domestic (pollinator)
Golden Delicious
Liberty, 2yr semidwarf
Pristine, dwarf
Pristine, semidwarf
Ruby Rush
Zestar
ASIAN PEAR
Hosui
Shinseiki
Yoinashi
BASSWOOD/LINDEN, American
CHERRY
Balaton (tart)
Coral Champagne
Shelan
CHESTNUT, Chinese
DOGWOOD, Gray
ELDERBERRY
Adams
Bob Gordon
Marge
Pocahontas
Ranch (Lg, Sm)
Wyldewood (Lg, Sm)
York
FIG
Olympian
Chicago Hardy
HAWTHORN
Russian/Black
Green
HAZELNUT
Jefferson
European Hybrid
MULBERRY
American/red
Wild seedlings
NECTARINE
Earliglo
Summer Beaut
OAK FAMILY
Bur
Swamp White
PAWPAW
PEACH
Gala
Indian Free
Indian Blood
PEAR
Shenandoah (Lg/Sm)
Magness
PERSIMMON
American
Asian, Fuyu
Prairie Star
PLUM
Black, P. Nigra
Victory
Vision
SUMAC, Staghorn
TRIFOLIATE ORANGE
WALNUT FAMILY
Heartnut
Hican - Dooley Burton
Hican - Clarksville
Hican - McCallister
WILLOW, Basketry varieties
NITROGEN FIXERS
Black Locust
False Indigo, A. fruticosa
Honey Locust
KY Coffee
Redbud
Siberian Pea Shrub
FRUITING SHRUBS & VINES
ARONIA
From seeds of cultivars
Mckenzie
Viking
BLACKBERRY
Apache
Caddo
Chester
Thornless, variety unknown
BLUEBERRY
Blue Sunset
Chippewa
Duke
NorthBlue
BUSH CHERRY
Jan Bush
Joel
Joy
CURRANT
Titania Black
Imperial White
Consort Black
GOJI BERRY
Phoenix Tears
GOOSEBERRY
Amish Red
Pixwell
Black Velvet
Captivator
Black
Jahns Prairie
Unknown var.
GOUMI BERRY
Sweet Scarlet
Red Gem
HONEYBERRY
Aurora
Beast
Beauty
Blizzard
Czech 17
Indigo Gem
Indigo Treat
Mystery variety
Tundra
HOPS
Centennial
Fuggle
Horizon
Mystery variety
Sterling
Sunbeam
JOSTABERRY, Black (Lg/Sm)
JUJUBE, Lang
KIWI
Anna
Arctic Beauty Female
Arctic Beauty Male
Geneva 3
Male (unknown)
MI State
PASSIONFLOWER, Native
RASPBERRY
Anne Yellow
Boyne Red
Caroline Red
Double Gold
Fall Gold
Heritage Red
Jewel Black
Nova Red
Royalty Purple
Wine, Red
ROSE
Rugosa
Swamp
SEABERRY
Male
Sirola
Seedlings, unsexed
SERVICEBERRY
Western
SPICEBUSH, Native
HERBACEOUS, GROUND COVER, ROOTS & FORAGE
ANISE HYSSOP
ASPARAGUS
Purple Passion
Mary Washington
BAPTISIA, Blue
BEE BALM, M. Didyma
BEE BALM/WILD BERGAMOT, M. Fistulosa
BLACK EYED SUSAN
BLUE ASTER
BLUE FLAG NATIVE IRIS
BUTTERFLYWEED
COLUMBINE
COMFREY
Large Leaf
Seedless
COMPASS PLANT
CONEFLOWER, E. angustifolia & E. purpurea
CUPFLOWER
DAHLIA
EGYPTIAN WALKING ONION
FO-TI (Polygonum multiflorum - Traditional Chinese Medicine herb)
GARLIC CHIVES
GINGER, Native
GOLDENSEAL
GOTU KOLA (Centella asiatica - Traditional Chinese Medicine herb)
HORSERADISH
HORSETAIL
LANCE LEAF COREOPSIS
LAVENDER
LEMON BALM
MOTHERWORT
MOUNTAIN MINT
MULLEIN
NETTLES, Stinging
PRAIRIE CLOVER
PRICKLY PEAR
RATTLESNAKE MASTER
RHUBARB
ROSEMARY
SAGE, Culinary
SAGEBRUSH (ARTEMISIA)
SELF-HEAL
SOCHAN (CUTLEAF CONEFLOWER)
SOLOMON’S SEAL
Variegated
Native
SPIDERWORT
STRAWBERRIES
mixed varieties
Jewel
Honeoye
Gensic
Earliglo
AC Valley
SUNCHOKE (JERUSALEM ARTICHOKE)
SWAMP MILKWEED
SWEET FLAG
THYME
VALERIAN
Howard Zuefle: Nurseryman, Yogi, Linchpin
Since coming to serve as Nursery Manager at Growing Value Nursery, Howard “Howie” Zuefle has proved himself to be invaluable to Cincinnati Permaculture Institute on so many levels: teacher, nursery manager, advisor, designer, installer, consultant, guide, friend. He wears these hats as easily as he wears his winning smile. He says he owes it all to his basic desire to eat well. Wild forage of food and organic growing of food are among his many passions and pathways to that end.
His knowledge and experience, combined with his community network in East Price Hill, and other Cincinnati neighborhoods, made him the likely force with both the “Seeds of Change” and the “Boots on the Ground” programs, funded by grants we received in 2024-25. He rather single-handedly consulted, designed, selected, instructed, and installed alongside more than a dozen of our 27 Food Champions at their sites.
All while he was creating and managing the perennial edible nursery stock at CPIs Growing Value Nursery. He takes skillful care of our plants, the high quality of which continues to be praised by GVN customers.
More on Howard Zuefle in his own words:
Howard has been on his journey to find a way of living that integrates our human role in our local ecology for a good while now. For him it took a car accident to motivate him to look beyond the quick fixes mainstream culture throws at us.
The journey started in studying neuroscience and psychology at University of Cincinnati. Then a clear need to be outside took the steering wheel, which brought an internship at the Civic Garden Center, a Permaculture Design Course with CPI, Foraging Mentors, Farming Mentors, and the rich Earth centered community of Cincinnati into his life.
That was all on the going towards the connection with nature outside of himself part; there was also a coming into his own nature side of the journey by integrating the experience, which has involved embodiment practices, somatic experiencing, yoga, grounding/earthing, and learning to stay with the uncomfortable parts of living.
Finding local food, water, and the community that it takes to allow those to happen has been another major variable on the journey. When one finds real food and the nourishing feeling that accompanies it there is no going back.
Howard is always looking to do Permaculture consultations, Botanical surveys, Nature Education, lead Foraging excursions and support others on their journey to a harmonious way of living. You can email him at HowGround@proton.me.
Calling All Permaculture Designers: Help Us Relieve a Design Bottleneck
In 2025, Cincinnati Permaculture Institute was introduced to and began a friendly partnership with another local organization with a complementary mission to our own: Food Not Lawns, a mutual aid group with a permaculture foundation. Both organizations envision a more resilient future in which food consumers become food producers, and grow food (and other essential lifestyle staples) in a way that is beneficial for the Earth we all rely on. A better, more sustainable way of life that we believe is entirely possible and within our power to create.
The good news: there is a growing awareness of and demand for sustainable, edible landscaping & environmental design in and around Cincinnati, and between our two organizations (and other mutual partners), we have a potentially huge community of willing hands and hearts who could be planting food forests all over the city and surrounding counties.
The issue? We have a bottleneck.
Lots of sites to design for, lots of volunteers ready to implement and maintain, but for the time being, only a handful of trained permaculturists currently engaged in the work to get us from Idea to Execution. It’s preventing us from taking on more than a project or two at a time and building momentum.
That’s where you come in… we hope!
CPI has graduated more than 350 permaculture designers in the last 15+ years, and we just know that the skills to solve this bottleneck are out there, right in our backyard. Skills like:
Creating basemaps and using design software
Assessing the water, sun, slope, soil, and other key landscape features to inform design
Plant selection and companion/guild planting for a food forest or edible garden
Planning phases of implementation
Think small scale residential yard upgrade, not whole-site comprehensive design or large undeveloped sites, and you’ll have a sense of the scope of work.
What’s that…you don’t think you can do it? You’re not experienced enough? Not a pro? Out of practice?
Well, there’s no cure for Impostor Syndrome like proof, and projects like these are a great way to gain experience and put a few more designs under your belt until that “I can’t…” voice in your head is replaced with “I did!” Whether you’re a recent PDC graduate or it’s been a few seasons since your class design project, you’re qualified to do this!
Our teacher Felix Marisa has been laying the groundwork for collaboration between CPI and Food Not Lawns, using a “design jam” model for collaborative design that anyone can replicate, and would be available to help coach and facilitate any designers wanting to get involved.
If you are interested, please use the form below to contact Felix by email:
Rethinking the American Lawn: Growing Beyond Nostalgia [Op-Ed]
Food Champions of Cincinnati: Mary Dudley
In 2024, CPI received a generous grant award from the City of Cincinnati's Boots on the Ground program and set about growing and nurturing ten “Food Champions" around the west side of the city. This year, we are inviting our Food Champs to share their stories. In this article we’d like to introduce you to Mary Dudley.
Mary is a pivotal person in the CPI Food Champions stories. Her tireless efforts weaving community through gardening has brought more connections than we can count. She tells her own story below…
Mary on the back porch of her Westwood home near Mt Airy Forest
I am a seeds & soil kinda gal.
I find my fondest moments are those when I am filled to the brim with excitement as I prepare soil for a new garden bed, stirring the black compost with soft brown peat. Since my daily schedule is unpredictable, the time to fill and seed these freshly churned beds occasionally falls under a shining moon and I go to bed soil streaked and hoping for a gentle rain to awaken the sleeping seeds. Once the seeds germinate and put on new growth, I nurture them with trellising structures compiled from unused items pieced together with love and twine. My passion is for the resilience of the plants who boldly root themselves and make life blossom in the face of rain, wind, drought and heat, fending off pressures from herbivores along the way. I love sharing my plant fascination with others and working together to protect the fertile spaces of our community for many generations to come.
My current volunteer work through the nonprofit Westwood Grows (started in 2022 in an effort to support public gardens in the Westwood neighborhood of Cincinnati) focuses on celebrating neighbors who plant native gardens, cultivating community through seed and plant swaps, and empowering those who sustain existing food forest installations in the community with tools and education.
While a bountiful harvest of fresh produce is desired, the real value lies in the daily interactions I have with neighbors turned friends in the form of compost conversations, texts with fuzzy pictures and questions of identification, smiles shared from snacking in the garden, and friendly honks from drivers who wave their gratitude as we pull up weeds along the road. It is through these relationships I am the most nourished.
To learn more about Westwood Grows and meet the team, visit our website: www.westwoodgrows.org and check out our upcoming events including plant swaps at the Westwood Farmers Market and the Westwood Native Garden Walking Tour hosted in collaboration with Seeding Community.
Growing together,
Mary Dudley, she/her
Botanist, Educator, Nurturer
Website / YouTube / LinkedIn
Food Champions of Cincinnati: Q&A with Heather Sayre
Growing Value Nursery 2025 Spring Plant Selection
Find out what we’re carrying this year at Growing Value Edible Nursery! We have selections for every layer of your food forest, specially chosen for what does best in our bioregion and growing zone.
IMPORTANT NOTE: This list reflects everything we’ve ordered, but may NOT show what we currently have in stock. If you are looking for something specific, we strongly recommend calling (513) 259-3504 or emailing cpinursery@gmail.com to check on what is available.
Scroll to the bottom of the list for a gallery that includes pricing information on all varieties.
FOOD FOREST TREES
APPLE
Domestic
Liberty (Dwarf)
Liberty (SemiDw, Lg/Sm)
Grimes Golden
Ruby Rush (Lg/Sm)
NY 35
Goldrush
Dolgo Crab
Zestar
Pristine (Dwarf)
Pristine (SemiDwarf)
Golden Delicious
ASIAN PEAR
Hosui
Yoinashi
Shinseiki
BASSWOOD/LINDEN, American
CHERRY
Balaton (tart)
Chelan
Coral Champagne
Evans Bali
Sam
Skeena
Sweet Heart
CHESTNUT, Chinese
DOGWOOD, Gray
ELDERBERRY
Adams
Bob Gordon
Marge
Ranch (Lg/Sm)
Wyldewood (Lg/Sm)
Pocahontas
York
FIG
Olympian
Chicago Hardy
HAWTHORN
Russian/Black
Green
HAZELNUT
Beaked
Jefferson
European Hybrid
MULBERRY, American/Red
NECTARINE
Earliglo
Summer Beaut
OAK FAMILY
Bur
Red
Swamp White
PAWPAW - LOW STOCK
Native (Lg/Sm)
Allegheny
Sunflower
PEACH
Gala
Bounty
Indian Free
Indian Blood
PEAR
Shenandoah (Lg/Sm)
Magness
PERSIMMON
American
Prairie Star
PLUM
Black, P. Nigra
Fortune
Victory
Vision
SUMAC, Staghorn
TRIFOLIATE ORANGE
WALNUT FAMILY
Heartnut
Hican - Dooley Burton
Hican - Clarksville
Hican - McCallister
NITROGEN FIXERS
Buttonbush (NOT EDIBLE)
False Indigo
Redbud
KY Coffee
Honey Locust
Black Locust
Siberian Pea Shrub
Wisteria, American
Groundnut, Apios
FRUITING SHRUBS & VINES
ARONIA
McKenzie
Viking
Black (Lg/Sm)
BLACKBERRY
Caddo
Apache
Chester
Thornless (unknown var.)
BLUEBERRY
Northland
Chippewa
Blue Sunset
Duke
Robeson
BUSH CHERRY
CURRANT
Consort Black
Titania Black
Junk Van Tet Red
Imperial White
Pink Champagne
Golden
GOJI BERRY
non-variety
Crimson Star
Phoenix Tears - OUT OF STOCK
GOOSEBERRY
Amish Red
Pixwell
Black Velvet
Captivator
Black
Jahns Prairie
Unknown var.
GOUMI BERRY
Carmine
Sweet Scarlet
Red Gem
GRAPE
Reliance
Mars
HONEYBERRY
Aurora
Tundra
Blizzard
Beast
Indigo Treat
Czech 17
HOPS
Fuggle
Sterling
Sunbeam
Horizon
Centennial
Unknown var.
Native
JOSTABERRY, Black (Lg/Sm)
KIWI
Male
MI State
Anna (Lg/Sm)
Arctic Beauty (m/f)
PASSIONFLOWER, Native
RASPBERRY
Caroline Red
Heritage Red
Nova Red
Boyne Red
Wine Red
Jewel Black
Royalty Purple
Double Gold
Anne Yellow
Fall Gold
ROSE
Rugosa
Swamp
Carolina
SEABERRY
Male
Sirola
Seedlings, unsexed
SERVICEBERRY
Native
Success
Western
SPICEBUSH, Native
HERBACEOUS, GROUND COVER & FORAGE
AMERICAN GINSENG
ANISE HYSSOP
ASPARAGUS
Purple Passion
Mary Washington
BAPTISIA, Blue
BEE BALM/WILD BERGAMOT, M. Fistulosa
BLACK EYED SUSAN
BLUE FLAG NATIVE IRIS
BUTTERFLYWEED
COMFREY
Large Leaf
Seedless
COLUMBINE
COMPASS PLANT
CONEFLOWER (ECHINACEA)
CUPFLOWER
DAHLIA
EGYPTIAN WALKING ONION
GOLDENSEAL
GOTU KOLA (Centella asiatica - Traditional Chinese Medicine herb)
FO-TI (Polygonum multiflorum - Traditional Chinese Medicine herb)
GARLIC CHIVES
GINGER, Native
HORSERADISH
HORSETAIL
LANCE LEAF COREOPSIS
LAVENDER
LEMON BALM
LOVAGE
MOTHERWORT
MOUNTAIN MINT
MULLEIN
NETTLES, Stinging
PRICKLY PEAR
RAMPS
RATTLESNAKE MASTER
RHUBARB
ROSEMARY
SAGE, Culinary
SAGEBRUSH (ARTEMISIA)
SELF-HEAL
SOCHAN (CUTLEAF CONEFLOWER)
SOLOMON’S SEAL
Variegated
Native
Giant
SPIDERWORT
STRAWBERRIES
Jewel
AC Valley
Earliglo
Honeoye
Gensic
mixed varieties
SUNCHOKE (JERUSALEM ARTICHOKE)
SWAMP MILKWEED
SWEET FLAG
THYME
VALERIAN
YARROW
PRICING INFORMATION BELOW
Use the Left and Right arrows to flip through each page of pricing.









Food Champions of Cincinnati: Rodney Christian
Implementation Follow-Up: Nora & David, 2024
In 2024, CPI selected one of the final designs from the year’s permaculture design course as a candidate for implementation. That site belonged to then-students, now-grads Nora & David of Florence, KY. This spring, we asked for an update on their site and anything they have learned.
What they shared was that they were faced with unexpected setbacks, in the forms of life-changing losses and health events, that changed the trajectory of their permaculture dreams. Though time spent in the garden was limited, there were still lessons learned, which Nora shared with us by email in March:
“Things have settled down a little since this January and we've been able to assess the needs of our plantings. Most of everything survived and all sorts of valuable lessons learned which, for the sake of brevity, I will list:
Accepting our limitations... circumstances and physical challenges caused us to re-evaluate what we could actually do.
Adjust and overcome: move EVERYTHING closer to the house and a water source. Incorporating edible bushes and plants into my already existing flower beds. (There was a mental block all these years in my head from doing this. hahaha. BUT, I'm not alone in thinking this way.)
Water access is a BIG DEAL.
Having just one hose to reach everywhere was a little challenging.
I put several barrels around our back shed and was quite impressed with how much water was able to be collected! But... in the dead of summer, a 55 gallon barrel was only enough for 1 bed!
Wood chips and deep mulch REALLY helped. I'm convinced that this is what kept most of our plants alive when we couldn't get around to watering.
The raised beds that we installed around some old locust trees created a problem. We underestimated how even mostly dead locust stumps would send up all sorts of thorny little branches!!!!! I have begun to move plants from the raised beds to other locations, pulling back soil and cut off those branches. I plan on burning the stumps to avoid using chemicals to kill them. Once I can be certain that this has fixed the problem, I will probably reinstall raised beds, but use something like metal raised beds.
Deer pressure was unrelenting... even in the suburbs. I used netting around several bushes and trees and they still somehow were able to reach through and nip some down! Taking extra steps to protect everything including Irish spring soap and "Scram" (blood meal).
Making low cost fertilizer without the typical manures. This has become something I've given a lot of thought to. I don't trust buying manure from unknown sources due to what cows and horses are eating these days (Graze-On herbicide can be ingested by these animals and pass right through to their manure!). I'm also not allowed to keep chickens in Florence. While I do purchase some organic fertilizers, this can get expensive. So, I've focused on comfrey tea as well as fermenting other plant material (inspired by JADAM - a low-cost sustainable organic farming method that originated in Korea). I've also started growing cover crops like clover and daikon radish.
“I am so grateful to CPI and all those who came out to help,” Nora adds - and we’re thankful to her for sharing her lessons learned this first year post-implementation.
To keep up with our ongoing implementation days, see the full schedule here.
Food Champions of Cincinnati: Nate Hale
In 2024, CPI received a generous grant award from the City of Cincinnati's Boots on the Ground program and set about growing “Food Champions" around the west side of the city. By working with leadership already present in these neighborhoods, we were able to assist in launching ten inspiring projects, each one unique to the group of individuals who conceived and orchestrated it. These folks brought their vision, goals, friends, volunteers and hard work, and CPI helped guide and finance to establish significant food production. This year, we are inviting our Food Champs to share their stories.
Nate Hale, in his own words…
I want to thank the folks at CPI so much for the support over the past year. The fruit-producing trees and shrubs you provided were of exceptional quality, and the planting event, where we added over 20 trees to our growing orchard, was truly inspiring.
My family and I have immense gratitude for the opportunity to live on and steward this land. We've been transitioning large parts of it from a landscape dominated by a few opportunistic species to a more diverse and balanced ecosystem and incorporating food producing plants.
Our hope is that this space will continue to become a place for sharing, learning, and building community. My background in production agriculture has instilled in me the importance of integrating annual and perennial food production for a sustainable future. For the past several seasons we have been working on the first phase of the design - to establish a productive market garden where we produce annual and perennial fruit and vegetable, and enact practices to improve overall soil health.
The recent planting of orchard trees marks a significant step in realizing our vision for a larger orchard as a part of the whole site design. We're also implementing water management techniques, planting nut trees, and reintroducing native species.
I am incredibly grateful for this partnership in helping us realize this vision and move towards a more resilient way of living and working with the land. I am excited to see how our partnership evolves in the coming years. Food is a beautiful and inspiring aspect of life, and I am grateful for the opportunity to interact with it in this way.
Food Champions of Cincinnati: Ellie Suggs' Story
In 2024, CPI received a generous grant award from the City of Cincinnati's Boots on the Ground program and set about growing “Food Champions" around the west side of the city. By working with leadership already present in these neighborhoods, we were able to assist in launching ten inspiring projects, each one unique to the group of individuals who conceived and orchestrated it. These folks brought their vision, goals, friends, volunteers and hard work, and CPI helped guide and finance to establish significant food production. This year, we are inviting our Food Champs to share their stories.
Ellie Suggs
In her own words…
I’ve lived in Cincinnati my whole life - when I was born my family lived in Cheviot, and we’ve always identified as proud West Siders, so taking the job as Director of Agriculture at Cincinnati Urban Promise (CUP) in Westwood felt like coming full circle!
My overarching interests are in human food security and ecological restoration, so I have loved learning about permaculture’s applications in edible landscapes through CPI!
My journey with growing started in college, where I majored in Biology and researched population genetics of native plants to support the habitat restoration efforts of Great Parks. Since then, I’ve shifted my efforts to focus more directly on making food and outdoor education more accessible to urban areas.
At CUP, my job is to provide local preK-12th grade students with agricultural and conservation education so they can grow up to be food-independent residents who care about the ecological wellbeing of our city. To aid in this, we are striving to create an almost entirely edible landscape on our property, with plantings of native perennials and annual vegetables along with some pollinator plantings for education (and aesthetics!).
When I saw Susan VonderHaar’s gardens at Dater Montessori, I just knew I needed to collaborate with her! Sure enough, CPI has been an invaluable partner thus far as CUP now has a fruit tree orchard and berry patch where we used to have lawn and weeds. We are so excited to see what the rest of 2025 brings!










Stay tuned for more Food Champion stories!
CPI Featured on Cincinnati Bucket List
We were featured in a Redfin article! Check it out here: Things to Do in Cincinnati: A Bucket
2024: Sharing, Learning, and Gaining Momentum Toward Our Mission
Growing Value Nursery Fall 2024 Plant List
Growing Value Nursery: 175+ Varieties Available Starting Spring 2024
Cincinnati Permaculture Institute’s Growing Value Nursery carries a specialized selection of edible perennial trees, shrubs, bushes, and berries, along with complimentary plantings for your food forests and guilds, such as flowers to attract pollinators and perennial ground covers. This rare selection has been curated over the years to include the varieties and species that perform well in our local bio-region and includes many edibles that are hard to find at traditional nurseries and garden centers. By shopping at Growing Value, you help support CPI’s mission to catalyze a resilient culture in Cincinnati.
FULL PLANT LIST - A to Z
Below is a list of all of the plants we expect to have available for sale starting this spring. However, this list may not reflect our current inventory, so if you are looking for something specific or want to ask before you buy, please feel free to reach out by email or call (513) 259-3504 for the most up to date information.
((SCROLL DOWN FOR PRICING INFORMATION))
Anise hyssop
Apple, Arkansas Black
Apple, Domestic
Apple, Enterprise
Apple, Gold Rush
Apple, Grimes Golden
Apple, Liberty
Apple, Pristine
Apple, Zestar
Aroniaberry/Chokeberry, Nero
Aroniaberry/Chokeberry, Viking
Asian Pear, Hosui
Asian Pear, Shinsui
Asian pear, Tennosui
Asian pear, Yoinashi
Asparagus
Asparagus, Purple passion
Basswood/Linden, Native
Beebalm/Monarda
Black Locust
Blackberry, Arkansas Prime
Blackberry, Osage
Blackberry, Triple Crown
Blueberry, Blueray
Blueberry, Bonus
Blueberry, Duke
Blueberry, Jersey
Blueberry, Northland
Blueberry, Patriot
Bur Oak
Butternut
Buttonbush
Cherry, Carmine Jewel
Cherry, Chelan
Cherry, Coral Champaign
Cherry, Evans
Cherry, Lapins
Cherry, Sam
Cherry, Skeena
Cherry, Sweetheart
Cherry, Tart, Mt. Morancy
Chestnut, Chinese
Comfrey
Coneflower
Currant, Black Consort
Currant, Black Titania
Currant, Pink Champagne
Currant, Red Cherry
Currant, Red Jonkheer Van Tets
Currant, Red Lake
Currant, White Primus
Dogwood, Cornelian Cherry
Dogwood, Gray (Native)
Dwarf Mulberry
Egyptian walking onion
Elderberry, Adams
Elderberry, Bob Gordon
Elderberry, Marge
Elderberry, Native
Elderberry, Nova
Elderberry, York
False Indigo (Baptisia)
False Indigo, (Amorpha)
Fig, Olympian
Goji Berry, Crimson Star
Gooseberry, Amish red
Gooseberry, Black Velvet
Gooseberry, Captivator
Gooseberry, Hinnomaki red
Gooseberry, Pixwell
Goumi Berry, Carmine
Goumi Berry, Sweet Scarlet
Grape, Agria
Grape, Mars
Grape, Niagra
Grape, Reliance
Green Hawthorn
Groumi, Red Gem
Hazelnut, American
Hazelnut, beaked
Hazelnut, Jefferson
Heartnut
Hican, Clarksville
Hican, Dooley Burton
Hican, Mcallister
Honeyberry, Aurora
Honeyberry, Boreal Beast
Honeyberry, Boreal Beauty
Honeyberry, Czech
Honeyberry, Tundra
Hops, Fugle
Hops, Nugget
Hops, Sterling
Horseradish
Jostaberry, black
Jostaberry, Red
Jujubee
Jujubee, Shanxi Li
Kentucky Coffee tree, Native
Kiwi, Anna
Kiwi, Male
Kiwi, MI State
Mountain Ash
Mountain Mint
Mulberry
Mullein
Nettle, Skinny, Native
Nettle, Stinging
Passionflower
Pawpaw, Mange
Pawpaw, Native
Pawpaw, NC-1
Pawpaw, PA golden
Pawpaw, Sunflower
Peach, Gala
Peach, Red Haven
Pear, Magness
Pear, Potomac
Pear, Shenandoah
Pecan, Kanza
Persimmon, American
Persimmon, Asian
Plum, American
Plum, chickasaw
Plum, Satsuma
Prickly pear
Quince, Champion
Raspberry, Boyne Red
Raspberry, Double Gold
Raspberry, Heritage Red
Raspberry, Jewel Black
Raspberry, Purple Royalty
Raspberry, Yellow Anne
Red Cedar (Juniper)
Red Mulberry (Native)
Red Oak
Redbud
Rhubarb, Green victoria
Rhubarb,Crimson Red
Rose, Rugosa
Seaberry, Frugana
Seaberry, Golden Sweet
Seaberry, Male
Senna
Serviceberry, Downy (Native)
Serviceberry, Northline
Serviceberry, Regent
Serviceberry, Western
Siberian Peashrub
Sochan/ Cutleaf Coneflower, Native
Solomon Seal
Spearmint
Spicebush, Native
Spiderwort
Strawberry, AC Valley
Strawberry, Gensics
Strawberry, Honey
Strawberry, Jewel
Strawberry, Native
Sumac, Staghorn
Sunchokes/Jerusalem artichoke
Super spur Mayhaw
Swamp Rose, Native
Swamp White Oak
Sweet Annie
Sweet Flag (Acorus americana)
Sweetshrub/carolina allspice
Trifoliate Orange
White Pine
White Sagebrush
Wild Ginger, Native
Wineberry, Red
Wisteria, Native
Witch hazel, Native
Yarrow
Yucca
Spring 2024 Volunteer Opportunities
Want to help Cincinnati Permaculture Institute prepare for the spring season and maybe learn some new gardening skills along the way? Below is our volunteer schedule.
NURSERY
Saturday, February 10, 11-2:
Saturday, March 9th, 11-2
Saturday, March 30th, 11-2
Wednesdays, April 17 and 24th, 4-dusk
Tuesdays in May: May 7, 14 and 28, 5 PM to 8 PM
Our nursery manager Howard Zuefle will be onsite for all volunteer days providing instruction and access to our tools and materials. Come dressed for the weather, whatever it may be! Our nursery is at 824 Enright Ave. Price Hill Cincinnati (in the back of the lot, behind the greenhouse) and parking is available on Enright and Terry St.
OTHER PROJECTS
Sunday, February 18, 2-4 p.m.: Button Making at the Reading branch of the Cincinnati Public Library - Help our events & marketing committee make buttons to use at our events table this year. All supplies provided. Kids welcome!
SIGN UP
Registration is not required, but signing up helps us communicate with you in the event of a change, cancellation, or other details for each volunteer date. Use this link to be added to our volunteer roster!
QUESTIONS?
Contact us at info@cincinnatipermacultureinstitute.org
Raising a Toast: Ten Kinds of Gratitude for 2023
It is said that success results when opportunity meets preparation.
This is meaningful to me in my first full year as Director of Cincinnati Permaculture Institute. Nothing comes about in a vacuum. It’s always a number of people and events that align for a path of success; that help you prepare, that bring opportunities.
It seems my primary duty this year was to observe and interact with the exciting energy that has been channeled to CPI. In 2023 we welcomed five new guest teachers into three PDC classes that were filled with warm, eager learners. The PDC courses have delivered the five newest board members to us and they keep us moving forward. Our founders remain and provide sage guidance. Our deepening relationships with committed communities and individuals hold great promise for future developments.
At times I have felt pushed to my personal limits when presented with decision-making and the discomfort of growing pains. But I know we are on very solid ground and well prepared for the opportunities that await us. After all, we create our own success, yes?!
Susan VonderHaar
Together We’re Better: Ten Kinds of Gratitude for 2023
Growing Value Nursery gets some TLC before spring plant sales start
October Harvest Festival Potluck Dinner
Making art with compostable veggies at the Summer Solstice party
Westwood Grows bed installations
Learning about soil at the July 2023 PDC at Antioch
Our 2023 Yearlong PDC Graduates + Lead Teacher Doug Crouch
New “Neighbors” : We welcomed 12 new members, or as we like to call them, Neighbors, through our membership program that sustains and supports us. We look forward to seeing them at the Growing Value nursery, where members enjoy additional discounts and special shopping hours.
OneSource gave us a nonprofit wellness check-up and found our organization to be dedicated, effective, transparent, and responsible stewards of our resources. Their suggested strategy is to build our capacity to increase impact. Maybe you or someone you know would be interested in joining our board or working with a committee?
Expanding Beyond Cincinnati: Antioch College in Yellow Springs asked us to partner in offering a summer intensive PDC in July. This partnership continues with the second offering scheduled for Spring of 2024.
Record-Breaking Growth: The flagship Year Long Permaculture Design Course saw a record number of registrants, growing our total number of graduates to over 300 in 15 years.
Clear the Nursery: Growing Value Nursery nearly sold out of stock this year! We were able to source some stock locally and organically from growers in the bioregion. New plants arrive in April.
Neighborhood Impact: Thanks to the City of Cincinnati’s Office of Urban Agriculture grant funding, we partnered with Westwood Grows and Lincoln Heights Community Development Council and installed perennial, edible plants in nine different residences, schools, and churches.
Bringing the Party: We hosted or joined several events, including Spring and Fall Plant Sales, a Harvest Celebration at the Price Hill Greenhouse, the Monarch Festival at Christ the King Church, and a beautiful Summer Solstice gathering at Treasure Lake.
Getting Our Hands Dirty: We broke ground on our newest continuing education program, “Permaculture Implementation,” on December 9 in Florence, KY with 17 volunteers.
We Are the Champions: We join many other Green Cincinnati Plan Champions working on six action steps, including “Training farmers and gardeners to increase success, including adaptation to a changing climate.”
All Aboard: We extend a very special thanks to our board and committee members who work tirelessly to improve CPI and strengthen our community web.
We can’t say it enough: THANK YOU for being part of our mission to create a resilient permanent culture in Cincinnati. We are here for you, with you, and because of you, whether you’re a PDC student, a teacher, a community leader, a nursery customer, a volunteer, a neighbor — you are part of this ecosystem and your contribution matters!
Introducing Our Pilot Implementation Program, Featuring Student Designs
Cincinnati Permaculture Institute’s growing community of permaculture design graduates has been asking us for implementation opportunities and continued education that will give them skills beyond just designing systems and experience actually building them. In other words: you’re ready to get your hands dirty!
In permaculture, one element can serve many functions. As our board brainstormed different ways we could meet this emerging need in our community, we discerned that an output that our classes already produce - student design projects - could become the input for a new implementation education initiative. By selecting a student design project from each year’s class to begin implementing, we create a natural pathway for succession while creating opportunities for our community to come work together and stay engaged with each other past the completion of the class. Our hope is that the selected sites become part of our larger network of educational sites throughout the region that future students can learn from.
Choosing the Pilot Site
Six designs were presented at the end of the most recent yearlong PDC for six very different sites across Cincinnati. The CPI board reviewed and discussed these designs and narrowed down the selection to one project to sponsor a Phase I implementation at that site. We considered factors such as the scale and scope of the project, the location of the site and access for the surrounding community, and the types of projects that our organization could best support with materials and funding.
Jess Rinehart presents her segment of the group design for The Shire.
With so much appreciation for the efforts of all of our students this year, who made our job incredibly hard by submitting six excellent designs, we are pleased to announce that the selected site project is "The Shire" - a half-acre suburban homestead in Boone County Kentucky, designed by Jess Rinehart, Jeremy Janson, and Shaher Banu Vagh.
For more than 25 years, this site has been home to PDC classmates David and Nora Brown, who affectionately call their home “The Wallace Avenue Center for the Reality Impaired” and regularly host gatherings there. The group's proposed design includes a food forest, a meditation garden, water catchment solutions, and a passive solar greenhouse.
Nora and David Brown watch the presentation of the group who designed for their site.
CPI will work with the Browns to determine an implementation plan for part of this design in the coming year. Look forward to future announcements of our plans and opportunities to get involved!
Meet Our Graduates: Ayla Bella of Rooting Resilience
CPI students come from all walks of life and bring a diversity of experience and knowledge to our community. In this feature we introduce you to some of our graduates, the work that they’re doing, and how their permaculture education has benefited them.
Rooting Resilience: A Young Nonprofit Focused on Community Forest Gardens
Hello, everyone! My name is Ayla Bella, I am a 2023 graduate of a Cincinnati Permaculture Institute Permaculture Design Course (summer intensive at Antioch College) and the founder of Rooting Resilience, a permaculture-based organization. I’m excited to share our vision with you!
In my city of Columbus, Ohio, much of the public land I see is greatly underutilized. Parks have grass lawns that provide no protection from urban heat, community centers and libraries are bordered by landscaping or grass, and many lots lie vacant. Similarly, there is a great disparity in tree coverage between communities, varying from 41% to 9%. The city has several wonderful initiatives, like the Urban Forestry Master Plan, to address these issues, but more must be done.
Rooting Resilience, the nonprofit organization I am establishing, is focused on creating community forest gardens on this underutilized public land, with the mission to cultivate resilience, equity, community empowerment, and connection to the earth and her inhabitants. Forest gardens have the opportunity to address many problems at once by reducing food insecurity, climate change impacts, and inequity in access to food and green space - but I’m sure you all knew that already! We have been networking with the Columbus community for several months and have an eye on a few sites for pilot projects in the spring in partnership with Recreation and Parks.
If this mission excites you, below are some ways you can help!
If you know of nurseries or seed companies that may be interested in donating plants, seeds, or materials please contact us at rootingourresilience@gmail.com.
If you’re interested in supporting us while staying up-to-date on our projects, follow us on Instagram (@rootingresilience) and Facebook (Rooting Resilience) and share these accounts with others!
If you’d like to make a financial contribution to support our forest garden pilot project, this link will take you to the donation page for our fiscal sponsor, Local Matters. Important note: for a donation to go to Rooting Resilience, you must write “Rooting Resilience” in the donor notes section of the donation page. Otherwise, you will be donating to one of Local Matters’ other worthy causes!
If you have any other thoughts, ideas, or connections, you can reach us at rootingourresilience@gmail.com.
Thank you for your support!