“Meeting Laura Ruby 7 years ago has had a powerfully positive lasting impact on my life. YummyYards transformed my overgrown front and back yards into an oasis with multiple garden rooms, paths, edible plants, fruit trees, herbs, and flowers. Laura not only helped me understand her permaculture methods, she also became my teacher and fully explained and guided me through the transitional process. Because of Laura and YummyYards I have a greater understanding, appreciation, and love for my soil, the microorganisms that feed my soil and the roots of my plants, and ultimately for the plants themselves. My garden nourishes and feeds my body and soul and is home to multiple varieties of bees, butterflies and other insect life as well as birds, squirrels, rabbits and visiting young children. Laura and YummyYards are not only knowledgeable, talented permaculture gardeners they’re also delightful humans who transform through their positivity and radiance.”

-Deb K

“Laura holds a wealth of knowledge about how to connect people of all ages with their environment in meaningful ways and how to grow sustainably and abundantly. As a teacher, she delivers this knowledge along with stories from her years of experience in a package of awe, wonder, random song lyrics, and hilarious wit. Her classes are energetic, inspiring and get straight to the heart of the matter….soil or otherwise. 😉 Her design work with the schools we visited was beautiful and playful. It’s thoughtful and it’s changing the way children view their world by bringing them back into their ecosystem as partners with all living things….not observers or rulers. I came to the mountains and to this course with dreams of working with children and families utilizing this type of plant knowledge and these invaluable earth skills….and magically found the teacher/mentor turned friend I was looking for!”

-Merideth G.

“Laura’s passion for earth stewardship and teaching others do to the same is incredibly inspiring. This passion and her wealth of knowledge shows itself in her roles as an instructor, parent, friend and contractor. As an instructor, Laura’s attentiveness to students, mindfulness and love for all beings reflected into all of the Permaculture principals I learned. I also really resonated with her knowledge of soil restoration and water harvesting systems which are essential in any sustainable gardening project. I highly recommend her in any venture she undertakes.”

-Kevin W.

“I obtained my Permaculture Design Certificate through a program that Laura Ruby helped to run. She is an extremely knowledgeable naturalist who is also a great communicator, able to explain in layman’s terms, fostering an environment of growth and long term knowledge. Laura has expertise on permaculture designs, food forests and gardens, composting, energy conservation, water systems, earthworks, carbon farming, social permaculture, PDCs, and so much more. I’m so glad that I chose Laura as one of my teachers for my PDC. I highly recommend her and her business, YummyYards!”

-Bea G.

“Laura from Yummy Yards was awesome! She did an evaluation of my garden to help me troubleshoot some issues with growing vegetables, gave me recommendations for pruning my plants and fruit trees, and walked me through other stuff like how to use fertilizer correctly and the best way to start a wildflower meadow from a grassy area of the yard. She was incredibly encouraging and helpful.”

-Shannon C.

“I really valued Laura’s care and thoughtfulness as a teacher. Laura welcomed questions and engagement, and I felt confident and comfortable asking for help, knowing that Laura would make me feel cared for and respected. She worked one on one with me to help me hone in on my PDC final design and continued to share interest and excitement in my design project after the completion of my PDC. Laura is a passionate, joy-filled person, who is a wonderful teacher, but also someone you can call friend for years later.”

-Whitney K

I hired [Laura] to design and landscape an old Victorian home I purchased as a commercial investment property. The property is located in downtown Asheville, highly visible to the public. I really wanted the landscape to look nice. When I met Laura at the property, she was immediately excited about the project and had so many fresh ideas. Laura asked me to provide pictures of plants I liked and then incorporated them into her design. I really appreciated having her listen and care about my ideas. It felt like a team effort which is what I wanted. When it came to purchasing and installing, she and her crew handled everything from purchasing and transporting the plant materials to installing and mulching. I highly recommend her if you are looking for someone who listens to the client, knows her plant materials, and has a very professional crew. I couldn’t be happier with her work!

-Susan

“My husband and I are new to this area and novices in any kind of permaculture/landscaping or understanding of how best to caretake our land in Hendersonville. We needed a combination of expertise, experience and the ability to interpret our vision. Laura Ruby provided all of that and so much more. We came away from our work together with the drawings we needed to manifest a functional and beautiful land use plan at our own pace. We are so grateful for Laura’s generous sharing of information and insight above and beyond the task at hand. Laura Ruby is a professional resource with exceptional care and skill in the customer understanding side of her trade. We look forward to continuing consultation with Laura on projects and enjoying the great connection we have made.”

-Laurie S.