My permaculture business

Sydney real estate is crazy expensive and I've never had the chance to access land. That is until two years ago when I put an ad up on gumtree (Aussie craigslist) looking for a backyard to experiment with for free. The garden went so well I realised I might be able to make money doing it. I put up another ad offering services as a 'permaculture gardener' and offered general help around the backyard.

My method is to get tree loppers to dump a truckload of woodchips out the front of their house, and I cover a section of their lawn (or entitre lawn) 15-20cm deep. After the grass is dead underneath I come in and plant fruit trees and a ground cover (such as sweet potato) which traps humidity and helps the woodchips to break down. Then I start a compost pile or bathtub worm farm and plant seedlings in my local community garden. After that i part the mulch, fill with compost and plant the seedlings in it.

The crazy thing is that I don't have a car, so I use my clients tools and carry seedlings on public transport. I plan to buy a truck one day, but so far its been going great and about to start my 4th garden. If anyone out there has done something similar let me know :)

Wow, that is so cool! Thank you for posting this, and I hope you will talk more about your business. It sounds really great.