Consultations
I'm happy to walk through your site to discuss
design ideas, but there is so much more value in discussions about a site, rather than one person's ideas, that I recommend I bring another permaculture colleague with me. So you can watch us disagree!
To get the most out of our shared time, make a few copies of a base map that is to-scale for all of us to draw on. This can be extrapolated from house build/remodel diagrams, past landscape work or septic work, if residential. A screenshot of Google Maps or Public GIS work for larger properties. At your request, I can prepare this for the walk-through.
Also, we have some questions we want you to explore before our visit:
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What is your (or your family/community's) relationship with the site right now? How often do you work or enjoy the landscape and what kind of things do you do?
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What is your relationship with the site as you would like it to be? What do you see yourself (or your family or community) doing and how often?
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What is your wish list and why you would like to add these things to your site?
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What are your time/money/community constraints and opportunities?
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What are the important ecological processess that categorize the site? (Is it habitat-rich? Does it flood? How well do plants grow? Has the land had a history of abuse?)
What to expect: We often discourage or affirm your ideas for the site, come up with our own design ideas, and (see above) sometimes have robust discussions about aspects of the site or design. If the first walk-throughs are part of a big project than it often makes the most sense for us to observe for some time before discussing design. What we are trying to do is listen to the land (or in more academic terms, do a site analysis) before imposing our ideas on it.
If price is a barrier there are some options:
Invite friends and neighbors over during the consultation for the educational experience and ask them to donate some funds for our time (plus we can specifically make it more educational for them).
If the site is in an area with a permaculture network we're familiar with (Tacoma, Seattle, Tulsa) we can brainstorm ideas with you about cheaper options for a 'Dine & Design' kind of gathering