Consultation Services
Shenandoah Permaculture is proud to offer a full suite of consultation services, giving our clients flexible options for both in-person and remote assistance. You'll find the basic framework of our services below, and clients are free to choose one or several of these based on budget and need. We welcome projects of many scopes and sizes and are happy to discuss your project with you to find a good fit for our services. Just fill out the form at the bottom of the page to get started!
"Walk & Talk" Consultations
Our most popular option, and our preferred starting point for any client, a Walk and Talk consists of at least one certified designer from Shenandoah Permaculture Institute visiting your site and providing an in-person Permaculture Design consultation over the course of 3 or more hours. This is strictly a consultation and does not involve SPI providing actual design work, but rather advising and brainstorming, helping to clarify goals and strategies, etc. It is the client's responsibility to take notes and record information during these sessions. In other words, bring your notebook and your inquisitive mind!
Cost: Starting at $100/hr, with a 3 hour minimum, plus travel fee at a rate of $0.65/mile from the home base of your designer (all designers are located in Virginia. Travel exceeding 4 hours from your designer’s home base requires overnight accommodations for your designer and is priced depending on availability in your area. Followup sessions to be scheduled at your designer’s discretion.
Format: Starting at 3 hours, in-person.
Cost: Starting at $100/hr, with a 3 hour minimum, plus travel fee at a rate of $0.65/mile from the home base of your designer (all designers are located in Virginia. Travel exceeding 4 hours from your designer’s home base requires overnight accommodations for your designer and is priced depending on availability in your area. Followup sessions to be scheduled at your designer’s discretion.
Format: Starting at 3 hours, in-person.
- 1 hr. Discussion and analysis of Goals/Needs/Wants. We spend this time getting a really in-depth feel for your site and your goals as a landowner/stakeholder, etc. We talk about personal history and context, site history and context, and get a strong idea of the foundation and setting of the site. We help to clarify your goals, which will act as a springboard for your actions moving forward.
- 1 hr. Site walk. We take time to walk the land with you, make observations, ask questions, and see the site itself. We identify problems and opportunities, and get an objective picture of what's going on on the land. In a virtual setting (see our remote services, below), this might look like a combination of Google Earth screensharing, county GIS imagery exploration, and a virtual walkabout led by you.
- 1 hr. Ideation and brainstorming. This is when we discuss potential design solutions and ideas including zones of use, placement of plant/animal systems, infrastructure, access and circulation, etc. This is the part where we brainstorm and ideate; giving specific advice on element location, species selection, materials, systems, scale, etc. We can sketch out rough design ideas and offer suggestions for placement of elements, energy flows on the site, opportunities for plant and animal systems, etc. as-needed. This is the time to ask all of your questions and get specific or detailed information. It is easy for this portion of the consult to take a bit longer than an hour, particularly on a large site, and it may be wise to schedule a 3.5-4 hour consult for certain sites, or if you have a lot of very specific questions.
- We offer virtual options, see below.
- For sites of 20+ acres, we strongly recommend, and may require, that you have 2 designers present for your consultation. This increases the fee to $150/hr.
- You may request 2 designers if you simply prefer to have more eyes on the site, which also increases the fee to $150/hr.
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A la Carte Services & Skill Sessions
For those needing standalone or specific consultations based on certain skills or needs. These are focused on specific, targeted advice and education.
Cost: Starting at $100/hr with a 2 hour minimum for new clients, plus travel fee at a rate of .65/mile from the home base of your designer (all designers are located in Virginia). Travel exceeding 4 hours from your designer’s home base requires overnight accommodations for your designer and is priced depending on availability in your area. Followup sessions to be scheduled at the designer’s discretion.
Format: Flexible sessions tailored to address your specific situation. This might be a formal Powerpoint presentation with Q and A for your group, gathering or business, a homesteading skill session for your family, or ongoing advisement on the purchase of land - it all depends on your needs.
Examples:
Cost: Starting at $100/hr with a 2 hour minimum for new clients, plus travel fee at a rate of .65/mile from the home base of your designer (all designers are located in Virginia). Travel exceeding 4 hours from your designer’s home base requires overnight accommodations for your designer and is priced depending on availability in your area. Followup sessions to be scheduled at the designer’s discretion.
Format: Flexible sessions tailored to address your specific situation. This might be a formal Powerpoint presentation with Q and A for your group, gathering or business, a homesteading skill session for your family, or ongoing advisement on the purchase of land - it all depends on your needs.
Examples:
- Permaculture Orchard Planning
- Researching and Buying your Perfect Property
- Growing Medicinal Herbs
- Vegetable Fermentation
- Industrial Hemp/CBD Production
- Rewilding Your Life
- Perennial Propagation Systems
Remote & Virtual Services
We can adapt most of our services to a remote/virtual option, at a reduced fee, tailored to your site, your lifestyle and your budget. Our preference is to work with you in-person when it is safe to do so, and we are also pleased to offer this option as a conscious choice for changing times. We can consult in the same manner as a Walk and Talk, provide skill-based sessions, land purchase consultations, planning sessions, follow-ups to previous consultations and more. Let us know what you need!
Cost: $100/hour with an initial 2 hr minimum for new clients. Remaining virtual consults to be scheduled at the designer’s discretion.
Format: Video consult (Zoom, Skype, Hangouts, etc.) depending on client’s preferences. Video consult required for initial 2 hours, followups may be by phone, if the situation allows.
Examples:
Cost: $100/hour with an initial 2 hr minimum for new clients. Remaining virtual consults to be scheduled at the designer’s discretion.
Format: Video consult (Zoom, Skype, Hangouts, etc.) depending on client’s preferences. Video consult required for initial 2 hours, followups may be by phone, if the situation allows.
Examples:
- Virtual Walk and Talk $300 (3 hrs)
- 1 hour lifestyle, context and goals consultation
- 1 hour virtual site visit and tour, designer in-depth Q and A using virtual tools.
- 1 hour rough draft designing, broad strokes suggestions, creative ideations, species suggestions, timeline implementation, etc.
- Virtual A la Carte Topical Consult $ 200 (2 hrs)
- Presentation of Information
- In-depth discussion of your topic.
- Q and A for clarification and followup
- Virtual Skills Session $200 (2 hrs)
- Discussion of equipment, needs, resources
- Designer skills session presentation
- Detailed Q and A and virtual practice session
Testimonials
"Great consult guys, extremely valuable information. We are now in a much better position to move ahead. Thanks!"
-David Wills of Harrisonburg, VA.
-David Wills of Harrisonburg, VA.