Hi there – Nora here!
I have been in the gardens for as long as I can remember. The original perennial garden here on the homestead was built by my mother when I was just a baby. Since then it has grown to now include additional perennial, herb, veggie and mixed gardens. Our vegetable gardens are now over 4000 square feet producing about 70% of our vegetables for the year. We can, freeze, and store many of our own vegetables while also eating straight from the garden. Our perennial gardens bloom from early spring into the winter providing us and the critters we share the land with beauty, medicine and joy.
In 2020, I left my job to be home with our child, tend our homestead and transition my career path to the gardens and education within our community. I participated and completed the UVM Extension Master Gardener course that year and launched my garden business. Since then, I have been supporting gardeners designing and re-designing their perennial, vegetable and pollinator gardens. With an eye toward a native plant forward garden, I strive to help create (or re-create) gardens that are inviting, diverse, and unique. Working with my clients, I seek to create a space that works with the natural landscape, capacity and interest of the homeowner/business, and overall appearance and use of the space.
By tending gardens, families know where our food comes from, build relationships with the plants and animals who share the land, and experience the joy of watching seeds become meals throughout the year. As a Garden Coach, I seek to help my clients make gardening easy, fun and enjoyable at the scale that feels right for them, their home, and their time. I call myself a Garden Coach, rather than a Gardener or Designer, as I strive to work in relationship with my clients – teaching, guiding, and co-gardening.
I work to help gardeners of all levels enhance their gardening knowledge and bring vegetables from the garden to the table. Through meaningful conversations and gatherings in the gardens, I guide gardeners into a new relationship with the land.
I believe that everyone can garden! I am here with support and advice, answering questions and providing easy steps to make garden dreams come true. I hope that by providing people with the tools, knowledge, and confidence to grow their own vegetables, they will in turn be able to share their knowledge with others.
How it works
I offer a few different garden coaching packages to fit your specific garden needs. These packages provide a framework for our work together and will be tailored to meet your goals and hopes for your vegetable, herb, or perennial gardens.
Feel free to email me directly to start a conversation and we can work together to identify the best path forward for you and your gardens!
Two 60 minute consultations at your garden or virtually (depending on the season) to discuss your gardening experience, goals for this coming season, and any concerns you may have in the garden.
- Review what you want to grow in your garden, how much you’d like to grow, and where to put it.
- Site analysis – is your garden where you want it? What obstacles are in your way? Where could garden additions go?
- Review all necessary elements of a successful vegetable garden (sunlight, irrigation, soil, maintenance).
- Problem-solve and answer questions.
- Identify garden design options, elements and needs to make your garden dreams come true.
- What we send you after the meeting:
- Written overview of conversations
- Garden installation plan and next steps for your garden to be successful
- List of plants and materials to purchase for your garden this year
- Sketch of garden plan
- Planting and harvesting guide for the season
$180 (can be bundled with Helping Hands – $40/hr – for more onsite support during prep, planting, or harvesting days)
- Two 60 minute consults at your garden or virtually (depending on the season) to discuss your experience, goals, and concerns.
- If needed, site analysis to determine the best location for your garden
- Review and access all necessary elements to a successful vegetable garden (sunlight, irrigation, soil, maintenance).
- Problem-solve any experiences or questions you may have
- Identify garden design options, elements and needs to make your garden dreams come true
- After the meeting, you’ll receive:
- Written overview of visits
- Next steps to support your garden goals (installation plan, planting guide, amendment recommendations, etc.)
- List of plants and materials to purchase for your garden this year
- Sketch of garden plan with succession ideas
- Planting and harvesting guide for the season
- 3 hours of onsite support during the critical planting days. This could be one large 3 hour visit or broken up into two 90 minute visits.
- Monthly garden support throughout season (March until November):
- Two 30 minute check-ins each month. During these calls (video or phone), we will talk about what is happening in the garden this month, what needs to happen next, answer any questions about harvesting, pests, planting, or preserving.
- Follow up emails with any information that may be helpful during that time of the season. This may include recipes, pruning tips, videos, etc. all that have been curated to fit your needs and answer your questions.
- Unlimited text and email communication between check-ins
$650
Garden Design or Re-design
Not loving your gardens? Wishing something else for your outdoor space? I work with a dear friend and fellow garden coach, Val Masiello, to help homeowners re-envision their landscape. Val and I have an eye and focus on native plants, increasing bio-diversity in our landscape, and creating a space that all (humans, flora and fauna) can enjoy! These projects usually range 1-3 days and an hour or two consultation prior to project starting.
$100 for consult and $80/hour for the two person crew!
- 60 minute one-on-one at your garden to get all your garden questions answered, such as:
- Plant questions:
- What are the plants that are already there?
- What native plants may fit best into the area?
- How to best care for these plants.
- What is causing this weird thing on my plant? (AKA what is this pest?)
- Garden site questions:
- Where should my future gardens be?
- How could I make my gardens larger? Smaller? A different size?
- What about a garden over here?
- Plant questions:
- Written overview sent within a week of visit.
$60
- 1 hour of support in your garden. This can be with weeding, planting, harvesting, dividing, designing, brainstorming, preserving, etc.
- This can be a one time single hour, stacked together for a longer day, or many visits spaced out throughout the season.