🌿 3 Steps to a Well-Orchestrated Garden 🎵


Hi Reader,

Over the past few weeks, Dave and I have been taking our eldest daughter to violin college auditions. Yesterday, she was at Peabody Conservatory (🤞 fingers crossed!). Her dream? To one day play in a professional orchestra.

It got us thinking—gardens and orchestras have a lot in common. 🎶

A thriving permaculture guild works just like a well-orchestrated symphony, where every plant plays a unique role, supporting the whole system.

When designed properly, a guild:
Produces more food 🥕
Requires less maintenance 🌿
Creates natural pest control 🐝

We wrote a blog + video to show you exactly how to build a Permaculture Guild in 3 simple steps:


🌳 3 Steps to a Well-Orchestrated Garden Recap

🎶 1. Start with a Lead Player – Choose a central plant, like a fruit tree, to anchor your guild.
🌱 2. Add Supporting Plants – Surround it with nitrogen fixers, pollinators, and ground covers that help the system thrive.
🔄 3. Work with Nature’s Rhythms – Rotate crops seasonally and stack layers (more about that in the blog) to use your space efficiently and keep soil healthy.

This method mimics natural ecosystems, making your garden more self-sustaining and abundant year after year.

🌿 Ready to Build Your Own Guild?

Join Us on March 22!

For those who want hands-on guidance, we’re hosting a Build A Guild Workshop at Bethany Farm—both in-person & livestreamed!

📅 Date: Saturday, March 22
📍 Location: Bethany Farm (with a livestream option!)

🌾 Learn how to:
Design productive, resilient plant guilds
Choose high-yield and perennial crops
Apply practical permaculture techniques to improve soil health


We can’t wait to see how you apply these principles in your garden! 🌻 Let us know—do you already have a guild in your space?

Reply and tell us about it!


Grow Abundantly,
Nicky and Dave

P.S. GIY members can access the live-streaming workshop for free but must RSVP in the GIY Community so we can help you individually. For those joining us in person, the cost covers the food. We look forward to seeing you there!

Dave & Nicky Schauder

Nicky and Dave Schauder are passionate about helping families grow their food, and medicine and find God in the garden

Read more from Dave & Nicky Schauder
Composting

Hi Reader,If there's one thing that would make any garden, big or small, a permaculture garden, it would be a compost bin.When you compost, you close the loop from production to consumption to production again. You bring back to life what was once dead. In a way, when we compost, we echo God's promised resurrection.So if you've ever wondered whether composting is worth the effort, the answer is a resounding YES—and we break it all down in our latest blog + video on composting!Composting isn't...

Hi Reader,Last weekend, a group of amazing gardeners gathered at Bethany Farm for our Build A Guild Workshop—and I have to say, it was something special.We designed guilds, planted together, shared meals straight from the farm, and had the kind of conversations that make you see gardening in a whole new way. 🌿Even if you couldn’t make it, I wanted to bring you inside the experience and invite you to take the next step in your own garden journey. 📸 A Peek Inside the Workshop 🌱 The Guilds We...

Build a Permaculture Guild

Hi Reader,This Saturday, March 22nd, we’re gathering at Bethany Farm (with an option to join via livestream) for a hands-on permaculture workshop—and we’d love for you to be there!If you want to grow a thriving, resilient garden that practically takes care of itself, this is your chance to learn and apply guild-building techniques with expert guidance. 🌱 What You’ll Learn at the Workshop: ✔ How to build a permaculture guild—the ultimate self-sustaining plant community✔ Join fellow gardening...