Check out the (unsolicited) testimonials on our:

• Design consultancies
• Design implementations (landscaping)
• Veggie beds
• Courses
• Festivals and permaculture blitzes
• Newsletters
• Soil Doctor service

 

Suburban Design Consultancies

 

“Thanks very much for the design and report! We’re thrilled with it and can’t wait to get started”

Bridget, Bonbeach

 

“I am ridiculously excited about the garden  – almost couldn’t care less about the renovation!”

Allison, Brunswick

 

“I just wanted to say what a lovely time we had last Thursday.  Justus described it as having a work day and weekend all in one day!  You listened and provided extremely practical advice.  We really appreciated how open you were to questions about other random things (ie. What is this bug?) as well as your willingness to explain why each design recommendation was suggested.  We are so happy with the design and have already put a calendar together for making it happen! (yes we’re that excited)  We will certainly recommend VEG to everyone we know.

Thanks again”

Susan, Nunawading

 

“Adam Grubb and Dan Palmer are some of the most accomplished urban permaculture designers I know. Aside from being the founding forces of the Permablitz movement, they also design professionally – creating functional, edible awesomeness in small suburban spaces through their Melbourne Permaculture business, Very Edible Gardens (VEG).”

Kirsten from Milkwood Permaculture

 

“I have attached the picture of the plan I received from you on 6th March 2010 as well as some others. Also a couple of set from Flickr. I don’t expect you to look at all of them!! 🙂

Garden 2011 http://www.flickr.com/photos/30688696@N00/sets/72157625693318259

We have completed most of the work, planted trees, extended chook run, made straw yard… We are very happy with the production and hope to get bees in the next few weeks.

Your plan is very much the blue print of what we do.
Thanks so much”

Jo, Endevour Hills

 

“The report is fantastic, we are all so excited to start to see how the garden will look.  The kids are particularly excited about the pond!  The plan far exceeded my expectations and when I gave you my wish list I never expected there to be 17 fruit trees able to be put in the space we have AND everything else.  It was great to see that some of my ideas were actually ok and fitted in so well with the plan you had also.  It’s a great service and I really don’t think you charge enough for your time and expertise (but I thank you all the same!).

Sue, Coburg North

 

“Thanks guys we really appreciate all the attention you have given to our requests and coming up with a great design that suits us”

Sue, Wantirna

 

“Thanks so much for the concept map, it looks great. I have been showing all my workmates who are very impressed”

Clare, Murrumbeena

 

“Things are going great – the chickens are now out and running around, I’ve put in some winter crops of radicchio, lettuces, silver beet, broad beans, sugar snap peas and kale… Thanks again for your great design, everything is awesome.”

Jane, Yarraville

 

“Thank you!  You’ve inspired us and given us years of work to do transforming the garden at Number 14.  Strategy is to tackle one thing at a time, one project per month. Thank you again, I love the report and the visual design.”

Helen, Hampton

 

“To you and all the VEG guys and girls: thanks for a challenging and exciting year. To look back to April when we received the design and look at where we are now is amazing and in no small part to your enthusiasm and dedication to an ideal and belief that we can do things better. We in our own small way are doing what we can to teach our children a better way of living and live better ourselves, if our place can be used as an example of what to do we are always happy to help out. Have a great Christmas”

Gabes, Mark, Elly & Bec, Glen Waverley

 

Rural Design Consultancies

“Thanks for all of your help. The report and designs look fantastic and I am sure we will keep in touch as we implement all of your suggestions!”

Matt, Warrugal

 

Design Implementation

“Also want to say ‘Thank you” again. Delighted with everything so far and we look forward to having the team back to do the planting. Just fantastic that nothing was too much trouble and being told, “We want you to be happy”  was just wonderful.  Also amazing and heart warming that all concerned shared our concern, and made such a great job  of keeping our little “foster” dog in and safe. We were also impressed with everyone’s punctuality, turning up at the times expected and being super hard, skilled workers, all taking great pride in your work. To top this all off,  for being fantastic, friendly people. I was also impressed with the way I was listened to, and thoughtful, knowledgable answers were given.”

Bev & Graeme, Rowville

 

“The chicken house is going great and the chickens are loving it”

Jason, Coburg

 

“Thanks so much for all your efforts at our place, our three chickens are thriving and loving the back run – everyone who visits tells us how spoilt our chickens are!!”

Katie, Eltham

 

“I am absolutely delighted with the transformation, like a kid with a new toy. I keep going out to look at it and say “hi” to the chooks, although I’m afraid I’ve rechristened Black Beak to Rocky – he reminds me of the rooster in the film Chicken Run. The outcome is better than I hoped for and worth every penny.”

Pam, Kew

 

“It is all just wonderful, a credit to you and the crew and just fantastic to see it all come together, it was such a huge undertaking and it has gone very well and with such quality and care about it. “The guys at VEG make your dreams a reality”! :)”

Linda, Eaglemont

 

VEG Beds

“We are exceptionally happy with our new garden beds. The guys have done a brilliant job and they look great. I spent the weekend breaking my back putting in a new path and some native grasses around them and Amanda and I had a cup of tea staring at them this morning. The kids are excited about having new climbing apparatus in our yard. Many thanks again.  It has been a great experience dealing with you”

Richard, Gardenvale

 

“Thank you to all of the team at Very Edible Gardens who did such a great bit of landscaping to put in our two vegie gardens. I have been amazed at how quickly we have been able to use lettuce and spinach from the gardens and we have bush beans which are not far from flowering, how great will it be to be able to pick beans at waist height.  Thank you again and please let the team know how successful the gardens have been.”

Jan, Brunswick

 

“Thank you for a super job done on the vegie garden. We love it!! It was so exciting to come home with it all ready to go with bonus seedlings!”

Virginia, Mont Albert

 

“I thought I would give you a progress report on my new vegie garden which you all so beautifully created for me.  The previous beds, which went in over a year ago, have provided me with enough produce so that I haven’t had to buy vegies since well before Christmas. Once I get the new beds and a rotation going, I am hoping vegie shopping will be a thing of the past. The new beds are all tinged with little green growing plants and I get so excited to see the new plants appearing and watching them develop. The fruit trees and vines all seem to be doing what they are supposed to and I can’t wait for them to start producing also. As a beginner gardener this is all very heart-warming.

I want you to know that the care, service and advice you provided has been very much appreciated. Your professionalism and attention to the details of preparing and building my garden was second to none. It was a pleasure to have you here.  I am becoming a very happy gardener thanks to VEG. Long may you grow!”

Suzenne A’Neile, Ardeer

 

“The beds are going mental!  With all the rain and sunny days, they’re sprouting everywhere.  We’ve already picked and eaten lettuce and rocket – it was awesome eating straight from the garden!  … No possum or bird interference at all, and my cat’s stopped sleeping on the beds coz they’re so full and busy now.  We’re LOVING it … Let me know when you’ve got time to come ’round to discuss stage 2…i’m in no mad hurry, I’m loving just playing with the beds at the moment.  Hope all’s well with you and the crew – regards to the boys”

Tova, Highett

 

“The day went fantastic, Your staff were great and the [kinder] children really got a lot out of this session.  Many thanks”

Lynne, Derby Meadows, on a vegie bed install and kids’ gardening workshop

 

“I have a  small backyard in Brunswick and have always enjoyed growing a few vegies each summer. But my enjoyment has been doubled since a friend introduced me to VEG. I now have 3 beautiful Cypress Beds. The beds are a sight to behold as the cypress wood begins to mature and change colour. The beds of course provide a much more efficient way to grow vegies in than the pots (I’ve still got the pots well stocked). Nathan and Adam installed the beds with a minimum of fuss and were a joy to have working in our backyard. I now have 3 beautiful cypress garden beds filled with ripening autumn vegies that fit in perfectly with a small paved outdoor living space”

Pat, Brunswick (We really didn’t ask for this!)

 

Courses

“Going through the holistic management process was priceless for both personal life and a future business. Using that approach changes everything and gives me a lot of confidence going forward”

Erica, South Melbourne

 

“Very, very useful for achieving focus and the motivation behind my idea – recommend it to everyone”

Michelle, Westgarth

 

“Enjoyed these two days, wish there was more! Holistic management stuff really useful and inspiring. Hope we cross paths some more”

Grace, Fryerstown

 

I’m writing to say thank you for delivering fantastic chook keeping and composting workshops for the City of Whitehorse’s Sustainable Living Week. I have received much positive feedback from my colleagues who were at the workshops and also from the participants. Dan, your “imagine you are a chook” was hilarious

Andriana, City of Whitehorse

 

“Thanks again for your fantastic talk last night at Box Hill Townhall.  I found it very informative and certainly brings me another step closer to my childhood dream of keeping chickens!”

Emily, Mitchem

 

“Just wanted to say thanks again for such a great day; I had a ball.  I also wanted to give you some feedback on how good it was to attend an ‘adult learning’ day that was so well run – the sessions were entertaining, informative and very well facilitated. … [You brought] energy, passion, intelligence and humour to the workshop”

Kirsten, Kingsville

“My boyfriend and I came along to your fantastic gardening workshop in Fitzroy last night. We both absolutely loved it and found it really informative. I was so inspired last night, I planted the marigolds and broccoli you were so nice to give me as well as some other seedlings at 11pm when I got home – couldn’t wait till the morning!  Anyway, we just wanted to thank you again for all your help and advice. We think you guys do an excellent job! You’ll definitely be seeing us again at one of your talks and the permablitzes.”

Erica & Michael, Bulleen

“Your info night was the best permaculture night that I have attended so far. Your enthusiasm is the key and is infectious. I look forward to associating with you guys into the future and gaining knowledge and sharing it with others.  Please keep in touch re upcoming events – I’d love to get involved.”

Simon, Dandenong

“Thanks for a great day on Sunday.  I just wanted to let you know that so far I have made a jar of yoghurt, had a green smoothie each day, and most amazingly of all, today I baked my first loaf of sourdough bread!!  And I have to say that it turned out sensationally!  I am so proud!  I have spent the last nine years getting my naturopathy degree and getting bogged down in a lot of theory and bloody hard work, but I feel that the class on Sunday really got me back in touch with what I love about whole foods and a healthy approach to eating.  You guys have an impressive amount of nutritional and herbal knowledge that would put many naturopathy graduates to shame!”

Vicki, Altona (on our Living Foods workshop)

“I really enjoyed today’s walk and when I came home later saw the weeds in my garden with completely new eyes. Have passed on my enthusiasm to at least 6 people. Thanks again for being an engaging and inspiring teacher.”

“I just wanted to pass on my appreciation for the compost for kids workshop you did on Thursday for the Whitehorse community, we were really happy with how it went. The level of interaction was fantastic, lots of active participation, and you even got all the kids up dancing like soil organisms, even the shy ones and cool ones! Very impressive. The hands on element with the building of the compost was great, you could tell that the kids and also the adults loved getting their hands dirty and being involved in making the [compost] lasagne. The language you used was great to keep the kids interested, relating it back to things they know (e.g. cakes and biscuits that the plants excrete, and talking about stinky things in the compost), and lots of positive feedback to the kids when they answered questions and got involved.

“Anyway, just wanted to let you know how happy with the presentation we were, and we could tell that it was very well received by the families. Thanks for putting so much work into it to make it really effective for the mix of ages.”

Kate Patkin, City of Whitehorse about our Science of Compost and Soil for Kids workshop

More testimonials on the courses page and the 100% complete and unedited testimonials from an Intro to Permaculture course.

 

Festivals and permablitzes

“It was an absolute pleasure dealing with you, Carey and the rest of your fabulous team – completely smooth sailing all the way!   Carey was an absolute star. His long hard slog to get ready for opening morning along with his infectious passion for teaching the kids during the Schools Days are a true testament to the brilliant work and message you guys are spreading!”

Elllen Lascelles, Royal Agricultural Society of Victoria

 

“Thanks again for the terrific workshops you guys delivered at the recent festivals in Moonee Valley and Hobsons Bay to support the launch of the My Smart Garden program – the feedback has been outstanding with many people saying it was the highlight of them attending the festival!!”

Sarah Lamshed, My Smart Gardens program

 

“I attended the Whitehorse Permablitz a couple of weekends ago (I was one of the council staff members) and it was a really fantastic event to be a part of. I enjoyed getting my hands dirty in the afternoon. It was a real highlight of Sustainable Living Week. We also got a bit of feed back from residents that attended and it has all been very positive. I hope that I can attend another Permablitz in the future!”

Claire, City of Whitehorse

 

iVEG and newsletters

“I just wanted to say thanks for your wonderful iVeg notes.  They have all the vital facts in such an easy to read and succinct form. Also, thanks so much for the permablitzes.  I have attended three now and have had such a great time at all of them.  I can’t wait to finish my PDC later this year and then maybe I can help out some more with the blitzes.  Thanks again!”

Di, Carlton

“Getting your newsletter is a true highlight each month.”

Claire, Whitehorse

“I am so excited about what you all do.  In my darkest climate change moments I read your lovely emails and feel positive and hopeful again.  You have sustained me through some dark times.  Keep up the magnificent work. I have been telling everyone I know about your group.”

Katie (On Adam’s permablitz newsletters)

 

Soil Doctor

“Thanks very much for the soil report, the results speak for themselves in terms of we had no idea what to do to improve our soil or what was missing in them. We will apply the indicated doses of lime, gypsum and basalt as soon as we can. You would have noticed most of the undergrowth has started to settle in now and the vege crops are going really well. Chooks are happy as well, 2 laying at the moment but expecting the others to start soon so we will be swimming in eggs”

Mark, Glen Waverley