Practical land consultation
And how to get there without wasting years, money, or labor.
Observe first
People often make expensive property decisions too early. Gardens go in before sunlight is understood. Orchards are planted before water is observed. Animal systems are built without considering daily labor. Ponds are dug without understanding drainage.
The Mavis Institute helps homeowners, homesteaders, small farms, landowners, and community projects slow down long enough to understand what is actually happening. The focus is not decorative landscaping. It is useful systems: land, water, food, animals, access, technology, maintenance, and long-term resilience.
You do not need to know permaculture terminology. Start with the smallest service that actually solves your problem.
How we can help
The services form a simple progression, but you are not required to purchase them in order. Choose the place that best matches your question.
“I have one problem. What should I do?”
Best for: A clearly defined garden, water, animal, maintenance, or property question.
We examine one major issue using discussion, photographs, maps, aerial imagery, video, or site observations. You leave with practical options, recommended next steps, and warnings about approaches likely to waste effort.
Learn more“What could this property become?”
Best for: People with many ideas, a new property, or uncertainty about where to begin.
We walk the property together and observe the complete system: sunlight, slope, water, soil, access, buildings, gardens, trees, animals, infrastructure, and opportunities.
Learn more“How should everything fit together?”
Best for: Someone who knows what they want but needs help arranging multiple systems.
We organize relationships among gardens, orchards, animals, water, paths, work areas, structures, storage, and human use through discussion and a conceptual working plan.
Learn more“What should happen first, next, and later?”
Best for: People developing land, starting a homestead, or overwhelmed by competing projects.
We develop a realistic sequence that considers time, labor, money, maintenance, skills, family needs, infrastructure, seasonality, and resilience.
Learn moreQuick comparison
These are not required steps. A client may begin with whichever service fits the current need.
Service 01
One issue. A clearer next step.
This is the simplest and most accessible service. It is for questions such as where to place a garden or orchard, how to reduce mowing, what to do with a wet area, how to handle runoff, where chickens might fit, or how to make a property easier to maintain.
A clearer understanding of the issue, practical options, recommended next steps, and warnings about choices likely to waste money or labor. A detailed written report is not automatically included.
Service 02
See the whole property as a connected system.
Before the visit, you complete a short questionnaire covering goals, food, animals, gardens, water, current problems, available time and labor, budget range, long-term plans, and major frustrations.
Sunlight, shade, slope, water movement, runoff, wet and dry areas, soil, roads, paths, buildings, utilities, gardens, trees, forest, wildlife, animals, fencing, work areas, infrastructure, and possible opportunities.
Major observations, opportunities, problems to avoid, possible improvements, a short list of priorities, and a clearer understanding of what should happen first.
Open the current preparation questionnaire · PDF · 1.75 MBService 03
Organize ideas into useful relationships.
This service helps decide how gardens, orchards, food forests, ponds, chickens, ducks, bees, compost, paths, work areas, barns, sheds, greenhouses, water systems, and gathering areas might work together.
Design discussion, rough zoning, a rough site sketch, major placement recommendations, system relationships, and a priority order. This is a conceptual plan or working site plan—not a polished landscape architecture, engineering, or construction plan.
Service 04
Build a life you can actually maintain.
A system can be environmentally sustainable while still being personally unsustainable. This session considers land design alongside time, physical labor, age, family needs, money, maintenance, skills, infrastructure, seasons, food goals, animal workload, and long-term resilience.
You should leave with guidance that sounds like:
The sequence adapts to each property. It may begin by observing and stabilizing, move into core systems, add long-term systems later, and eventually refine connections and reduce unnecessary labor—but those phases are not universal rules.
What makes the approach different
Every recommendation must survive practical questions:
The aim is a property that works for the people responsible for it.
Clear boundaries
The Mavis Institute provides education, consultation, practical observation, conceptual planning, and recommendations. Unless specifically arranged, services do not include:
Certain projects may require licensed professionals, contractors, engineers, soil testing, permits, or regulatory approval. A full permaculture master plan is not currently advertised. If your needs are more extensive, ask about custom projects without assuming that service is available.
Your educator
Doc serves as Director of The Mavis Institute and works as a permaculture educator, Master Permaculturist, Master Gardener-trained educator, Appalachian farmer, and land steward.
Credentials support the work, but the consultation is not built around guru status or one perfect answer. The approach is simple: walk the land, understand what is actually happening, and figure out what makes sense.
“Master Gardener-trained” does not imply an active WVU Extension Master Gardener affiliation.Common questions
No. Choose a service based on the problem you need to solve. The process should remain approachable even if you have never used the word permaculture.
No. They are not required to be sequential. Start wherever your current needs fit.
Remote service using photographs, maps, aerial imagery, and video is being developed, especially for focused problems. Contact the Institute about current availability.
No. Standard services are educational, strategic, observational, and design-oriented. They do not include construction labor or landscape installation.
No. Engineering, surveying, regulated designs, permits, and official approvals must come from appropriately qualified professionals and authorities.
Pricing has not been finalized for the four-service framework. Cost will depend on preparation, travel, delivery format, complexity, follow-up, and whether written work is requested.
Start with your land
Share your general location, property size, three biggest goals, three biggest problems, what already exists, and what would make the consultation feel successful.
