Below is the write up from The Survival Podcast interview I did with Jack Spirko. Thanks Jack, I enjoyed talking to you.
Phil Williams is a permaculture consultant, designer, and author. He spent a decade in the landscape industry. After selling his business in 2007, he trained as a home energy auditor and building analyst. He began organic gardening in 2008, before learning about permaculture in 2010.
He’s since taken two PDC’s, and built a demonstration site in central PA where he’s installed 4 ponds, a gray water system, 1500 trees and shrubs, 2000 linear foot of swales, 80 linear feet of hugelkultur, and an apiary. Currently, he consults on local and remote projects as well as the business side of permaculture contracting.
He Joins Us Today To Discuss…
- Getting a project started right
- The limits of observation on a client site
- The important details that need gathering that are often overlooked
- The actual production of design documentation
- The limits and value of “artistic ability” as a designer
- Taking the design though to installation
- Sourcing labor and remaining profitable
- Weighing out hiring out labor vs. self provided client labor
- Sourcing difficult to get or seasonal materials
- Timing installations and plantings properly
- The biggest challenges as a consultant and installer
- Developing maintenance business, niche industries and more