Free business idea of the day: Garden consultant

This is the first in an ongoing series of blog posts about businesses I would like to see in Charlottesville. If you are reading this and you live outside of the general Charlottesville area, I am sure the business would work for you as well. All I ask in return is that those who can make a profit off of these ideas make a contribution to whatever non-profit I'm working for at the time.

Also, one disclaimer. These ideas might already exist, and maybe I just need to be put in touch with the right people. Either way, I'm on the look-out for ways to make life interesting and personally sustainable, and I think this would fit the bill.

Anyway, so, we just bought this house. We have a fantastic plot of land that gets sun throughout the day. Next year, we would like to turn as much of it over to a garden as possible. However, we don't know the first thing about this, and would like to hire someone to set it up for us, and to tell us what to do. How does one learn these skills? I certainly did not from my dad, who doesn't have much of a green thumb. We didn't garden much when I was a kid, for whatever reason.

But now, I think we can really take advantage of our land to come up with something that can supplement our food intake. Is there anything we could plant now for the fall? How much space do we really have, and what is suitable? How can we safely keep the groundhogs and rabbits away?

The answer to that is the dog, of course. When we first moved in, there was a pair of groundhogs who came into the yard. Now, they don't, mostly because I think he's terriered them out of house and home. This is a shame, but hopefully they are not too far away. I am amazed at how much nature we do have here in this neighborhood. I found the loop trail when the dog got out of the yard by climbing underneath the fence and into a big vine-covered gully.

The park across the street also is fantastic, and there's also an amazing forest trail behind the middle school. We also have a bird's eye view of countless soccer matches. In all, it's a pretty good place where I feel so close to nature while still being in a real city, because we can see the City's tallest building from our back windows.

But a garden would make it better, especially in the coming year as we all get a first-hand experience with what it's like when the house payment and rising prices cost us something that's outside our comfort level. I'm willing to put in the work if someone teaches me how.

Who is offering this kind of service? If you're good at gardening, how much would you charge to set up a garden? Would it be worth it if a whole neighborhood could get involved somehow, share soils and backyard space?

Heck, let's make a video of it!