Meet Debi Tonks

Back in 2012, when my children were little, I felt a prompting to study nutrition. I could hardly believe it. That was so far away from where my interests were! But the prompting persisted, and I studied. I didn’t know then that my children were neurodivergent (something that often comes with digestive issues and toxin retention), nor that my husband and I would both have autoimmune diseases. What I learned was life changing, but what I learned more than anything was that if I wanted the healthiest food possible, I would need to grow it myself.

In 2017 we bought a home with enough land for a garden, and I started learning about the best ways to grow food. That lead to Permaculture, and a whole new rabbit hole for me to explore. I studied hard, and in 2021 received my Permaculture Design Certificate from Geoff Lawton, one of the highest renowned permaculturists in the world.

But life is never fully predictable, and in 2022 we sold our home and moved into a rental, hoping to save up for enough acreage to grow vegetables, fruit, and animals, as well as teach others how to do the same. This has helped me to see what is possible to do in a rental with good landlords!

As the father of Permaculture, Bill Mollison, says, the best permaculture design starts just outside your door. That is why I became a garden consultant. Not everyone is ready for a full permaculture lifestyle. But a garden should be just outside your door, even if you only want to grow a few herbs for the kitchen, or a small tomato bush for snacking. I want to help as many people as I can, so I meet them where the best place is to start: just outside their door to help with their garden.