Regenerating and positively terraforming the Earth is a decentralized movement. It is being done with small groups of dedicated people around the world. From regenerative farmers to permaculturists, these movements have exploded in recent decades.
In addition, people in modern society are desperate for community, purpose, and a reconnection to the environment. A local permaculture club provides all three of those needs. They are easy and fun to start. Just tell yourself you are founding one right now and so it is!
I’ve been helping with small scale permaculture and local gardening efforts for 16 years. In this article, I will share the tactics and steps that are effective at building a local permaculture club. Try a few from this guide consistently and you might be shocked at the results.
Start Super Small
Don’t wait until you have everything figured out. The first “club meeting” can be two or three people, a pot of coffee, and a shared curiosity about growing food while healing the land. Every big movement started with a small group of people who cared.
Pick simple questions to discuss: How can we start growing food cheaply? What resources do we have now?
Start with learning basics and then implementing on a small scale with inexpensive tactics. Scrap wood can turn into a raised bed. Old containers can be used for plants.
Find a Club Base
One member’s house can start as a base. Maybe it is where the land is or where a greenhouse can be built to start seeds.
There are plenty of other places to partner with and grow food: churches, coffee shops, city lots, libraries. Meetings can be held at a community center, small business, park, local farm, garden, or a library meeting room. Use your imagination and ask around. You might just gain new members through inquiring.
The right location signals to people what your club is about and gives you free advertising.
Make a Simple Online Presence
Post on social media. Make a social page or a small website.
People need to find you online before they can join you.
Before your first official meeting, create a basic digital footprint. You don’t need a fancy website. You just need to be findable by people already searching for this.
Easy Offline Advertising
Simple posters or mini ads on 3 x 5 cards can bring free exposure. Hand drawn ads with markers actually stand out against a wall of business cards. Ask to put them up at coffee shops or other stores. Don’t litter and spam the area, though!
Use white buckets for your projects. Put the name of your permaculture club, social media handles, and your website if you have one. You can use markers or even create stickers.
Use Free Internet Postings
- Create a free Meetup.com group.
- Make a Craigslist ad.
- Start a simple Facebook group.
- Post on X.com
- Post in local NextDoor and community Facebook groups.
- Use keywords like “permaculture”, “organic gardening”, “regenerative gardening,” plus your town or city area.
Partner with what Already Exists
Almost every town already has garden clubs, environmental groups, farmer’s markets, or sustainability committees. These are your instant allies. Ask about volunteering with them. You can sometimes get free plants if a location has too much of something. Partnership multiplies your reach without multiplying your workload.
- Reach out to your local master gardener program
- Connect with community garden coordinators
- Rent community garden plots
- Volunteer at regenerative or organic farms to learn
- Talk to your local food bank. They often love growing partnerships
- Contact your city or county sustainability office
- Rotary Clubs are also very welcoming
Focus on Hands on Learning, not Lectures
People join clubs to grow personally, take action, and get things done.
The fastest way to kill a new club is to make meetings feel like boring presentations. Instead, make every gathering a hands-on learning experience that people talk about all week.
Getting to Work
- Work on expanding a club member’s garden.
- Host a simple seed-saving workshop.
- Have a plant exchange.
- Pick up trash around town.
- Do a group “observation walk” in a local park or garden
- Watch and discuss a short documentary together
- Invite a local farmer or gardener to share their story
Have meetings and projects often, at least two a week since not everyone will be able to show up for one. This keeps the club foremost in the minds of members and provides momentum.
Connect to a Bigger Vision – Terraforming
People don’t just want to grow tomatoes. They want to feel like their small actions connect to something meaningful on a global scale.
- Frame your club as a local node in a global restoration movement
- Connect with wider movements such as: Guerrilla Gardeners, Incredible Edible
- Share stories of large-scale land restoration projects around the world
- Help members see that their backyard garden is a piece of planetary healing
- Teach about movements around the world such as: regenerative agriculture, permaculture, regreening deserts, and agroforestry.
Start a Visible Community Project Quickly
Nothing recruits new members like something people can see. Abstract ideas attract thinkers and that is fine. Visible projects attract doers.
Make a logo and a motto. Add posters or signs for the club with social media contact or website link. Within your first month, launch one small but visible project that the whole community can witness and interact with.
- Plant a small food forest or garden in a public space
- Build a free community herb garden
- Create a “seed library” at your local library
- Adopt and restore a neglected piece of public land
- Adopt a city lot around a building. Partner with the town.
Keep the Money Simple and Transparent
Financial confusion can be a killer for a community club. Address it immediately!
You don’t need much money to start, but you need a clear, honest approach to whatever money you do handle. Keep it simple and transparent. Make sure every member understands where dollars come from and where they go.
- Start with a small voluntary dues model, even $5 / month per member adds up
- Have all the members vote on what is bought.
- Explore local grants from community foundations and environmental organizations.
- Partner with local businesses for sponsorships in exchange for visibility.
- Research opening a food stand or selling plants.
Talk about and Publicize Permaculture Club!
Consistent, public storytelling is what separates clubs that fade out after six months from movements that grow and branch off for decades. Document everything online. Share everything. Celebrate small wins loudly.
- Post weekly updates on social media showing real progress.
- Write simple blog posts or newsletters after each meeting.
- Send press releases to your local newspaper. Local media loves these stories.
- Create short videos of your projects for YouTube, Tiktok, and Instagram Reels.
Make Every Member a Leader
The club should never depend on just one or two people. Show every member how the leaders run the club. Delegate for when the top two or three people are gone.
The most common reason community clubs fall apart is that one passionate founder burns out and takes the whole thing down. Design for shared leadership from the very beginning.
- Rotate meeting facilitation among members.
- Have members rotate teaching a skill or lesson. Cross training is powerful.
- Create simple roles such as: Communications Lead, Head of Marketing, Project Lead, Events Lead, Treasurer
- Mentor newer members into leadership positions early.
- Document your processes so the club outlives any single person. Have shared club documents on something like Google Drive.
An Underlying Idea
A permaculture club should improve the lives of each member. Work can be done at a member’s house to install a food forest, build raised beds, create a greenhouse, compost pile, or plant trees. More food is grown within the club and the club grows stronger.
Now Get Started
You don’t need permission to start. You just need to begin. Send one text to two friends today. That’s how every movement in history started, with one conversation between people who gave a damn.
Keep refining your vision and mission. It will expand into a huge success with consistency and by following permaculture principles.
If you feel it needs more structure or has become big enough, then consider changing it into a cooperative, collective, or a company. In this way, your passion could becomes an even bigger source of good.
