Permaculture Workshop with Nicky Schauder

Nicky Schauder is a permaculture educator, entrepreneur, and author based in Leesburg, Virginia, where she and her husband Dave are transforming their homestead, Bethany Farm, into a living demonstration of beauty, ecology, and regenerative abundance.

She is the co-founder of Permaculture Gardens and the author of Permaculture Gardening for Everyone (Ogden Publications, 2025), a practical, warmly accessible guide that has been featured in Mother Earth News and praised for making permaculture approachable for any home grower.

Nicky's journey into permaculture began close to home — when her oldest children suffered from severe food allergies, she and Dave turned to the land as a source of healing and nourishment. What started as necessity became a calling. Today she runs a thriving microgreens operation supplying local chefs and co-ops, is building SAGE, a permaculture garden design tool successfully launched on Kickstarter, and is completing a SARE research grant. Her work has appeared in the Huffington Post, the Permaculture Research Institute of Australia, Mother Earth News Fair, and Green America, and Permaculture Gardens has received the "Most Sustainable Brand" award at the Green Festivals.

A mother of six, and a Grow Biointensive intern under the Ecology Action/Jeavons Center program, Nicky brings the same wholeness to her entrepreneurship that she brings to her garden: nothing is wasted, everything is connected, and the goal is always life in abundance. Her vision for 2026 is rooted in the conviction that the glory of God is man fully alive — weaving intentional rest and leisure into daily rhythms alongside building a business that serves her family and community.