Green Business: Patch from Scratch vege gardens

Sarah Davies.

Indentifying a growing gap in the market prompted Sarah Davies to set up a business installing organic vegetable gardens in people's backyards.

That was in 2007, and since then the business - Patch from Scratch - has grown to the point where it now employs five staff.

Her company offers a range of services, from garden installation through to education on how to maintain plants organically.

"The most important part of our business is teaching our customers how to maintain [their gardens] so they can use them properly themselves."

Patch from Scratch builds gardens - which do not use pesticides or synthetic fertilizers - out of raised boxes constructed offsite by a carpenter.

Davies says the gardens typically take only half a day to install.

"When the customer comes home there's a finished garden waiting for them."

The company now installs two to three gardens a week, says Brown.

Full service installation packages start at $1300 plus GST. DIY kitsets are available for customers who would prefer to build their own garden, starting at $490 plus GST.

Davies says she was surprised at how quickly the business had grown, and how little the recession had affected turnover.

"This year I thought most people who wanted a garden would have already got one, but in fact it has been even busier [than usual] this spring."

Occupying a niche in the market and having no competition had helped the business to grow quickly, she says.

"Other companies make the frames, but don't offer the full service. But as gardening becomes more popular I expect there will be other companies that come in at some point."

She says a mix of saving money on food bills and enjoying the process of gardening motivates most people to set up organic gardens at home.

"We do have quite a few customers with serious illnesses who have been told by their doctor to go onto an organic diet," she adds

Davies says franchises are a possibility for future growth of the business.

"We've had a lot of people approach us who have been interested in having a franchise around New Zealand or in Australia."

She says it had been enjoyable building a business based around her "core values".

Besides being organic, other sustainable aspects of the business include refilling printer cartridges and minimising paper use in the office, as well as sending empty compost bags to a manure company in Tauranga for reuse.

Patch from Scratch also offers free garden installations to community groups through its Patch Helping Hands programme.

Davies says the company's first charitable project for 2010 will be the installation of an organic garden in an East Tamaki school.