WEST BOYLSTON – When Nathan Fournier first heard the term “permaculture” while listening to a podcast, he knew he had found his calling and his future career.
Graduating from Worcester Polytechnic Institute with a degree in Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering in 2013, Fournier veered to a different career path and immersed himself in the world of permaculture and regenerative agriculture.
Fournier was at the Koanga Institute in New Zealand learning about regenerative gardening practices when the COVID-19 lockdowns forced him to come back to central Massachusetts. Determined to start his own landscaping company, Fournier was researching online when he came across a Boston-based company developed by Ben Barkan called HomeHarvest.
Barkan mentored Fournier and soon Fournier purchased the HomeHarvest licensing and became owner of his own company, HomeHarvest Central MA which has a nursery in West Boylston.
Fournier started HomeHarvest Central MA two years ago and has seen outstanding success as people prioritized improving their homes during the COVID-19 lockdowns. That momentum of home improvement has only grown as the public understands the financial, health, and security perks of producing their own food, especially with inflation and broken supply chains, Fournier said.
HomeHarvest Central MA is a full-service landscaping company that offers everything from education to design and landscape creation. From step one with supplying plants and ensuring soil health, all the way through carpentry, masonry and routine landscaping maintenance, Fournier provides services every step of the way. His engineering background also comes in handy while creating 3D designs of landscapes or customizing unique solutions for his clients.
“I work with the customer to create one holistic project,” Fournier said.
Regenerative agriculture and permaculture focus on ecology by creating natural ecosystems of plants that can support one another and be self-sufficient. Not only are practices such as organic farming, no-till farming, and soil health beneficial to nature, but according to Fournier they have many health benefits and can also save you some money on your next grocery bill.
Fournier described permaculture as “working in a cohesive and symbiotic way with nature instead of using brute force.”
By planting fruit trees, vegetables, berry plants, medicinal plants, and plants that attract pollinators, HomeHarvest Central MA creates natural ecosystems that support one another and add nutrients back into the soil. Fournier maximizes the growing potential of every square foot, meaning that even urban homes with small yards can have edible landscapes teeming with fresh food and medicinal plants.
Rather than having grass lawns which create “dead space”, there is a trend toward making yards productive food producers that are beneficial to the environment.
“All around us there are solutions and answers,” Fournier said about the endless applications of plants, “The age of the grass lawn is over.”
Currently, Fournier is working in a home where the client wanted to focus on self-sufficiency. As a result, Fournier designed a 5,000-gallon underground rain storage unit, a walk-in raised garden area, a pondless waterfall, and a vast array of food producing plants featuring 25 fruit trees and over 1,000 perennials.
Besides being the owner of HomeHarvest, Fournier wears many other hats as a general contractor, real estate investor, and vice president of the Worcester Rugby Football Club. Recently, Fournier also became a member of the Green Worcester Advisory Committee, where the group is determined to make Worcester the greenest mid-sized city in the United States. Besides more eco-friendly changes in Worcester, Fournier also wants to make edible landscapes more accessible, especially to those in lower-income and impoverished areas.
“I want to touch as many lives as possible by growing as much food as possible,” he said.
In the future, Fournier would like to open HomeHarvest offshoots in other locations to bring permaculture education and services to even more people.
“The time is now to change the way that we interact with our landscapes and reconnect with nature,” Fournier said.
For more information about HomeHarvest Central MA. click here.
Lead image: Nathan Fournier, owner of HomeHarvest Central MA/Sloane Perron for ThisWeekinWorcester.com
