Just before Christmas I tentatively embarked on something that looks set to change the course of my life. I had returned from South Africa a few months earlier with seed of many threatened members of the protea family and I was forced to make some decisions. I had to set up a nursery to study the cultivation and conservation of these endangered plants.
I spent a full 18 months previous to this, unsuccessfully, trying to find a suitable site. When it seemed all else had failed, suddenly, a friend at a party told me of a small area of land that seemed perfect and within days we had the keys. I was faced with the prospect that finally this was real. But how would I pay for all the equipment required? Simple things like plant-pots, rabbit proof fencing and a shed, let alone a polytunnel, at the end of the day I am a gardener and I earn a gardener’s wage, it was daunting to say the least. As I sat down and really thought about it, the figure increased.
Crowdfunding is the practice of funding a project or venture by raising monetary contributions from a large number of people. It has become quite the norm for some things. Setting up a new business? Crowdfund it. Got a great invention? Crowdfund it. Need an operation? Crowdfund it.
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