Our collaboration with Patrick Vernuccio, The Frenchie Gardener, and what happens when two like-minded philosophies meet.
Patrick Vernuccio started gardening on a 20-square-metre balcony in Amsterdam six years ago. No green thumb, no experience, no plan. What he had was curiosity – and a bag of seeds.
Today, as The Frenchie Gardener, he reaches more than two million people worldwide through Instagram, YouTube, TikTok and his Substack newsletter Green Love. He published books with Penguin and DK Publishing, gave a TEDx talk in Sicily about letting go of a 16-year corporate career in favour of a life closer to the ground, is a certified permaculture designer and co-founder of Gardenstead – a new social platform for gardeners. His most recent move is also his biggest: he has purchased 12 hectares of land in Sicily to build a fully regenerative farm, open to visitors and rooted in the belief that gardening is a way of life.
In 2026, we are working with him. And that feels just right.
Two philosophies, one direction
What attracts us to Patrick is not his range – although that is impressive. It is his conviction. For him, permaculture is not a technique but a philosophy of life: working with nature rather than against it, embracing biodiversity, treating the soil as something valuable rather than something consumable. He talks about gardening as a way to reconnect – with food, with seasons, with yourself.
We recognise that. At Sneeboer, we don’t make tools for a season. We make tools for generations – hand-forged in Bovenkarspel, from stainless steel that lasts for decades. The belief that quality takes time, that attention gives back what you put in, that you respect the soil in everything you do – Patrick puts it exactly like that, but in his garden.
He started on a balcony. We started in a forge. Both from the conviction that how you do something is as important as what you do. From a 20m² balcony to 12 hectares of Sicilian land: that’s not a jump in scale. That’s a leap of faith.
The Sicilian project
The land Patrick has purchased is in Sicily – an island he knows from his Italian roots, which he is now reacquainting himself with as a gardener and farmer. His goal: to fully regenerate the land. Organic farming, soil restoration, bringing back biodiversity. Not as an experiment, but as a living space and educational centre for anyone who wants to learn what regenerative living looks like in practice.
The Sicilian soil is generous but requires patience. Exactly the kind of work for which you need tools that won’t let you down. Our tools go with Patrick – in the earth, in his hands, and hopefully in the hands of everyone who will soon visit him on that piece of land.
Sneeboer × The Frenchie Gardener collaboration: more than a campaign
The Sneeboer × The Frenchie Gardener collaboration is not a one-off. It is a shared starting point. Both parties believe that sustainable gardening starts with the right choices – from what you plant, to how you treat the soil, to what tools you take in hand to do so. That choice starts with the quality you choose and what you relate to.
Patrick himself calls gardening a way of coming home again. We recognise that feeling. It is exactly why we have been making these tools for more than a century – not for the short term, but for generations to come.
Follow the project via @thefrenchiegardener on Instagram, YouTube, TikTok and Substack – and via sneeboer.com.
Two brands. One ground. The same conviction.
Sneeboer × The Frenchie Gardener – 2026