The Permaculture Vine

The Mato Topic Intelligence Platform does not report this podcast as charting in a published category in this snapshot.

1. 129. From Oil to Soil and Interdependence from The Permaculture Vine, opens in a new tab

   Sep 18, 20261 hr 10 min

   🌿 Interested in learning herbalism? Ecoversity’s 100-Hour Herbalism Program is a 6-month online programme covering herbal medicine, plant knowledge, medicine making and practical herbal skills, with live classes, recorded lessons and lifetime access to the course material. 👉 Find out more and enrol here: https://www.goinflektion.com/299ZXDG6/4WNR4Z/?uid=721 💰 Use code VINE at checkout for an additional 10% discount. This is an affiliate link. If you enrol through it, The Permaculture Vine may receive a commission at no additional cost to you. Jon Sedore joins Cormac Harkin to discuss discovering permaculture in Alberta, growing food and composting, leaving corporate work, hempcrete, the Interdependence Works Summit, local economies and building stronger connections between people and communities. In episode 129 of The Permaculture Vine Podcast , host Cormac Harkin was joined by Jon Sedore to talk about his route from the oil and gas industry into permaculture, growing food, composting, community involvement and hempcrete. The conversation also covered the Interdependence Works Summit that Jon is helping to organise, its five pillars, disagreement and political division, local economies, community participation, shared resources and some of the projects Jon hopes to develop after the summit. Who’s at the Table Jon Sedore lives in Alberta, Canada. He spent much of his working life in business, including oil and gas and logistics, before leaving his corporate job in 2022. He first became involved with permaculture in 2018 and has since spent time growing food, composting, learning about herbalism, working with community projects and building with hempcrete. Cormac Harkin hosts The Permaculture Vine Podcast . In this conversation, he shared examples from his own gardening and composting, discussed community and political division in Northern Ireland, and talked about his planned contribution to the Interdependence Works Summit around global conversations and local action. Discovering Permaculture Jon’s introduction to permaculture came through his partner at the time, who had become interested in gardening and began exploring permaculture. Jon said that before this he had never gardened and had given little thought to where his food came from. He joined her in taking a Permaculture Design Course through Verge Permaculture in Calgary. Jon described the course as changing his perspective, particularly around design, inputs and how different elements can work together. One concept that remained particularly prominent for him was stacking functions. He described continuing to apply the idea of having something perform more than one function, including when thinking about people working together. Growing Food and Learning About Soil After completing the course around the beginning of 2020, Jon started growing food in Calgary. He was living in a small urban property where he created two raised beds and an in-ground bed, growing crops including tomatoes and beans. He also joined a community garden. His growing interest in soil led him to take responsibility for its three-bin composting system, giving him more practical experience with compost and soil. Cormac discussed his own approach to composting, including cold compost, hot compost and using material from a chicken deep-bedding system. The conversation focused on the practical process of combining different materials and producing compost for the garden. Leaving Corporate Work Jon left his corporate job in 2022. He explained that although the job provided good pay and benefits, he had become uncomfortable exchanging his time for work that was ultimately contributing to somebody else’s creation. He did not leave with a plan to immediately establish a permaculture design business. Instead, he wanted practical experience. Jon spent time WWOOFing and visiting farms to see how other people approached organic farming. He moved from Calgary to British Columbia and later Saskatchewan, where he lived beside a lake in the boreal forest and learned more about mushrooms. He eventually returned to Alberta and settled in a small town. Community Work at the Arboretum After moving to Trochu, Jon became involved with the Trochu Arboretum, a long-established tree garden in the town. He joined the society and later became chair of its board. He described trying to introduce permaculture knowledge into the way the organisation operated and bringing facilitators into the community. The surrounding area includes conventional agriculture and ranching, and Jon discussed engaging younger people with different ideas around plants, soil and growing. Much of this work was voluntary. Building with Hempcrete Another major part of Jon’s recent work has been hempcrete. Jon and his partner Kat, who is a herbalist, have spent considerable time working with hemp. He described hempcrete as using hemp hurd mixed with lime and water to produce a building material. They have built three of their own buildings using the material, while Jon has also participated in other builds. Jon discussed growing hemp in Alberta, where the short growing season means one crop rather than two. He said it grows well in the local conditions and described plants in his front garden reaching more than 11 feet. The conversation also covered regulation of hemp and Jon’s interest in promoting its use as a building material. Cormac discussed the licensing requirements around growing hemp where he lives. The Interdependence Works Summit The conversation then moved to the Interdependence Works Summit, an online event Jon is helping to organise. Jon explained that the idea developed partly from conversations taking place in Alberta around independence, government and the relationship between Alberta and Canada. He described seeing political discussions creating division between people and said the summit was intended to focus instead on interdependence and bringing people into conversation. The event is organised around five pillars: sovereignty, belonging, vitality, regeneration and prosperity. Jon described sovereignty in terms of individual rights and free will without infringing on the rights of other people. Belonging covers human and communal systems and how people work together. Vitality introduces conversations around individual and societal health. Regeneration looks at moving beyond sustainability and discussing regenerative approaches across society, culture and agriculture. Prosperity focuses on local economies, producers and ways of keeping more economic activity within communities. Disagreement and Conversation A substantial part of the discussion focused on disagreement. Cormac and Jon discussed how political conversations can quickly become polarised. Cormac described the divisions around Northern Ireland’s constitutional position, while Jon discussed similar experiences in Canada. Jon said he did not expect everybody involved in the summit to agree. Instead, he described disagreement as something people need to be able to engage with while continuing to listen to each other. The conversation covered the effects Jon believes COVID had on relationships between families, friends and co-workers, and his view that people have become less comfortable discussing differences of opinion. Cormac described his podcast in similar terms: creating conversations where people can have different perspectives without the discussion becoming an argument. Taking Part in the Summit Jon explained several ways people can participate in Interdependence Works. The website includes a section called Voices, where people are being asked what interdependence means to them. Jon said these responses will be collected and used to identify recurring words and subjects. People can also apply to speak. Jon said the event is not being organised solely around recognised names and that people who have a perspective or experience they want to share can submit information about what they would like to discuss. The summit will contain multiple conversations around the five pillars. Some selected conversations will be available publicly, while ticket holders will have access to the wider conference, recordings and opportunities to participate in discussions and Q&A sessions. Jon also discussed plans for an online space following the summit where people could continue networking and communicating without advertising. Hempcrete and Local Systems After the Summit When Cormac asked what Jon planned to work on after the summit, hempcrete remained one of his main areas of interest. Jon also discussed developing systems for people to work together locally. He referred to ideas he has encountered through One Small Town, sociocracy, WWOOFing and Young Agrarians. His interest is in exploring ways people within towns, churches, sports clubs and other organisations could contribute work and skills and create forms of exchange around that participation. Jon has also been developing software and described using AI to help him create code and systems despite not previously knowing programming languages such as JavaScript. Local Economies and Shared Resources The discussion returned repeatedly to the relationship between individuals, local producers and larger economic systems. Cormac discussed the difficulties regulations can create for small producers selling across different markets. Jon described similar concerns among farmers and producers in Canada, particularly where producers have limited control over how products reach markets. They also discussed the amount of equipment individually owned within communities. Jon used lawnmowers as a simple example, questioning why every household needs to purchase equipment that is only used occasionally. Tool libraries and shared equipment were discussed as alternatives where resources can move between people. This connected with a broader discussion about people becoming less accustomed to asking neighbours for help or sharing resources. Food, Dependence and Local Production Towards the end of the conversation, Jon returned to food production. He contrasted food grown and harvested at home with produce moving through longer commercial supply chains. He discussed questions around how long food has been stored, where it was produced and how it was grown. The conversation also considered dependence on supermarkets and supply chains. Jon described growing food at home as one way of reducing that dependence and increasing personal food security. Cormac and Jon connected this back to permaculture and to their respective experiences of growing food, building systems and sharing what they are doing with other people. Closing Episode 129 covered Jon’s progression from oil and gas into permaculture, his first experiences growing food and composting, practical learning through WWOOFing, community work in Alberta and his growing involvement with hempcrete. The conversation then moved through the Interdependence Works Summit and its five pillars, political disagreement, community participation, local economies, shared resources, food production and Jon’s plans to continue developing hempcrete and local collaborative projects after the summit. Get full access to Cormac Harkin at cormacharkin.substack.com/subscribe

2. 128. Permaculture and Preparedness: Food, Water, Energy and Community from The Permaculture Vine, opens in a new tab

   Sep 14, 202659 min

   Lindsay Brandon joins Cormac Harkin to discuss preparedness through permaculture design, including food and water storage, energy and heat, growing at different scales, off-grid systems, redundancy, skills and community interdependence. In episode 128 of The Permaculture Vine Podcast , host Cormac Harkin was joined by Lindsay Brandon from Permaculture Canada. Lindsay joined the conversation from her school bus just north of Golden, British Columbia, where she is setting up her off-grid systems. The conversation covered preparedness through the lens of permaculture design, moving beyond storing supplies to look at food, water, energy, heat, waste, skills, property design and community. Who’s at the Table Lindsay Brandon is with Permaculture Canada and was speaking from her school bus just north of Golden, BC. She has recently moved from Calgary and is setting up her off-grid systems, including solar power, water, hot water, a humanure composting system and other infrastructure. Cormac Harkin hosts The Permaculture Vine Podcast . During the conversation, he discussed his own property and the systems he uses and is developing, including water, food growing, composting, chickens, a food forest and annual garden. Preparedness Beyond Food Storage The conversation began with government messaging around keeping additional food and supplies and preparing for extreme weather and possible supply-chain disruption. Cormac contrasted simply stockpiling food with using permaculture to consider how different systems work together. Lindsay added community resilience and interdependence to the discussion. Food and water storage were part of preparedness, but she also raised the importance of knowing the skills available among neighbours and knowing who could provide help in areas such as medical care. Cormac also raised the practical question of whether stored foods are foods people normally eat and know how to prepare. The discussion therefore moved from simply having supplies towards considering how those supplies would actually be used. Starting at Different Scales Space was one of the first practical constraints discussed. Cormac described his own property as one tenth of an acre and also raised the situations of people living in flats or apartments. Lindsay described the contrast between living inside a school bus and being surrounded by a much larger property. Rather than creating an individual garden beside the bus, she is participating in community growing systems already operating on the property. The conversation also covered balcony herbs, community gardens and finding unused land. Lindsay mentioned grants she had encountered in Canada for people willing to organise community gardens. She also referred to her recent trip to Iceland, where the range of crops that can be grown outdoors is more restricted, and raised indoor growing and hydroponics while noting their dependence on power. Using Permaculture Design for Preparedness Cormac framed permaculture design around food, energy, water and shelter rather than treating each one separately. Lindsay discussed the tools that might be available for extending food storage, including fermentation crocks, solar dryers and dehydrators. Those tools do not necessarily have to belong to one person. Lindsay described bringing people together for fermenting, with several people sharing the work of preparing kimchi, beet kraut and other preserved foods. Different people could bring different skills and equipment to the process. Cormac also discussed observing what is already available before beginning: skills, community, resources, money, food, water, electricity, heat, fuel and waste streams. Kitchen waste was used as an example of an output that could become an input for compost or chickens. Auditing Skills and Resources Lindsay described an exercise she is currently doing as she moves from city life to living off-grid. She is writing down her skills, resources and tools, including experience with soap making, fermenting, acting, music and dance. She described this as a needs-and-yields analysis that she is applying to herself so that people in the community can understand what she is able to contribute. Observation is also happening directly on the land. On the rainy day when the episode was recorded, Lindsay and Brian planned to walk the property and observe where water was moving and pooling and where ponds might be located. Water Storage and Supply When Cormac asked where someone should start, Lindsay initially identified water, followed by food and community. Cormac discussed calculating how much water a household requires, how much can be stored and whether more can be collected. In his own climate, rainwater can be collected throughout the year, although water intended for drinking would need to be treated. The conversation also covered storing water higher on a property where possible for gravity feeding, as well as considering both drought and flooding. For Lindsay, the current off-grid setup includes delivered water and access to a freshwater spring. Later in the conversation she also described plans for a Bunyip pump, which she compared with a ram pump, to move water uphill from the river without electricity. The property has two creeks running through it. Food Growing and Preservation Cormac described beginning food planning by asking what people actually eat before deciding what to grow. He discussed choosing crops and varieties suited to the local area and combining annual and perennial plants. Food resilience in the conversation also included buying food for preservation rather than necessarily growing everything yourself. Fermenting, canning and dehydrating were discussed alongside growing. Lindsay described Permaculture Canada’s design process as looking at the person, the property and what will thrive there, then considering food production, soil health, water storage, microclimates, preservation and plant propagation. She also described breaking implementation into stages according to budget and experience. Designing Around Climate and Environmental Threats The design discussion expanded into water catchment, composting, food forests, annual gardens, animal systems, kitchens and indoor environments. Lindsay also included rotational grazing where animals are present and eco-buffers or shelter belts. She described geography and climate as an early part of their design process, including identifying possible forest-fire, flood and landslide risks before moving into other parts of the design. A sector rose was mentioned as a way of identifying environmental influences and threats. The discussion included wind, neighbouring pollution or sprays, and the possibility of using snow fences to capture snow so that it later melts into ponds. Energy, Heat and Cooking Power cuts led into a discussion of what stops working when electricity is unavailable. Depending on the situation, that can extend beyond lights and electrical appliances to water and other services. Lindsay described her current solar setup, batteries, wind-up flashlights, candles and firewood. Her portable solar panels had blown over during the recording because of strong mountain winds, and she discussed needing to build a frame and secure them. Her cooler contains its own batteries and is charged from solar during the day. She also shuts down her power and internet systems at night. Cormac described keeping his cooking gas separate from the mains supply, with a spare bottle available when the first runs out. He also discussed his wood burner and alternative approaches to heating, including a simple solar air-heating system he had seen using cans, a small fan and a south-facing window. The conversation also covered reducing energy requirements before replacing energy supplies, including heating a smaller area rather than an entire house. Preparing Away From Home Preparedness was not limited to the property. Lindsay described a recent power outage along a stretch of highway in British Columbia. Shops without power closed, fuel was unavailable and one organic food store with a generator remained open. She also described keeping water and food in her vehicle when travelling through the Rocky Mountains. When her car broke down, those supplies meant she had food and water while waiting four hours for a tow truck. Both Lindsay and Cormac discussed keeping additional winter clothing or sleeping equipment in vehicles in case of breakdowns during cold weather. Tools, Skills and Asking for Help Community returned throughout the conversation. Lindsay discussed examining not only what she can do herself but where she needs help, including work on the school bus that requires tools or skills she does not have. Cormac described belonging to a tool library for £30 a year, allowing him to borrow equipment rather than purchase everything himself. Lindsay described skill exchanges within her current community, including exchanging yoga classes, massage and other skills. Lindsay also described her current experience of integrating into a new community and learning to ask for help. Her personal audit therefore includes identifying what she can contribute, what she lacks and who she could approach when she needs assistance. Community and Interdependence The discussion returned to the difference between trying to provide everything individually and knowing what exists within a wider community. Cormac suggested auditing community resources in much the same way as personal resources. Lindsay discussed identifying skills, resources and gaps, and considering who could provide help. Near the end of the episode, Lindsay also discussed the upcoming online Interdependence.Works conference. She described five areas of conversation: sovereignty, belonging, vitality, regeneration and prosperity. The event brings together people with different skills around the subject of interdependence and community. Redundancy When Cormac asked for a final thought, Lindsay returned to redundancy: when one solution is identified, she suggested having another available in case the first does not work. Cormac added multiple uses to that discussion, connecting them with redundancy within the systems being considered. Closing The episode covered preparedness at household, property and community scales, including stored food and water, growing and preserving food, power and heat, off-grid systems, climate and site conditions, tools, personal skills and community resources. The conversation also followed Lindsay’s current experience of setting up her school-bus systems north of Golden and Cormac’s discussion of developing water, chicken, composting and food-growing systems on his own property. Throughout the episode, preparedness was discussed in terms of the practical systems available, the backups for those systems and the people and skills available around them. Help Lindsay get to Thailand:https://gofund.me/a91f29dd6Free Site Observation Guide → https://vinepermaculture.com/start/Learn how to understand your property before you plant, build, or spend money.Buy a design from Permaculture Canada:https://permaculturecanada.world/shop/?ref=etcvdgzj Get full access to Cormac Harkin at cormacharkin.substack.com/subscribe

3. 127. Digital Permaculture, Ethical IT and Open-Source Tools from The Permaculture Vine, opens in a new tab

   Sep 2, 202655 min

   In episode 127 of The Permaculture Vine Podcast , host Cormac Harkin was joined by Dominik Jais. The conversation covered Dominik’s introduction to permaculture, his diploma work, the development of his Finnish homestead, digital permaculture, artificial intelligence, open-source alternatives, his book Digital Permaculture and his work with the European Permaculture Network. Who’s at the Table Dominik Jais lives in Finland. He is a web developer, permaculture diploma tutor and lead of the European Permaculture Network’s software. He also runs the Beyond Buckthorns permaculture homestead and wrote the book Digital Permaculture . From Coding to Permaculture Dominik first encountered permaculture in New York in 2014 after meeting people involved in DIY biogas projects through a local hackspace. During the visit, he attended a final presentation connected with a Permaculture Design Certificate course and heard a permaculture project being presented. He continued learning through books, websites and videos before completing an intensive two-week PDC in Finland in 2018 with George Sobol. At the time, Dominik and his wife were already gardening and beginning to develop designs for their own property. Dominik later began his Diploma in Applied Permaculture Design. His existing projects provided material for the diploma, including work on a barn and a communications design for the Finnish Permaculture Association. Beyond Buckthorns in Finland Dominik and his wife began developing Beyond Buckthorns after moving to their property in 2016. The project involves transforming the existing space into a permaculture homestead. The property includes several gardens and indoor growing areas. Dominik described an indoor food forest built into an old barn using reclaimed glass from a municipal building renovation in Tampere. The space is used mainly for perennial plants, with some annual crops such as tomatoes. The property also has a greenhouse and a recently completed partially sunken greenhouse. This was created from an old garage containing a working ditch below the frost line. Dominik plans to use it for trees that would otherwise struggle with the area’s winter temperatures. Their outdoor growing includes garlic, vegetables and a range of berries. They do not currently keep livestock, although they have a cat named Ms Sophie. Courses, Consultancy and Design Work Beyond Buckthorns hosts different forms of permaculture education. Dominik’s wife, Lumia, teaches an introduction to permaculture course in Finnish. Dominik has taught two PDCs in English and usually runs a biogas course every other year. They have also tested a regenerative energy course and different teaching formats. One format that has worked well is their design camp, which provides a direct and hands-on introduction to permaculture design. Dominik also undertakes occasional design and consultancy work. The projects vary according to what comes to them, with the largest consultancy project discussed covering approximately 12 hectares. Biogas in a Cold Climate The conversation included the biogas system Dominik installed inside the converted barn. He explained that methane production is highest at approximately 37°C and declines as the temperature falls. To operate the system in Finland, he placed it indoors and used approximately 40 centimetres of insulation. He combined it with a solar vacuum-tube collector, circulating hot water through the IBC containing the system. The barn now contains the biogas system, the indoor food forest and a teaching classroom. Applying Permaculture to Digital Systems Dominik distinguished between using digital tools for conventional permaculture work and applying permaculture design within a digital context. For property design, he uses QGIS along with graphics software including Inkscape, GIMP and Affinity. The choice depends on the requirements and complexity of the project. Dominik described digital permaculture as permaculture design conducted within a digital context. It still involves observation, ethics, principles, a design process and an assessment of available options. Cormac used his planned home server system as an example. The proposed system would store podcast files and family photographs while allowing files to be accessed and shared remotely. Dominik discussed examining whether a network-attached storage system was required, whether existing equipment could meet the need and whether open-source or proprietary software was appropriate. He also noted that a proprietary system might remain the practical choice if operating an open-source alternative placed excessive demands on the user. Artificial Intelligence and Digital Choices Cormac described using AI-generated elements inside Affinity to create visual representations of greenhouses and trees for property designs. Dominik raised the energy and hardware requirements associated with artificial intelligence, including mineral extraction and the production of computing equipment. He said that AI features can appear inside software without users making a conscious decision to adopt them. They also discussed AI-generated images and voices appearing in permaculture content and course promotion. Cormac described finding an AI-generated version of a speaker’s voice off-putting, while Dominik referred to the increasing presence of this material within the permaculture community. Platforms and Open-Source Alternatives The conversation examined the digital platforms used by permaculture organisations and individuals. Dominik questioned the reliance on large proprietary platforms and discussed alternatives including PeerTube, Mastodon and Signal. PeerTube was described as a decentralised and federated alternative to YouTube that can be operated through independent servers. Cormac discussed Nostr as a system through which a user can retain an identity and carry information between services. They also considered the difficulty of encouraging communities to move away from platforms where large numbers of people are already active. Messaging platforms were another part of the discussion. Dominik currently prefers Signal or Threema and does not use WhatsApp. He described open-source software as allowing its source code to be examined, while proprietary systems do not provide the same access. The Book Digital Permaculture Dominik’s book introduces digital permaculture and follows one complete digital permaculture design across approximately 200 pages. The design begins with observation and surveying. Dominik inventories the hardware and software he uses, evaluates those systems and considers possible alternatives. The book includes areas such as digital zones, hardware, software and messaging services. Dominik designed the book himself, including its fonts, layout and chapter presentation. It is distributed through a print-on-demand service and can be ordered through bookshops using its ISBN. The European Permaculture Network Dominik leads the software work for the European Permaculture Network. Its website is designed primarily for teachers and course organisers, allowing them to create profiles, list courses and share resources, books, links and funding opportunities. At the time of the conversation, Dominik said the website had approximately 230 members and around 2,500 visitors per month. The network also operates an assured-teacher process. A person must have completed a PDC, a Permaculture Teacher Training course and a diploma before becoming eligible. The process then includes a peer review with an assured teacher from another European country. The network has a core council, monthly meetings and an open-source community forum. Dominik described it as a growing project developing through voluntary participation. Permatalks, Dialogue Sessions and the Lync Project Dominik discussed the European Permaculture Network’s Permatalks series, which returns at the beginning of each year. The programme usually contains eight to ten sessions presented by different speakers. For the programme discussed in the episode, the network was adding dialogue sessions. Members selected areas of experience through their network profiles, and people with shared areas of knowledge were invited to take part in conversations together. The planned subjects included PDCs, introductory courses, online permaculture education and teaching at homesteads. The Permatalks programme was also connected with the Erasmus Plus-funded Lync project. The planned online convention included several sessions each day, alongside permaculture talks and networking. Moving the Permaculture CoLab from Slack Dominik is part of the Permaculture CoLab’s digital circle. The group spent a year researching an alternative to Slack. The CoLab subsequently moved from Slack to Discourse, an open-source forum platform. Dominik noted that the two systems operate differently: Slack is primarily a chat platform, while Discourse is organised as a forum. The decision involved evaluating alternatives and listening to members who wanted to contribute to the process. Sensors and Remote Monitoring Dominik also uses small digital systems around his property. Temperature and humidity sensors send data using MQTT, while sensors located farther away use LoRa. The monitoring includes greenhouse temperatures and the water line entering the house. Winter temperatures can reach approximately −25°C, so the water line has an electric heating cable connected to an MQTT-controlled plug that can be activated remotely. Dominik has also added a sensor to the washing machine so that it can indicate when a cycle has finished. For basic temperature monitoring, he uses smaller devices rather than running a complete Raspberry Pi system. Closing This episode covered Dominik’s route from web development into permaculture, the development of Beyond Buckthorns in Finland, biogas and indoor growing, the application of permaculture design to digital systems, open-source platforms and the work of the European Permaculture Network. Get full access to Cormac Harkin at cormacharkin.substack.com/subscribe

4. 126. Off-Grid Living, Productive Gardens and Natural Building from The Permaculture Vine, opens in a new tab

   Aug 27, 202658 min

   In episode 126 of The Permaculture Vine Podcast , host Cormac Harkin was joined by Steven Golemboski-Byrne. The conversation covered Steven’s introduction to permaculture, the development of his property in County Down, food growing, off-grid energy, natural building, biogas and the permaculture gathering in Ireland. Who’s at the Table Steven Golemboski-Byrne is based in County Down, Northern Ireland. He has been involved in permaculture for 15 years and lives off-grid at Lackin Cottage Farm. His work includes providing power systems for people who cannot or do not want to connect to the electricity grid, alongside consultancy on buildings, heating systems, natural materials, greywater recycling and water treatment. An Introduction to Permaculture in Bangor Steven first encountered permaculture while working on a community farm project in Bangor. The farm’s owners wanted to develop community farming and social-prescribing activities, but the people involved did not yet have a clear plan for organising the site. Philip Allen delivered a one-day introduction to permaculture for the group. Steven said the course left him with more questions than he had beforehand, but it helped the project develop a long-term design. Work on that design was still continuing 15 years later. Steven subsequently visited projects in Wales, including Lammas Ecovillage, where he met Simon and Jasmine Dale. He was also part of a group attempting to establish another ecovillage in Wales. Although that project did not proceed, the group had already considered how permaculture could inform the design of a future site. Finding Land and Making an Initial Plan Steven and his family wanted to live off-grid and travelled to different projects to see how other people were doing it. Before finding land, they developed a list of things they might want to include and considered how they could earn a living. Their budget was a major factor when looking for a property. They eventually found land in County Down containing some woodland, along with ground that had previously been closely grazed by sheep. Once they had the property, they considered which parts of their earlier plans were suitable for that particular site. They produced an initial five-year plan and a first permaculture design for the property. Renovating the Cottage and Working Outwards When Steven and his family received the keys, the house was derelict. They had previously lived in a converted truck, which they brought to the new property. With Claire pregnant and their daughter Lyra due to be born, they had 14 weeks to make the cottage habitable. Their first priorities were shelter, heating, bathing and somewhere to sleep. Food was initially grown in bags and containers because there was no prepared growing area outside. Rubble from work on the cottage was used while putting infrastructure in place, and development gradually moved outwards from the house. Once they had enough dry ground, they established a route to the planned polytunnel, began improving the soil and started planting. They also planted large numbers of trees during the first few years so that the trees could begin growing without losing another season. Practical Work Before the PDC Steven did not complete a Permaculture Design Certificate until 2018, several years after arriving at the property in 2012. Before taking the course, he had already helped to organise gatherings, facilitated courses and contributed sessions about the work taking place on the farm. Hannah Moll taught courses at the property, including during its first year. Steven completed his PDC in Wicklow. He described the course as practical and hands-on, while also providing more detail about subjects including ponds, soil and the process of developing a design with other people. Food, Fuel and a Local Group of Households The property initially concentrated on producing food for Steven’s family rather than operating as a CSA. Steven described a loose local group of four or five families who grow food and keep different animals. Food and other resources are exchanged within the group, which also places wholefood orders through Suma. During lockdown, members worked together on larger jobs, including erecting polytunnels. They would work at one property before moving to the next. This arrangement has continued, although the group no longer meets for shared work as often. Lackin Cottage Farm has usually kept chickens, although it had no chickens at the time of the conversation. Steven also keeps horses. One of the horses can undertake field work, move materials and pull timber. The property grows much of its own fuel. Existing woodland has been supplemented by thousands of planted trees, coppice and double hedgerows. Adjusting the Amount of Food Being Grown The amount of food grown at the property has changed over time. Steven explained that the vegetable-growing operation became too large to maintain comfortably, even when the systems were designed to require less intervention. The family has since reduced the scale of production to a level that provides what they need. They also try to retain resources within the farm and the wider group of local households. A smaller garden immediately outside the conservatory is now used more intensively. Steven said that concentrating effort in this area has made it more productive than the larger growing area further from the house. Some other areas are left without regular intervention. Steven described allowing them to remain wild unless they begin affecting another part of the property. Greywater, Rainwater and Compost Toilets For the first four years, the property relied on compost toilets, including one inside the house. The indoor toilet was later replaced with a rainwater-flushed system, while compost toilets remain outside. The cottage also incorporates part of the water system associated with an Earthship design. Greywater from the bathroom passes into beds in the adjoining conservatory, where some food is grown. The water then moves into a small pond and can be pumped back to flush the toilet. Rainwater is stored in IBCs. In one building, the structure was positioned in front of the tanks because rock prevented them from being buried. Building with Natural and Recycled Materials Steven has built roundhouses, compost toilets and other structures at the property. The buildings include examples of load-bearing and non-load-bearing straw bale construction, sheep’s-wool insulation, earth plaster and a reciprocal-frame roof. One building uses a rammed-earth tyre foundation, a timber frame and straw-bale walls. Clay taken from a nearby hole was used for the earth plaster, while birch cut approximately 200 yards away provided the frame timber. The floor was reused from another building. Sawmill waste, silage plastic and soil were used in the roof, which is now covered by growth and is not readily visible from outside. Steven said the structure cost approximately £400 and took around four or five weeks to erect, although the plastering was completed over a much longer period. It now serves as his office and workshop and is heated with a small wood burner. Insulation and Moisture in Existing Buildings Cormac and Steven also discussed Cormac’s garage renovation. The garage was being stripped back to its brick walls and roof structure for use as a workshop, classroom, office and podcast-recording space. Steven discussed using wood-fibre insulation between and above the roof structure to reduce cold bridging. For the walls, he described a possible build-up involving wood fibre, a vapour-control membrane, battens and an internal board. They also discussed the need to consider where moisture might condense within an insulated wall. Steven noted that his suggestions were based on systems used successfully in his own buildings and were not a guarantee for another structure. Off-Grid Power Systems Living off-grid led people to ask Steven where he obtained his equipment and whether he could provide similar systems for them. During the pandemic, this work developed into a separate business. Steven provides power systems for people who cannot connect to the electricity grid or who do not want to connect. The work combines customer installation, DIY involvement and Steven commissioning the technical parts of each system. He does not install solar panels on roofs. Many of the systems he works with use ground-mounted panels, while some customers already have photovoltaic panels and want to move from an on-grid arrangement to an off-grid system. Steven said solar panels were among the least expensive parts of an off-grid installation. Battery storage remained more costly, with shipping disruption and availability affecting prices at the time of the conversation. Heating a Biogas Digester The property has also used a biogas digester to turn food waste into cooking gas. Steven described two possible ways to maintain the temperature of a digester. A passive option is to place an IBC digester behind glass or inside a greenhouse. At Lackin Cottage Farm, the digester was positioned near the house. A coil of plastic pipe was placed inside the IBC and connected to the return from the heating system. Water returning to the boiler transferred enough heat to keep digestion operating. Steven said the optimum temperature was approximately 37–38°C. At temperatures in the twenties, the system produced enough gas to cook once a day. He was preparing to move the digester and test a greenhouse-based arrangement. Retrofitting an Existing Cottage A second cottage at the property is used as guest accommodation. Steven described it as an old building retrofitted with readily available materials rather than a new, highly insulated modular structure. The cottage does not use oil or gas, provides its own power and has very low bills. Steven also uses the property to demonstrate different building materials, heating systems and resource-management arrangements. People considering an off-grid property can stay in the cottage and look around the systems used on the farm. At the time of the conversation, no formal classes were scheduled, but Steven said visits could be arranged with people who wanted to discuss their land or plans. The Permaculture Gathering in Ireland Steven has attended and helped organise permaculture gatherings in Ireland. The gathering discussed in the episode was due to take place near Mullingar on a family farm, with 100 tickets available because the site was smaller than in previous years. The gathering is organised through a self-organising programme. Participants meet on the first morning and add talks, classes or demonstrations to a board. They can also request a subject they would like someone to cover. Steven said previous gatherings had included subjects ranging from forming ecovillages to practical demonstrations and shamanic journeying. The new association organising the gathering was also beginning to formalise some of the work around the event. Steven said possible future activities included using funds to support training and help people complete PDCs, although these plans were still at an early stage. Closing This episode covered Steven Golemboski-Byrne’s introduction to permaculture, the early development of Lackin Cottage Farm and the gradual adjustment of its food-growing systems. The conversation also included compost toilets, greywater and rainwater systems, natural building, insulation, biogas, off-grid electricity and the organisation of permaculture gatherings in Ireland. Get full access to Cormac Harkin at cormacharkin.substack.com/subscribe

5. 125. School-Bus Living, Off-Grid Systems and Community Stewardship from The Permaculture Vine, opens in a new tab

   Aug 26, 20261 hr 1 min

   In episode 125 of The Permaculture Vine Podcast , host Cormac Harkin was joined by Lindsay Brandon for a Permaculture Canada livestream covering her move from Calgary to an off-grid school bus in Golden, British Columbia. The conversation covered Lindsay’s move from Calgary to a school bus in Golden, British Columbia, the practical systems needed for living off-grid, joining an established community, shared food production, sociocracy, creative work, travel and the future use of the bus. Who’s at the Table Lindsay Brandon is moving from Calgary, Alberta, to Golden, British Columbia. Her work includes permaculture design, yoga instruction, music, illustration and sculpture. At the time of the conversation, she was preparing a camperized school bus for the move while continuing to undertake permaculture designs and planning upcoming travel to Iceland and Thailand. Cormac Harkin is the host of The Permaculture Vine Podcast . He joined Lindsay for this Permaculture Canada livestream and discussed her move, the bus conversion, off-grid systems, community arrangements and future plans. Leaving Calgary and Downsizing Lindsay had lived in Calgary while raising her children for 23 years. With her children now adults and out of the house, she decided to stop renting a three-bedroom property in the city and move into a school bus in Golden. The decision followed winter travel with her partner through six countries in Central America. They were looking for places where they might spend Canadian winters while retaining a home in Canada near family and their children. Maintaining a city house while travelling created considerable overhead. After returning to Calgary, Lindsay found that the house was larger than she needed. She wanted to move away from the noise and routines of the city and spend more time on the land. The move also required a significant reduction in belongings. Lindsay estimated that she sold around 70 per cent of what she owned. This took approximately three months of managing listings, calls, collections and negotiations through Facebook Marketplace. She retained her instruments, recording equipment, seasonal clothing and other belongings that she still needed. These are being stored in a rented 20-foot shipping container near the airport, allowing her to collect or exchange equipment and seasonal items when she returns to Calgary. Making Space for Creative Work Lindsay described the move as an opportunity to spend more time on music, songwriting, painting, illustration and sculpture. In Calgary, she had a large music studio but generally used it only occasionally in the evenings. On the land, she intends to create music with other artists, build sculptures in the woods and paint murals on the school bus and shipping containers. She also plans to use a virtual reality headset to transfer her illustrations onto larger surfaces. Drawings can be loaded into an application, enlarged to the required scale and viewed against the surface being painted. Lindsay intends to use this process to turn sketches into large murals on the bus and other structures. A future music studio may be housed in a yurt. She also discussed purchasing two shipping containers and using them as separate workshop spaces beneath a large covered structure. Stewarding Land Without Owning It The conversation considered the difference between purchasing land and entering an arrangement to inhabit and help steward land owned by someone else. Lindsay is exploring agreements based on the needs of both the landowners and the people living there. She mentioned bartering, trading and contributing skills as possible parts of these arrangements. She plans to spend a year living in the school bus on the property before deciding where to position it permanently. This will allow time to observe different parts of the land before choosing a longer-term location. Lindsay and her partner are also considering eventually building an earthship. She said they hoped to begin that process the following year, but the location had not yet been selected. The initial infrastructure may include two shipping containers with a Quonset-style roof between or above them. The containers would provide workshop space, while the covered area could be used to protect the school bus and other vehicles during the snowy Golden winters when Lindsay and her partner are travelling elsewhere. Preparing the School Bus The vehicle is a full-sized International school bus that had already been camperized. Lindsay thought it was approximately 25 feet long but was not certain of the measurement. At the time of the recording, the bus could not safely make the journey through the mountain pass to Golden. It needed a fuel pump and new tyres, so it was due to be transported on a flatbed. A diesel mechanic in the area would be able to work on it after it arrived. The bus already had plumbing, curtains, shelving and considerable storage. A friend removed part of the former bunk-bed structure and built a two-level workspace. Clothing bins fit on the lower level, while the upper level serves as a standing desk. Covered windows were also reopened to bring more natural light into the bus. Another friend built a new bed frame with storage underneath and repaired broken glass. An additional countertop was installed near the front to provide more food-preparation space. The existing full-sized refrigerator will not initially be operated because of its power demand. It will instead provide storage for dry food and dishes, with the option of selling it later. Water, Hot Water and Composting Toilets The bus has plumbed water, but the hot-water system had not yet arrived at the time of the conversation. Lindsay had ordered a propane on-demand unit, which remained on back order. Water will be obtained from the property, where there are creeks and wells. Lindsay plans to capture and store it in a larger container connected to the bus system. There is no fitted bathroom. The bus has an empty cubicle that could hold a bucket and toilet seat when going outside is impractical. One of Lindsay’s first jobs will be to build a three-stage composting system into which toilet buckets can be emptied. There was already a box and seat at one prospective location, and sawdust was readily available. A shelter would still be needed to keep the toilet covered during cold or wet weather. Until the on-demand hot-water unit arrives, Lindsay considered using a solar shower bag or black pipe placed on the roof. Cormac also described a compost-heated water arrangement in which pipe was routed through a compost heap, as well as the simpler option of using black pipe heated by the sun. Lindsay also mentioned the possibility of heating water using copper pipe around a fire made in a converted keg. Current fire restrictions limit the use of open flames, although she said propane fire pits were permitted under the restrictions she described. Building the Solar System The solar installation was still incomplete despite Lindsay allowing more than six weeks to assemble it. She and her partner already owned a Bluetti power bank that had been charged from the alternator of their truck. They had used it to run DJ turntables and other equipment during pop-up performances. For the bus, they ordered an expansion battery and 500-watt solar panels. The first expansion unit arrived cracked on both sides. Its replacement was then delivered to an address where Lindsay had lived two houses previously. Finding the correct cables also proved difficult. Some components came from different suppliers, while tariffs affected the practicality of ordering equipment from outside Canada. Once complete, Lindsay expected the system to take approximately six hours to charge and provide more power than she required. Her computer has a relatively low demand, and she does not expect to spend long periods inside using electrical equipment. The bus also has a conventional fuse box that could be used when connected to mains electricity at a campground. Lindsay’s normal arrangement, however, will be based on the separate solar system. Refrigeration and Food Storage For refrigeration, Lindsay purchased a 58-litre Anker Solix EverFrost 2 rolling cooler. The unit has two separately controlled compartments, allowing different combinations of refrigeration and freezing. Lindsay noted that the internal compartments were smaller than she expected relative to the overall size of the unit, with part of the space used for its battery system. They purchased three batteries. Lindsay believed that one battery could run the unit for approximately three days. The batteries can be charged through the solar power system, and the cooler can be monitored and controlled through a phone application. Shared Gardens and Food Production The Golden property already operates a community garden. Lindsay said that someone who contributes one day of work can eat from it. The garden is large, irrigated and open to additional planting. It includes a range of vegetables and a dedicated structure containing hot peppers and basil. Other gardens around the property have different functions. The property also has ducks, chickens and pigs. Eggs, bacon, sausages and other meat products are produced there. One of the landowners also owns the natural food shop in town, and products from the property are sold through an existing store. The mountainous ground is rocky and rich in minerals. The people living there have spent years building soil with hügelkultur, imported biomass and composting systems. A compost collection programme at the natural food shop previously brought material from town to the property. Some of it was fed to chickens, with the resulting manure contributing to soil production. Pigs are now also part of that process. Lindsay brought a collection of perennial plants that had previously moved from her parents’ property to her Calgary home. Some were planted among existing orchard rows, while approximately three-quarters remained in pots until their placement could be considered more carefully. The collection includes perennial berry bushes, hops and grapes. Animals and the Layout of the Property Although the property covers more than 140 acres and is surrounded by forest and mountains, Lindsay said she had not seen bears or deer on it. She attributed the limited wildlife pressure in part to two large dogs, Odie and Phoenix, which respond loudly to signs of animals. Most food production and livestock are concentrated near the people, gardens, community kitchen and dome. The dogs have a defined perimeter that keeps them away from the B&B, glamping and camping areas. The pigs are contained with electric fencing and moved regularly. The ducks move freely around the property. The chickens live in another school bus within a fenced area where much of the compost is deposited. Joining an Existing Community Lindsay had watched the property develop over many years but had not originally expected to live there. As she considered purchasing land independently, the amount of work involved became a concern. She referred to household maintenance, snow clearing, road access and pump management, alongside the continuing work of a homestead. She also expects to be absent for approximately half of each year. Joining an existing community allows responsibilities to be shared. The current landowners use seasonal workers and WWOOFers to help manage the farm and rental operations, but it can still be difficult for them to leave. A larger group could watch over each other’s homes, systems and projects, allowing different members to travel. Lindsay also wants to learn additional practical skills on the property, including operating heavy equipment, building ponds and undertaking more carpentry. Sociocracy and Community Agreements The community is moving towards a sociocratic model, although Lindsay said she had not yet seen how it would work as the group expanded. She has helped the landowners define parts of their business plan, investor possibilities and the matters that need to be addressed when forming agreements with residents. Some meetings had already been conducted in a small-scale sociocratic way. The discussion included taking turns to speak, communicating honestly and accepting responsibility for personal issues. One landowner focuses on self-awareness and communication, while the other places importance on self-responsibility and acting for the good of the group. Cormac and Lindsay also discussed the relationship between shared decision-making and responsibility for individual areas of work. Cormac suggested that someone managing a particular system, such as chickens or pigs, should retain responsibility for its day-to-day operation while remaining connected to the wider community. Lindsay said that expected contributions should be established in advance. These might include meetings, shared meals or a specified number of working hours. She also identified personal freedom as an important part of the arrangement. Travel, Recording and Future Work The bus is intended to become mobile once its mechanical work is completed. Lindsay and her partner want to travel to land they have in Mexico and continue making music on the road. They plan to install a recording studio in the bus. During previous travels, they carried DJ turntables in a backpack and performed pop-up sets on beaches and volcanoes. Moving the equipment into the bus would allow them to record in different locations and work with musicians who may not otherwise have access to recording facilities. They are also considering a business retrofitting existing vehicles for off-grid use or completing full camper conversions. Lindsay described the intended conversions as artistic and individually decorated rather than conventional recreational vehicles. At the time of the episode, Lindsay was also preparing to travel to Iceland for the Eclipse Festival. She was scheduled to speak about observation from a permaculture perspective, connecting with land and reading the landscape. She was subsequently planning to attend a permaculture convergence in Bangkok, followed by a five-day bamboo-building course at a farm outside the city. She had not previously grown bamboo but wanted to learn a construction method that could be used during travel in tropical countries. Highfield Farms in Calgary The conversation was recorded from Highfield Farms, a 17-acre regenerative farm project within Calgary. The farm had provided space for Lindsay’s bus while work was being completed. Lindsay described a large greenhouse, a compost club, strawberry growing, a possible mycology project, rainwater capture and extensive areas of mulch produced from locally collected wood. The site had also hosted gatherings, DJs, soup competitions, roller skating, children’s activities, seed exchanges and activities run by the Permaculture Calgary Guild. At the time of the recording, Highfield Farms was preparing to close because the City of Calgary intended to use the land for bus parking and associated storage. Materials, including mulch, were being given away before the site was cleared. Closing In this episode, we discussed Lindsay Brandon’s transition from a rented house in Calgary to an off-grid school bus in Golden, British Columbia. The conversation covered downsizing, preparing the bus, solar power, refrigeration, water, composting toilets, shared gardens, animals, sociocratic decision-making, creative work, mobile recording, camper retrofits, upcoming travel and the closure of Highfield Farms. Get full access to Cormac Harkin at cormacharkin.substack.com/subscribe

6. 124. Permaculture Projects, Off-Grid Living and Community Teams from The Permaculture Vine, opens in a new tab

   Aug 25, 20261 hr 2 min

   In episode 124 of The Permaculture Vine Podcast , host Cormac Harkin was joined by Lindsay Brandon of Permaculture Canada and Neal Hegarty from Lake Atitlán in Guatemala. The conversation covered Lindsay’s current design projects and planned move into a school bus, approaches to managing human waste, Neal’s greywater work around Lake Atitlán, the selection of plants for riparian areas, and their experiences of building teams around permaculture projects. Who’s at the Table Lindsay Brandon joined from Calgary, where she had been based for 19 years. Through Permaculture Canada, she was working on projects with a First Nations community on Vancouver Island, an agricultural and guest accommodation property outside Calgary, and a women’s wellness retreat centre and residence in Oaxaca. She was also preparing to move into a school bus in British Columbia. Neal Hegarty joined from Lake Atitlán in Guatemala. He was working from his farm and collaborating with local people, farmers, nonprofit organisations and the municipality of San Pedro on greywater, planting and land regeneration projects. He was also running a training community connecting landowners with developing designers and teachers. Current Permaculture Canada Projects Lindsay described a First Nations project on Vancouver Island that began in May. The work involved meeting members of the community, discussing their vision for the future and exploring how permaculture could be incorporated into their communities. It also included conversations about ancestral knowledge and connections between elders and younger people. Outside Calgary, she was working on a small agricultural property that also operates as a luxury bed-and-breakfast rental with horses. The property includes an adobe house, and Lindsay was preparing to collect drone footage for the base maps she would use in the design. Her third main project was a women’s wellness retreat centre and residence on a site of just under five acres near Salchi and Zipolite in Oaxaca. She was collaborating with Scott Howard of Earth in Hand, who was expected to build earthen homes as part of the project. They had recently completed a site visit together. Preparing to Live in a School Bus Lindsay was preparing to leave Calgary and move into a converted school bus in the mountains of British Columbia. Although the bus had already been adapted for accommodation, she planned to remove bunk beds and create an office, music table and library area. A damaged bed frame also needed to be replaced because of concerns about water damage and air quality. The planned off-grid setup included solar panels, a Blue Eddy power unit with an additional battery, a solar-powered cooler and a propane on-demand water heater. The aim was to have enough stored power for approximately three days, depending on available sunlight. The bus was not running, despite attempts to identify a possible fuel-pump problem. Its tyres were also too worn for a journey through the Rocky Mountains. The immediate plan was therefore to transport it on a flatbed, while retaining the longer-term aim of getting it running so that it could be moved around the property. Lindsay was also considering whether to move the collection of fruit and support plants currently growing in her Calgary garden. The collection included cherries, haskaps, currants, gooseberries, grapes, hops and buffalo berry, with around 53 berry bushes planted in a small area. Toilets and Human-Waste Composting The school bus did not have a toilet system. Lindsay discussed beginning with either a simple bucket toilet and a three-stage composting arrangement or a pit toilet. She described the three-stage approach as filling one composting area, leaving it to rest and moving on to the next. This would allow the material to remain in place over a number of years before being used as compost. Cormac described several systems he had encountered. One directed solid waste into a large container containing composting worms, while urine was separated and passed through a reed bed. Another used replaceable wheelie bins beneath a raised toilet, with sawdust added after use. Full bins could then be moved aside and left to process while another bin was placed beneath the toilet. Lindsay had seen a wheelie-bin arrangement used at a gathering in Panama. She recalled that the toilets were continuously maintained, the bins were changed regularly and the system produced little smell. For her own site, she expected to use sawdust and said that protecting the surrounding watershed would be a primary consideration. Greywater Work at Lake Atitlán Neal described a kitchen greywater project that had been operating successfully before the work expanded into a larger collaboration with the municipality of San Pedro. The municipality had asked him to examine a beachfront area intended to become an eco-park. The site had large streams of dirty greywater entering a narrow section of beach. An existing proposal involved placing the water in a pipe and carrying it farther into the lake. Neal asked the municipality to consider alternatives. Working with Jeremy and others, he helped develop a riparian planting design intended to intercept and use the water before it entered the lake. Municipal representatives visited existing projects, including work completed through Water for Life, before deciding to support the approach. Public posts about the work brought offers of assistance. This led to the development of a volunteer programme in which visitors could help with local projects and learn while participating. The work included municipal projects, food forests created with Indigenous neighbours, and interception and irrigation systems on farms with greywater streams passing through them. Riparian Plants and Public Criticism Some public criticism focused on the use of a plant that was not endemic to the Lake Atitlán area. Neal said the plant was believed to have been brought there by the Aztecs and had been planted for several decades through programmes involving an Indigenous-led nonprofit and a government organisation. He described the plant as growing in shallow water along the shoreline, providing habitat and performing well near places where contaminated water entered the lake. The volunteer group participated in planting days organised by the local organisations rather than selecting and introducing the plant independently. The criticism expanded into broader claims about non-native plants, colonisation and gentrification. Neal responded publicly to some of the comments and acknowledged that his sarcastic responses increased the engagement around the dispute. Cormac and Neal also discussed the difference between removing established non-native plantings at once and changing them gradually. Neal referred to Brendan Guinan’s approach of thinning pine and cypress plantations over time, using the timber for construction and introducing cattle as more light became available. Travel, Design Work and Permaculture as a Lifestyle Lindsay was considering several forthcoming trips. She had been invited to speak at a conference in Thailand, although the cost and timing still needed to be assessed. She planned to travel to Brazil to study capoeira and was due to speak about permaculture and lifestyle at the Eclipse Festival in Iceland. She explained that frequent travel was one reason for leaving her rented home. Maintaining a house in Calgary no longer suited the amount of time she spent away, while the school bus offered lower overheads and a base that could accommodate her design work, podcasting, instruments and art supplies. Neal contrasted this with his current decision to remain at Lake Atitlán while his children were young. Staying in one place had allowed several of his projects, working relationships and training activities to begin operating together. Filming Soñado at Lake Atitlán Neal also spoke about appearing in a short film called Soñado . The filmmaker had previously attended a permaculture course at Neal’s farm and later wrote a film set there, with Neal playing a version of himself. The production was filmed on the farm and at other projects around Lake Atitlán. Several years later, it was accepted into a series of film festivals, including the Dances With Films festival in Los Angeles. Neal travelled to Los Angeles for the screening, where he saw the completed film and reconnected with the cast. Connecting Landowners, Designers and Volunteers Neal’s training community had recently attracted more landowners alongside people learning to become designers and teachers. This created opportunities to connect properties requiring design, teaching or implementation work with developing practitioners. Some longer-term participants had also begun mentoring newer members through their first designs. The programme used Concepts for drawing and design work and Loom for recording screens, sharing material and reviewing projects. Participants in the training programme sometimes stayed at Neal’s farm for two or three months, while volunteers generally stayed for one or two weeks. The trainees worked with the volunteers as projects were implemented. Neal described a wider organisational model involving a physical location, a designer, a teacher, an event manager and a project-management team. In his current working relationship with Jeremy, Neal focused on design, content, storytelling and attracting suitable clients, while Jeremy managed implementation, budgets and workers. Different Approaches to Building Teams Cormac described previous attempts to bring teams together that became stalled by disagreements about how decisions should be made. His preference was for clearly assigned areas of responsibility, allowing each person to manage their own part of the work. Neal said team-building required leadership, marketing, storytelling and the creation of value for the people involved. He also emphasised autonomous teams working towards a shared objective and allocating decisions according to people’s abilities. Lindsay said the Permaculture Canada team had developed around people who already wanted to participate. Her initial aim had been to find regenerative practitioners across Canada and connect people who were working separately. Rather than actively recruiting or converting people, she worked with those who approached her because they were interested in the project. Cormac’s Urban Property Projects Cormac described the sequence of projects underway at his own property. He was using the shed as a temporary podcast space while preparing to install electricity and internet. Once the garage roof was replaced, the podcast studio and workshop could move into the garage, allowing the shed to become a cinema room for the children. He was also preparing to document work on his small urban plot, including the front-yard food forest and a greenhouse build. The focus was on what could be completed by a busy parent with limited time. Cormac was currently concentrating on consultations rather than full designs. His approach began with observing what was already present on an urban property, then considering small starting points such as a salad bed, building soil and processing household waste. He was also planning a workshop for repairs and other waste-reduction work connected to his engineering background. Closing This episode covered Lindsay’s current Permaculture Canada projects and preparations for living off-grid in a school bus, practical options for managing human waste, and Neal’s expanding greywater and riparian work around Lake Atitlán. The conversation also included the response to non-endemic plants used along the lakeshore, Neal’s appearance in Soñado , the relationship between landowners, designers and volunteers, different approaches to organising teams, and Cormac’s plans for his own urban property and consultation work. Get full access to Cormac Harkin at cormacharkin.substack.com/subscribe

7. 123. Permaculture Design, Herbal Medicine and Building a Design Business with Maria McKenty from The Permaculture Vine, opens in a new tab

   Aug 16, 202658 min

   In this episode of The Permaculture Vine Podcast , host Cormac Harkin is joined by Maria McKenty of Permaculture Canada. Maria has been working with permaculture for more than 30 years and currently runs her own design and build company on the west coast of British Columbia. The conversation covers Maria’s introduction to permaculture, her early training and design work, the practicalities of running a design and installation business, continued education after a PDC, herbal medicine gardens, her work with Permaculture Canada, and current community projects on Cortes Island. Who’s at the Table Maria McKenty is based in British Columbia, Canada, and lives on the small island of Cortes. She is part of the Permaculture Canada team with Lindsay Brandon and runs her own design and build company. She has been doing design work since her early twenties and has recently been working on design and build projects around Vancouver Island and Cortes. Cormac Harkin hosts The Permaculture Vine Podcast . During the conversation, Cormac also discusses his own work around site observation and helping people at the early stages of considering what they want to do with their properties. Discovering Permaculture and Taking a PDC Maria first encountered permaculture at 16 when she saw the cover of the original Permaculture: A Designer’s Manual . Two years later, she completed her PDC with Lee Harrison in New Mexico. After returning home, she began drawing designs for people and, around three years later, started earning an income through landscaping work.The PDC was residential and was organised primarily as a women-only course. Maria described studying in a straw-bale barn and completing practice designs for the people hosting the course. After returning to British Columbia, she continued training to become more familiar with applying what she had learned in a temperate climate.Over the following years, Maria attended training and workshops with a number of people working in different areas. She spoke about encounters and training involving Larry Santoyo, Amelia Hazelip, Michael Pilarski and others, as well as attending a Bioneers conference where Bill Mollison was among the speakers. From Early Designs to Paid Projects Maria’s first substantial project developed while she was working as a housekeeper for a family at a resort. When a house was moved onto the property, she suggested turning the resulting pile of soil around it into terraces and gardens. The idea was initially demonstrated as a small model made in a sandbox. The family liked it, and Maria was subsequently asked to direct the bulldozer working on the site. The project developed into rock terraces around the house with imported soil and a productive garden. Maria said the first-year garden produced more food than the family could use. She continued working on smaller projects and later restarted her business several times as she moved between different places. Her most recent restart was after moving to Victoria in 2015, where she worked for five years and completed full-yard projects. Running a Permaculture Design and Build Business Looking back at starting and restarting her business, Maria said business coaching would have been useful. She discussed bookkeeping, backend systems, tools, contracts and the other practical elements involved in operating a design and installation business. Maria generally works as a one-person business and hires crews according to the size and requirements of individual projects rather than maintaining a permanent large crew. For larger installations, she discussed the importance of clients understanding the likely costs before work begins. Materials, plants, labour, machinery and specialist trades can quickly increase the price of a full-yard installation. In British Columbia, she has also experienced rising labour and material costs, while island projects can involve substantial shipping costs because supplies may need to travel on two ferries. Maria also gives clients the option of participating in the work themselves. In those cases, she can teach them while they work together rather than hiring a larger crew to complete everything. For people wanting to make larger installation projects part of their business, Maria recommended getting help with the business side through mentoring or coaching. Continuing to Learn After a PDC The conversation returned to the training Maria pursued after completing her PDC. She distinguished between completing the course, gaining practical experience by putting designs on the ground, and learning from people who had accumulated experience in particular areas. After returning to British Columbia, Maria trained with several other designers and encountered different specialties and approaches. She also described learning about winter greenhouse design, including sun angles, insulation and minimally heated greenhouses in temperate climates. Maria began with gardens and smaller projects before moving towards projects with greater scale and consequence. She described this as working her way up in terms of the scale of the work she was undertaking. Herbal Medicine and Permaculture Gardens Herbal medicine became another area of Maria’s work. She has specialised to some extent in the crossover between medicine gardens and permaculture and has incorporated medicinal plants into client gardens. She discussed planting tea and medicine gardens and using plants that may have several roles within a garden. Yarrow, comfrey and nettle were among the examples discussed. Maria described yarrow as a perennial, relatively drought-tolerant plant used in food forests for beneficial insects while also being used medicinally. At her brother’s property in Victoria, Maria filled part of the understory with medicinal plants. She listed valerian, angelica, agrimony and meadowsweet among the plants now growing there. Cormac asked how someone might begin adding medicinal plants to an existing food forest. Maria suggested first looking at what is already growing locally, including plants found in nearby hedgerows, before considering what might be suitable for the herbaceous layer. The discussion also covered nettles and other plants already growing around a property, with Maria suggesting looking at what is thriving naturally around the edges of a yard when considering potential medicinal plants. Working with Permaculture Canada Maria joined Permaculture Canada when Lindsay Brandon started it a couple of years earlier. Their first project together involved Maria researching a design proposal for the Kwiakah Nation near Campbell River. The proposal covered a five-acre site being considered as a village site closer to town. Maria carried out research and a site visit, while Lindsay later travelled to the area and completed a full site visit. Maria also discussed work taking place within the Nation’s traditional territory, including regenerative farming and forestry research and a marine research project. She described work examining possible kelp farming and other future economic activities. A Community Food Forest on Cortes Island Maria also described a project taking place in her own community on Cortes Island. A local non-profit housing society had secured funding for an affordable rental housing development on a five-acre site planned to eventually contain nine duplexes. Maria joined the team consulting on and helping to establish an almost one-acre community food forest associated with the development. A community planting day was held in the spring, with 35 different fruit trees planted. The planting includes pomegranates and feijoas, which Maria said are technically outside the local growing zone. Teaching in the Community Maria is also moving into more teaching. She described plans for three free community classes over the summer covering a combination of regenerative gardening, an introduction to permaculture, FireSmart landscaping and herbal medicine gardens. She and Cormac also discussed teaching as another part of her current work alongside design, installation and her interest in medicinal plants. Closing The conversation covered Maria’s route from discovering permaculture as a teenager and completing her PDC in New Mexico through more than three decades of designing, landscaping and continuing education. It also covered the practical business of delivering design and build projects, working with clients and temporary crews, incorporating herbal medicine into gardens, her work with Permaculture Canada, and current projects involving a First Nation design proposal and a community food forest on Cortes Island. Maria said she has recently completed several design and build projects across Vancouver Island and Cortes while continuing to develop her teaching work. Get full access to Cormac Harkin at cormacharkin.substack.com/subscribe

8. 122. Permaculture Design: Water, Soil, Site Visits & AI from The Permaculture Vine, opens in a new tab

   Aug 14, 20261 hr 6 min

   Permaculture Roundtable: Context, Water, Soil and Designing on the Ground In this episode of The Permaculture Vine Podcast Cormac and Graham are joined by Michael Wardle of Saviour Soil Permaculture. The conversation covered what each had been working on, permaculture design and site visits, the use of large language models, water management across different climates and soils, soil testing and contamination, weeds and ground preparation, and the practical work involved in consulting, designing and installing permaculture systems. Who’s at the Table Graham Towerton is based in Michigan, where he works with permaculture clients and manages his own seven-acre property. At the time of the conversation, he was carrying out spring installation work for customers, growing seedlings for client gardens, completing design work and continuing his engineering work. Michael Wardle works across Southeast Queensland and northern New South Wales in Australia. He is a full-time permaculture consultant, designer and educator through Saviour Soil Permaculture and said he has been doing this professionally for about 13 years. He is currently based in Ipswich and travels from there for his work. Spring Work in Michigan Graham had just returned from his fourth day of spring installation work for customers in Michigan. With the weather moving beyond the expected final frost date, he had started planting some of the more frost-tender annuals. He was also returning to gardens that had been established three or four years earlier. At one client property, perennial plants were already emerging, plants were flowering and strawberries were developing. On his own seven-acre property, asparagus was emerging, raspberries were leafing out, strawberries were flowering and around 1,500 garlic plants were in the ground. Graham had started seeds in January using trays under lights and on heating pads in his basement. This year, that had allowed him to take his own seedlings to customers rather than buying them from nurseries. He had ten customers in Michigan for ongoing work and expected to visit the remainder over the following weeks. Current Work in Southeast Queensland Michael had recently completed his 15th PDC as a student, this time with Robin Francis. He described this as part of his professional development and continuous learning. After returning, he had been catching up with his existing client work. He was also restarting his own nursery after several local nurseries he had previously used for client plants had closed. He had begun propagating perennial plants, although he expected it would be around four months before they were ready. Michael was also involved in a 12-month project with Permaculture Australia involving around 60 participants across Australia. Participants would record information including what they were growing, how much they were growing, pests, water use, tools and techniques, and expected yields across different climate zones. Alongside this, he was involved in a three-year bioregional project. Work already underway included a local seed library, schools and free community workshops. Large Language Models and Permaculture Work The conversation moved into the use of large language models and the difference between accessing information digitally and observing what is actually happening on a site. Michael discussed their limitations in research and education. He described PDC students who had attempted to use large language models to complete design work but found that the resulting designs could be disconnected from the landscape, climate and landform. Graham had used large language models for specific engineering research tasks, including finding research papers that he could then investigate himself. He also tested them for permaculture design and plant selection. When he asked for plants suitable for his Zone 6 climate in Michigan, he said the resulting list contained less than 10% of the plants he already knew could grow there. Cormac also discussed remote design. From his own experience, he said his view had shifted from seeing the completed drawing as the final product towards working with the client and considering installation and the work taking place on the ground. Remote Design and Site Visits Graham discussed his experience completing remote designs and working with installers. In his current local work, an initial consultation may establish what a client wants to achieve, their budget and basic information about the property, but he now places greater emphasis on visiting the site. Looking back at the designs where he had personally visited the property, he said those visits allowed him to see things he would not have identified remotely, including variations in soil that were not visible through soil databases. Michael described a suburban project that demonstrated another part of this process. The initial ideas included a herb garden at the front of the property for a client who was a naturopath. A soil test subsequently showed chromium 6 at a level Michael described as 3,000 times higher than safe limits. The design had to change. Removing the contaminated soil would have been extremely expensive, and its position at the top of a hill also created concerns around disturbance and erosion. Instead, the area was planted with native plants and turned into habitat. The conversation also covered maps and other digital information. Michael described arriving at sites with assumptions based on available data and then discarding those assumptions after observing conditions on the ground. Water Across Different Climates Water became a substantial part of the roundtable as Graham and Michael compared experiences from different locations. Graham described living in Western Australia in an area receiving around six inches, or 150 millimetres, of annual rainfall, sometimes arriving in only three rainstorms. That required different approaches to rainfall and rainwater harvesting. He now lives in Michigan, where annual rainfall is close to 1,000 millimetres, but he still stores rainwater. During his 14 years there, he had experienced periods of six to eight weeks with almost no rainfall. He has around 10,000 litres of stored rainwater and uses it for activities including watering seed trays and newly planted trees. He also has a well but said it was primarily intended to supply the household rather than irrigation. Michael discussed drought conditions in Australia, including a period when an area that normally received around 700 millimetres of rainfall dropped to around 250 millimetres. The conversation then moved into the relationship between water and soil. Michael described the heavy plastic clay at Robin Francis’s property. In those conditions, he said water management was not simply about trying to sink water into the soil but could involve moving it across the landscape and storing it elsewhere for later use. He contrasted this with friable soils and sandy soils where water can drain quickly. Graham’s Michigan property sits on very sandy soil. He had attempted to dig a pond but found that it would not hold water, and he was considering converting the excavation into a subterranean greenhouse. His approach to the sandy soil includes applying six to ten inches of mulch to help hold water above the soil surface. Soil Testing and Contamination The chromium example led into a wider discussion about soil testing. Michael said he encourages clients to organise soil testing because of the history that can be present within a property. He discussed several patterns associated with older Australian suburban properties, including lead paint around house drip lines, possible contamination beside roads and verges, chemicals previously used for termite control and the locations of former incinerators. Graham also encourages soil testing before design work. Sometimes the results show that the soil is better than its appearance suggests. In other cases, the results can change what is planted or how it is grown. He gave the example of clients wanting blueberries where the soil pH was around 7.5 to 8. His own Michigan soil is sandy and alkaline, and he said he had been unable to lower the pH sufficiently for blueberries. As a result, his blueberries are grown in pots. Dandelions, Thistles and Soil Disturbance Cormac had been experimenting with dandelion microgreens, which led into a discussion about dandelions and other plants growing across their properties. Graham described Canadian thistles on his seven acres. He had seen them grow strongly in areas where he had improved the soil with compost, manure and mulch. He had also repeatedly observed Canadian thistles appearing after major soil disturbance. Dandelions, plantains and other broadleaf plants would then follow. The discussion became more directly practical when Cormac explained that he was considering rotavating his front garden to remove the grass. Graham said he had previously used a rotavator but had stopped because it brought weed seeds to the surface and disturbed the soil structure. His current method is to cut the vegetation to ground level and then cover it with six to ten inches of wood chips or mulch. He said this had been about 95% successful at removing grass and most weeds on the sites where he had used it. Cormac then added that his front garden is sloped and needs to be terraced. Because the soil would need to be moved to create the terraces, he said he would probably rotavate it, terrace it and then mulch it. Listening to the Client The discussion about Cormac’s slope moved into the conversations designers have with clients. Michael described working with a client who initially talked about wanting a food forest. During their discussions, something the client said led him to question whether that description matched what they actually wanted. He suggested something closer to a holistic orchard based on monastic traditions and showed the client examples. The client responded that this was what they wanted. Michael described listening to clients as part of the design process, including recognising when what they are describing may differ from the terminology they initially use. Time, soil, water and budget were also mentioned as factors affecting what can be designed. Work for the Coming Month Michael had five new clients he expected to visit during the coming month. His initial visits are three-hour consultations that provide ideas and context before discussing a larger scope if the client wants to continue. He was also continuing his bioregional project, working with existing clients and carrying out educational work. Graham’s immediate work included finishing spring planting for his ten repeat customers, completing design work and writing reports from recent site consultations. His engineering work was also moving into an agricultural study involving biochar produced from waste material containing chromium. The planned study would use soil testing and plant tissue analysis to examine what happened to the chromium when the biochar was placed into soil mixtures. Cormac was working from his recently completed shed studio. On his own property, his immediate work included starting more lettuce, clearing beds and continuing work in the garden. Closing This episode of The Permaculture Vine Podcast brought Cormac Harkin, Graham Towerton and Michael Wardle together for a roundtable covering their current work in Northern Ireland, Michigan and Australia. The conversation moved through spring planting and client work, large language models and remote design, site visits, water management, different soil conditions, soil testing and contamination, weeds and ground preparation, and the conversations involved in working with permaculture clients. Get full access to Cormac Harkin at cormacharkin.substack.com/subscribe

9. 121. From Allotment to Permaculture Design with John Metcalf from The Permaculture Vine, opens in a new tab

   Apr 9, 202659 min

   In episode 121, Cormac chats with John Metcalf from Sow and Grow Regenerative about How a Permaculture Designer Builds Gardens, Community, and Regenerative Projects from Scratch John is a permaculture designer, teacher, and regenerative practitioner with several years of experience. Their work includes designing gardens, teaching, and building community projects focused on growing food and working with nature. Early Exposure to Gardening and Allotments The journey began through helping on an allotment and eventually getting a personal plot. The allotment provided a dedicated space for growing food and experimenting with different approaches.Allotments are described as allocated land spaces where individuals can grow food, often rented annually. Discovering Permaculture and Education Permaculture was first encountered years earlier but only pursued later through a course.Studying permaculture provided a structured framework that made existing practices clearer and more intentional.Additional learning included soil-focused education and reading influential books. Designing for People First A key theme is designing gardens based on the person using them.Factors like available time, energy, age, and family situation influence how a garden is designed.The approach is described as contextual, adapting to each individual situation. Observing Nature and Plant Health The discussion explains how plants behave based on their environment.Weak plants are more likely to attract pests due to stress signals.This shifts perspective from fighting pests to understanding plant health and ecosystem balance. Rethinking Pests and Ecosystems Insects and animals are described as part of a natural system rather than enemies.They act as a “cleanup crew,” removing weaker plants.This perspective reduces frustration and encourages working with natural cycles. Small-Scale Growing and Accessibility Growing food is presented as accessible to everyone, regardless of space.Examples include balconies, windowsills, and small raised beds.Starting small is encouraged as a practical entry point. Community and Food Systems The conversation highlights the importance of local food systems and community.Historical examples of small holdings and shared growing are discussed.There is an emphasis on reconnecting people with food production and local relationships. From Personal Practice to Professional Design The guest describes moving from personal gardening to designing for others.Opportunities came through connections and community interactions.Projects expanded from small plots to larger spaces, including a one-acre site. The Walnut Project and Community Space A current project involves developing land into a permaculture-based space.It includes elements like a market garden, forest garden, and shared facilities.The goal is to create a community-focused growing space. Design Process: Digital vs Hand-Drawn Both digital tools and hand-drawn designs are used.Hand drawing is described as a more tactile and connected process.Digital tools are useful for precision and larger-scale planning. Building Community Through Platforms The conversation explores building communities around shared interests.Online platforms are used to connect people interested in permaculture and nature.These spaces allow for sharing knowledge, courses, and collaboration. Future Plans and Regenerative Projects Future plans include expanding projects and creating educational content.There is a focus on interviewing people involved in regenerative practices.The aim is to explore connections between soil, health, and environment. Final Message Listeners are encouraged to take action and start, even on a small scale.Trying something new is framed as low risk with potential benefits.The focus is on enjoying the process and engaging with the present moment. https://www.skool.com/regenerative-co-creators-2504 https://www.sowgrowregen.co.uk https://www.youtube.com/@sowgrowregen Get full access to Cormac Harkin at cormacharkin.substack.com/subscribe

10. 120. Central American Permaculture Tour with Permaculture Canada from The Permaculture Vine, opens in a new tab

    Apr 4, 202659 min

    In episode 120, Cormac chats with Lindsay Brandon and Hue Man form Permaculture Canada about their recent Central American Permaculture Tour. Starting a Permaculture Project in Mexico The journey begins in Puerto Vallarta where land was secured near hot springs. The goal is to create a community-focused space centred on growing food and shared living. Plans include multiple lots with different purposes: * A communal building for gathering and storage * A shaded living area using existing trees * A showcase build designed to inspire others The intention is to create a long-term hub while using other plots for future development and potential sale. Designing for Community and Long-Term Use The project is structured to support ongoing use rather than quick turnover.There is a focus on: * Shared infrastructure * On-site management * Spaces for friends and collaborators to stay The idea is to ensure someone is always present to maintain the land and gardens. Challenges with Land and Water Across Mexico, a recurring issue is poor water management.Key observations include: * Limited interest in water catchment systems * Lack of storage for dry seasons * Failed planting efforts due to no water access Simple solutions like cisterns and seasonal storage become essential for any viable project. Common Mistakes in Land Investment Many buyers are drawn to cheap land but overlook practical realities. Issues observed: * No road access or degraded access routes * Lack of tools, materials, and workforce * Long delays waiting for infrastructure Some projects are abandoned while owners wait years for development to catch up. Building with Limited Resources The approach shifts toward simplicity: * Using local materials * Building basic structures * Working within existing conditions This reduces reliance on external systems and makes projects more achievable. Learning and Teaching in Guatemala At Lake Atitlán, the focus moves to education and hands-on design. Activities included: * Teaching permaculture design courses * Mapping land using physical markers and drones * Applying design concepts directly on-site The model blends learning with real implementation rather than theory alone. Community Networks and Collaboration Multiple groups operate in close proximity but remain loosely connected. Observations: * Independent projects sharing knowledge * Visitors moving between sites * No unified system linking opportunities There is potential for more coordinated collaboration across projects. Living Systems in Nicaragua On Ometepe Island, the environment supports continuous growth. Key features: * Year-round food production * Strong microclimates * Established permaculture farms The abundance of fruit and water creates a stable and productive system. Community Culture and Simplicity At a local gathering, systems were intentionally simple: * No phones or digital devices * Shared meals from local production * Daily schedules created in person This created a strong sense of presence and participation. Larger System Challenges In Panama, discussions highlight broader issues: * Pressure from corporations * Displacement of local communities * Water risks and environmental damage There is a gap between permaculture solutions and large-scale systemic problems. Returning to Canada: A Contrast Returning home brings a sharp comparison. Challenges include: * Increased regulation * Higher building costs * Limited material choices A project that could cost tens of thousands abroad may cost hundreds of thousands in Canada. Final Reflection The journey reinforces a clear direction: * Simpler systems are more achievable * Smaller-scale projects are more resilient * Practical, hands-on solutions are needed There is a strong pull toward environments where building, growing, and living can happen with fewer barriers. Buy a design from Permaculture Canada: Get full access to Cormac Harkin at cormacharkin.substack.com/subscribe

11. 119. Fulltime Consulting with Michael Wardle from The Permaculture Vine, opens in a new tab

    Apr 2, 202653 min

    In episode 119, Cormac chats to Michael Wardle from Saviour Soil Permaculture about his journey from discovering his first Permaculture book to full-time consultant: Learning, Teaching, and Building a Practice. Discovering Permaculture in a Library The journey began with finding permaculture books in a neglected library section. The ideas immediately appealed, leading to early experimentation, but not full commitment. Life priorities delayed deeper involvement until later. Learning Through Trial and Practice Initial learning came from testing ideas directly on land. Techniques like digging swales, composting, and observing water movement were explored. The focus was on seeing what worked in a specific landscape rather than relying on theory alone. From Informal Learning to Formal Training Formal education came much later through a series of courses taken in a short period. This included a PDC, market gardening, and hands-on experience on-site. The PDC revealed gaps in knowledge and expanded understanding significantly. Starting a Consulting Career by Accident A consulting opportunity came immediately after completing the PDC. Despite feeling unprepared, the work began with simple designs and careful listening to clients. Word-of-mouth led to more projects without active marketing. Keeping Designs Simple and Client-Focused Early work focused on simplicity and understanding client needs. Emphasis was placed on aligning the landscape with the client rather than imposing ideas. This approach built confidence and trust over time. Expanding into Education Teaching developed alongside consulting work. Running courses started after recognizing a lack of local education opportunities. Practical experience from consulting informed teaching content. The Role of Multiple Courses and Perspectives Completing many PDCs and other courses provided exposure to different approaches. The goal was not certification but understanding varied perspectives and applications. This helped refine tools and improve design decisions. Teacher Training and Developing Skills Teacher training programs introduced methods for presenting information in different ways. They emphasized adaptability, especially when conditions change. These skills supported both teaching and client communication. Moving Beyond Design Handover Early consulting involved delivering designs without follow-up. This evolved into longer-term engagement with clients, including education and co-creation. The focus shifted to helping clients understand and manage their systems. A Three-Year Client Process The current approach involves working with clients over several years. This includes design, education, and implementation support. By the end, clients can manage systems independently. Changes in Students and Learning Trends Students now often arrive with prior knowledge from online sources. The key value of courses is providing structure and a framework. There is increasing interest in social and internal aspects rather than just gardening. Shifting Toward Community-Based Systems Personal growing systems have shifted toward community-focused work. Efforts now include supporting shared spaces and local initiatives. The goal is to distribute production and responsibility across communities. Rethinking Food Production at Scale Instead of centralized systems, distributing small actions across many households is explored. Examples include planting one tree per home or diversifying crops across groups. This reduces risk and workload while increasing output. Building Resilience Through Shared Effort Encouraging people to grow different crops and share results creates diversity. This approach supports resilience when individual efforts fail. It also strengthens community connections. Get full access to Cormac Harkin at cormacharkin.substack.com/subscribe

12. 118. Ecovillage Tours With Jason Thomas from The Permaculture Vine, opens in a new tab

    Apr 1, 202643 min

    Ecovillage Tours and Real-World Learning Jason describes ecovillage tours as structured experiences lasting around nine to twelve days.Participants travel in small groups, visiting multiple communities and engaging directly with founders.Each visit includes presentations, Q&A sessions, and site tours.The experience combines education, travel, and group interaction. Comparing Communities in Practice Visiting several communities in a short period allows participants to compare models.Questions evolve as participants move between locations and learn from each visit.Group discussions expose perspectives and questions individuals may not consider alone.This process increases understanding of differences between projects. What Community Actually Means Community is described as more than land ownership or shared property.It is defined through interactions between people.Both physical and digital communities are acknowledged as valid forms.Different structures exist, from highly collaborative to more independent setups. Decision-Making and Sociocracy Jason explains sociocracy as dividing responsibilities into focused groups or circles.People participate in areas where they are most involved or interested.Decisions are made through structured processes rather than broad voting.Consensus focuses on reaching outcomes people can accept, even if not ideal. The Role of Agreements Clear agreements are presented as essential in community development.They help manage expectations, conflict, and responsibilities.Without agreements, differences in expectations create issues over time.Examples include disagreements about behaviour, land use, or shared resources. Common Early-Stage Mistakes New community projects often focus on positive ideas and possibilities.They avoid addressing potential conflicts or failures.Key questions about disagreements, responsibilities, and exits are often not discussed.This leads to gaps that create problems later. Structured Development Process Jason outlines a process involving worksheets, discussions, and research.Teams first outline ideas, then identify gaps in their thinking.Later stages involve refining governance, roles, and policies.The outcome is a structured document for legal and operational use. Bioregional Networks and Local Connection The conversation expands beyond individual communities to regional collaboration.Connecting neighbours, sharing resources, and building local networks are emphasized.This includes mapping skills, needs, and resources within a region.The goal is to strengthen local resilience and cooperation. Types of People Joining Tours Three main groups are identified: * Some are looking for a place to live. * Others are researching or building their own projects. * A third group participates for the travel experience. Different Community Models Community models vary from independent landowners to highly integrated systems.Some prioritize autonomy, while others emphasize shared living and collaboration.Expectations differ depending on the structure and agreements in place.Finding alignment between people and models is essential. Get full access to Cormac Harkin at cormacharkin.substack.com/subscribe

13. 117. Turning Waste into Fuel, Biochar, and Energy: Inside a Scalable Permaculture-Aligned System from The Permaculture Vine, opens in a new tab

    Mar 31, 20261 hr 3 min

    In episode 117 of the Permaculture Vine Podcast, Cormac Harkin is joined by Graham Towerton from Permaculture Canada. Graham chats about the Recircled project, working with waste from the textile industry, and developing processes that turn carbon-based materials into fuel, electricity, and biochar. Free Site Observation Guide → https://vinepermaculture.com/start/Learn how to understand your property before you plant, build, or spend money.Get a design from Permaculture Canada:https://permaculturecanada.world/shop/?ref=etcvdgzj The Scale of Waste in the Fashion Industry Graham shares that his work with Recircled began after being invited to join as a consulting engineer, later becoming director of engineering. The project focuses on the large volume of waste produced by the fashion and textiles industry, which he explains is around 93 million tonnes per year globally . This includes overproduction, manufacturing waste, and materials like cotton, wool, leather, and synthetics. From Labour-Heavy Recycling to Molecular Breakdown The conversation explores how earlier efforts to recycle clothing by taking items apart and repurposing them were technically possible but not financially viable due to the labour involved . This led to a shift toward breaking materials down further into their original molecular components. The current approach uses high-pressure and high-temperature processes to convert carbon-based waste into usable outputs. Turning Waste Into Fuel, Gas, and Biochar These outputs include liquid fuels, gas for electricity production, and biochar. Graham explains that a significant portion of the process yield can be liquid fuels, which can be refined into different fuel types used in transportation . Another key output is biochar, which is produced when working with biomass-based materials such as cotton or leather. Biochar as a Functional Output The episode goes deeper into the role of biochar and its applications. It is described as having many uses, including soil improvement, water treatment, and nutrient retention. The discussion highlights how biochar can absorb nutrients and microbes when combined with materials like manure, allowing it to act as both a fertilizer carrier and soil amendment . Processing Waste at the Source There is also a focus on how these processes can be applied at the point where waste is generated. Rather than transporting waste to landfill, systems can be integrated directly into production sites. This allows waste to be converted into energy and other outputs on-site, reducing disposal costs while creating new value streams. The conversation highlights that these systems can generate revenue through fuel production, electricity, and biochar, alongside smaller contributions from carbon credits. Graham notes that systems like this could potentially pay back their investment within a relatively short timeframe compared to traditional industrial projects . Economics and Scalability of the System The discussion also touches on scalability. The technology can operate at different scales, from smaller facilities processing limited waste volumes to much larger operations handling thousands of tonnes per day. However, it is noted that the systems are not yet suited to small residential use. Limits of the Process Limitations are also outlined, with the system only working on carbon-based materials. Materials like glass, rocks, and metals cannot be processed and must be separated beforehand. This leads into a broader point about sorting and handling waste streams before they enter the conversion process. Overall, the episode focuses on turning large-scale waste problems into usable resources. It connects industrial processes with permaculture principles by emphasizing the idea of using waste as a resource, reducing landfill, and creating systems that produce multiple outputs from a single input stream. Indigenous Knowledge and Lived Practice Due to confusion over daylight savings time changes, toward the end of the episode, Lindsay and Hue Man join the conversation from Panama after attending a tribal gathering. They describe spending time with tribal communities from across Central and South America, where people shared their ceremonies, food, music, and practical knowledge of the land . The discussion highlights how these communities identify plants and seasonal changes through patterns in the environment, such as animal behaviour, rather than formal classification systems. Language, Framing, and Permaculture They also reflect on the challenges these communities are facing, including pressure from larger external forces affecting their land and way of life . This leads into a discussion about the relationship between permaculture and indigenous knowledge, and how much of what is now described as permaculture is rooted in long-standing practices. The episode closes with a reflection on language and framing. There is a discussion about how terms like permaculture, regenerative practices, and ancestral knowledge overlap, and how these ideas are being communicated today . The conversation ties this back to applying permaculture principles beyond land-based work, into everyday life, systems, and decision-making. Get full access to Cormac Harkin at cormacharkin.substack.com/subscribe

14. Decentralized Water Systems & Rainfall Challenges at Lake Atitlán with Jeremy Fellows from The Permaculture Vine, opens in a new tab

    Mar 30, 20261 hr 9 min

    In episode 116 of the Permaculture Vine Podcast, Cormac Harkin is joined by Permaculture Canada and special guest Jeremy Fellows. They speak to Jeremy about building water catchment systems, working with extreme seasonal rainfall patterns, and developing decentralized water filtration projects in a lakeside community facing untreated wastewater challenges. Jeremy shares his journey from Massachusetts to Lake Atitlán, where he has been living for around fourteen years. Over that time, he has focused on hands-on projects, particularly around water systems. His work began with building practical solutions such as permanent water systems and catchment setups, shaped directly by the environmental conditions he encountered. A key theme in the conversation is the sharp seasonal contrast in water availability. For part of the year, there is no water, followed by six months of consistent rainfall. This cycle creates both scarcity and abundance, requiring systems that can store and manage water effectively across the year. Jeremy explains how this challenge opened up opportunities to design systems that respond directly to these conditions. The discussion also explores the development of In episode 116 of the Permaculture Vine Podcast, Cormac Harkin is joined by Permaculture Canada and special guest Jeremy Fellows. They speak to Jeremy about building water catchment systems, working with extreme seasonal rainfall patterns, and developing decentralized water filtration projects in a lakeside community facing untreated wastewater challenges. Jeremy shares his journey from Massachusetts to Lake Atitlán, where he has been living for around fourteen years. Over that time, he has focused on hands-on projects, particularly around water systems. His work began with building practical solutions such as permanent water systems and catchment setups, shaped directly by the environmental conditions he encountered. A key theme in the conversation is the sharp seasonal contrast in water availability. For part of the year, there is no water, followed by six months of consistent rainfall. This cycle creates both scarcity and abundance, requiring systems that can store and manage water effectively across the year. Jeremy explains how this challenge opened up opportunities to design systems that respond directly to these conditions. The discussion also explores the development of https://www.granjatzikin.com/ a permaculture farm located in the valley of San Marcos on Lake Atitlán. This site acts as a central hub for ongoing projects and experimentation, supporting the practical work Jeremy describes. From there, the conversation shifts toward current efforts in decentralized water filtration. These projects are being developed in response to increasing pressure on the lake due to population growth. As more people settle in the area, the impact on the local water system becomes more visible. One of the core issues highlighted is the lack of wastewater treatment. Wastewater is entering the lake without processing, contributing to environmental degradation. This creates an urgent need for localized, practical solutions that can be implemented at a community level. Jeremy also points to a gap in understanding around water reuse. There is limited awareness that water can be reused after treatment, which slows adoption of alternative systems. Addressing this perception is part of the broader challenge. The episode stays grounded in real conditions, focusing on what is actually being built and tested. Rather than abstract ideas, the conversation centres on systems that respond directly to the constraints of place, climate, and community. Overall, this episode looks at how water challenges can drive practical design work. It highlights the role of decentralized systems, local action, and adapting to real environmental patterns., a permaculture farm located in the valley of San Marcos on Lake Atitlán. This site acts as a central hub for ongoing projects and experimentation, supporting the practical work Jeremy describes. From there, the conversation shifts toward current efforts in decentralized water filtration. These projects are being developed in response to increasing pressure on the lake due to population growth. As more people settle in the area, the impact on the local water system becomes more visible. One of the core issues highlighted is the lack of wastewater treatment. Wastewater is entering the lake without processing, contributing to environmental degradation. This creates an urgent need for localized, practical solutions that can be implemented at a community level. Jeremy also points to a gap in understanding around water reuse. There is limited awareness that water can be reused after treatment, which slows adoption of alternative systems. Addressing this perception is part of the broader challenge. The episode stays grounded in real conditions, focusing on what is actually being built and tested. Rather than abstract ideas, the conversation centres on systems that respond directly to the constraints of place, climate, and community. Overall, this episode looks at how water challenges can drive practical design work. It highlights the role of decentralized systems, local action, and adapting to real environmental patterns. Get full access to Cormac Harkin at cormacharkin.substack.com/subscribe

15. 105. Permaculture Design Certification from The Permaculture Vine, opens in a new tab

    Mar 28, 20261 hr 6 min

    Free Site Observation Guide → https://vinepermaculture.com/start/Learn how to understand your property before you plant, build, or spend money.Buy a design from Permaculture Canada:https://permaculturecanada.world/shop/?ref=etcvdgzjIn this LIVE episode, we delved into Permaculture Design Certification Courses (PDCs). Discover how these courses equip individuals with the skills to create sustainable and self-sufficient ecosystems. We explore the core principles of permaculture, the hands-on learning experiences offered, and the global impact of PDCs in fostering environmental stewardship. Whether you're a seasoned gardener or a curious beginner, this episode will inspire you to embrace permaculture as a pathway to a more sustainable future.00:00 Introduction and Guest IntroductionsMeet Neal Hegarty, Lindsay Brandon, and Graham Towerton as they share their backgrounds and experiences with PDCs.03:45 What is a PDC?An exploration of the Permaculture Design Course, its structure, and its significance.[10:20] The Balance of Theory and PracticeDiscussing the importance of both theoretical knowledge and hands-on experience in PDCs.[18:30] Global Impact and Regional AdaptationsHow PDCs are tailored to different climates and regions, with examples from Guatemala and Canada.[25:50] Professional Pathways in PermacultureInsights into how PDCs can lead to careers in permaculture design and consulting.[32:15] Choosing the Right PDCTips and considerations for selecting a PDC that fits your goals and interests.[40:00] Challenges and Opportunities in PDCsDiscussion on the challenges faced by PDC participants and the opportunities these courses present.[50:30] Conclusion and Final ThoughtsReflecting on the value of PDCs and closing remarks from the hosts. Get full access to Cormac Harkin at cormacharkin.substack.com/subscribe

16. 115. Lusi Alderslowe on Teaching Permaculture, Learning Pathways, and Designing Education with Children from The Permaculture Vine, opens in a new tab

    Jan 23, 202646 min

    In episode 115 of the Permaculture Vine Podcast , Cormac Harkin speaks with Lusi Alderslowe about her background in permaculture, how she came to teaching, and the different ways permaculture design can be applied to education, community work, and working with children. Lusi begins by introducing herself and explaining that she lives in South West Scotland, in Dumfries and Galloway. She notes that she has mostly lived in Scotland, including time spent living in Glasgow and Edinburgh, before settling where she is now. She describes herself as a permaculture educator and shares that she has been practicing permaculture since 2005, when she first studied a permaculture design course. Before studying permaculture, Lusi completed a master’s degree in human ecology. She explains that this felt like the academic side of permaculture and included concepts such as head, heart, and hand. One of the modules she studied was eco-psychology, and she explains that her interest has always been strongly connected to nature and how people relate to it. Lusi first heard about permaculture through a friend who was studying in Newcastle. This happened after she had been living and working in Africa, where she experienced living in community and living off-grid. She reflects on how this experience helped her realise how wealthy people are in industrialised countries, how much is already available, and how much is not actually needed. She describes permaculture as offering positive solutions to global problems through everyday actions. She went on to complete her permaculture design course in 2005, shortly after the birth of her son. She explains that she attended the course over weekends and brought her baby with her, completing the course in person. A few years later, she began teaching permaculture herself, moving into education alongside raising her children. After completing her design course, Lusi enrolled in the permaculture diploma. She explains that the diploma involves completing ten designs and that these designs can be varied. She describes working on designs related to parenting, community gardens, personal sustainability, and garden design. One of her early projects was Nurture in Nature, an outdoor playgroup for parents and young children living in an inner-city environment. She ran this group for six years as part of her diploma journey. Lusi explains that one of the strengths of the diploma is that it supports people to do projects they are already motivated to work on. She describes the diploma as a way to receive feedback on designs and develop confidence, while also allowing flexibility in how work is presented. Writing is not the only option, and she discusses alternatives such as presenting work verbally or through recorded conversations. As the conversation continues, Lusi explains what motivated her to start teaching permaculture. She describes noticing that there were no permaculture design courses being taught in the cities where she lived. Rather than waiting for someone else to fill that gap, she decided to organise courses herself. This led her to complete teacher training and to organise permaculture courses by bringing teachers to her location rather than travelling elsewhere. She talks through how she developed as a teacher by co-teaching, assisting more experienced tutors, and building session plans over time. She explains that this approach helped her gain confidence and made it possible to eventually lead full permaculture design courses herself. She later became the lead tutor on two-week courses in Scotland and Ireland, as well as running long-running weekend-based courses in Glasgow. Lusi describes how her permaculture design courses have evolved over time. More recently, she has developed a hybrid model that combines online materials with in-person practical days. The online content allows participants to revisit videos and tools when working on future designs, while the in-person days focus on outdoor learning, visiting community gardens, and seeing different systems in practice. A significant part of Lusi’s work focuses on children and education. She discusses teaching teachers, working with schools, and developing projects that combine outdoor learning with subjects such as maths and literacy. She describes writing booklets for parents and carers that introduce outdoor activities linked to curriculum learning, as well as working on materials designed directly for children. Lusi also reflects on large-scale projects she has been involved in, including funded programmes that reached thousands of people through outdoor learning activities. She explains how permaculture ethics are embedded into all of this work and how concepts such as earth care, people care, and fair share are introduced in practical, accessible ways. Towards the end of the conversation, Lusi shares her perspective on why this work matters to her personally. She explains that permaculture gives her energy and a sense of meaning, even after long days of work. She describes finishing work feeling excited because she knows she has helped people see things differently and supported them to take their next steps. The episode closes with a look ahead to upcoming teaching, courses, and projects, as well as a reminder that permaculture ethics can be applied to every part of life, from education and work to home and community. Get full access to Cormac Harkin at cormacharkin.substack.com/subscribe

17. 114. Permaculture Events from The Permaculture Vine, opens in a new tab

    Dec 16, 202551 min

    In this episode of The Permaculture Vine Podcast , hosted by Cormac Harkin, we focused on permaculture events. The conversation brought together guests from Permaculture Canada, Creasol Permaculture, and Candlelit Tales to discuss their direct experiences with attending, hosting, and creating events connected to permaculture, education, and collaboration. The discussion covered personal experiences of events, challenges in organising them, the role of storytelling within event spaces, and a detailed outline of a forthcoming permaculture design course and gathering in Guatemala. Who’s at the Table Lindsay Brandon Lindsay joined the conversation from San Pancho, Mexico. She described her role working with Permaculture Canada and her current context of travelling, speaking at conferences, and participating in meetings with regenerative consultants focused on off-grid living and recycling initiatives. Hu Man Hu Man appeared alongside Lindsay as part of Permaculture Canada, also speaking from San Pancho, Mexico. Their participation was framed within the same on-site context of visiting a recycling centre and engaging with regenerative consultants. Neal Hegarty Neal joined from Lake Atitlán, Guatemala. He spoke about his background learning and teaching permaculture through events, his work in project management and design, and his current involvement in hosting and organising a permaculture design course and event series based in Guatemala. Aron Hegarty Aron joined remotely and described himself as a storyteller and actor with a background in creating and hosting storytelling events through Candle of Tales. He explained his connection to permaculture through attending courses run by his brother Neal and his role in bringing storytelling and performance into collaborative events. Experiences of Permaculture Events The conversation began with participants sharing their personal experiences of permaculture events. Cormac noted limited experience with in-person events, describing attending Permaculture Ireland and finding the format challenging for his preferences. Others described a mix of in-person and online events, including conferences, design courses, farmer-to-farmer trainings, festivals, and retreats. Lindsay described being involved in a wide range of events, often as a speaker within broader conferences not exclusively focused on permaculture. Neal outlined how events were central to his early teaching work, particularly in rural and agricultural contexts, before stepping back due to the stress of organising them. Aron discussed his long-term experience producing live storytelling events and festivals, including the logistical and emotional demands of event creation. Learning and Collaboration at Events Several speakers described events as spaces where learning happens through direct interaction. Neal discussed peer-to-peer learning as a key feature of in-person gatherings, contrasting it with online formats. He described how group settings allowed participants to share ideas, collaborate, and complete practical work together. Lindsay and Hu Man shared examples of informal and spontaneous events, including gatherings created while travelling, where meeting local people led to the exchange of practical information. Aron described his own event format combining shared meals, discussion circles, and performance, noting how participants connected skills and resources directly through those gatherings. Storytelling in Event Spaces Storytelling was discussed throughout the episode as part of how events are structured and experienced. Aron described storytelling as central to his work and explained how it is incorporated into events through performance, improvisation, and shared narratives. Neal connected storytelling to how people frame projects and personal goals within permaculture contexts. Lindsay spoke about listening carefully to individuals to understand their motivations and goals, both in human interactions and in site observation. She described reading “the story of the land” through observation during site visits, noting similarities between working with people and working with landscapes. Challenges of Hosting and Attending Events The group discussed practical challenges associated with events. These included travel distances, infrastructure capacity, food provision, water access, sanitation, and managing participant energy. Several speakers highlighted food as a critical factor in maintaining morale and effectiveness during longer gatherings. They also discussed the organisational effort required to host events, including the stress of planning and promotion, and the need to develop additional skills beyond teaching or facilitation. Speaking and Teaching at Events When asked how people become speakers at events, Lindsay explained that she actively applies to events and also receives invitations through professional networks and online visibility. Neal described being invited to speak locally in Guatemala, while also noting the difference between being invited and organising one’s own event. Aron added that creating one’s own events was often the most direct way to begin teaching or performing publicly. The Guatemala Permaculture Design Course and Event A significant portion of the episode focused on a forthcoming two-week permaculture design course starting on January 4th in Guatemala. Neal described it as a fully certified permaculture design course hosted between his farm and Love Probiotics, in collaboration with Permaculture Canada and Candle of Tales. The course structure includes participants bringing their own projects, which may be land-based, lifestyle-focused, or business-related. Practical activities discussed included planting a food forest, building a composting chicken system, working with fermentation, gardening, mushroom cultivation, and natural building. The course also includes storytelling, improvisation, music, and evening gatherings around shared meals and fires. Neal explained that the event is being offered using a gift-economy approach, with participants covering accommodation and food while contributing skills or support to the event itself. Closing This episode of The Permaculture Vine Podcast explored personal experiences with permaculture events, the realities of hosting and attending them, and the ways learning, collaboration, and storytelling are incorporated into event settings. The conversation also detailed the structure and intentions behind an upcoming permaculture design course and gathering in Guatemala, as described directly by those organising and participating in it. Learn how to understand your property before you plant, build, or spend money. Free Site Observation Guide → https://vinepermaculture.com/start/ Get full access to Cormac Harkin at cormacharkin.substack.com/subscribe

18. 113: Colin Crawshaw, Creating Heaven on Earth! from The Permaculture Vine, opens in a new tab

    Nov 26, 202553 min

    In episode 113 of The Permaculture Vine podcast, Cormac chats with Colin Crawshaw, who lives on a steep farm in Switzerland between 860 and nearly 1,000 metres in elevation. The land had been fallow for 70 years and previously supported families for centuries. Colin frames his move there as part of a commitment to contribute to practical ecological solutions. Colin completed a Permaculture Design Certificate with Geoff Lawton in Hungary. He highlights teachers and participants he met there, including people working on projects in France, Romania, and Austria, as well as practitioners focused on animal care, mapping, cob building, and rocket-stove systems. Several instructors and classmates are identified as influential to his ongoing work. Significant personal changes followed the course, including the end of his marriage and an active legal process to determine whether he will retain responsibility for the land. His stated intention, if granted full responsibility, is to establish a permaculture foundation on the site and create space for a long-term community of at least eleven residents. Recent developments on the property include expanded grazing, increased animal numbers, creation of 13–14 water catchments, new terraces, additional tree planting, and access agreements with neighbouring landowners. Colin identifies sun exposure, predictable winds, water management, and windbreak establishment as major environmental challenges. Attention has shifted toward completing Zone 0 and Zone 1 areas due to public visibility from a hiking trail crossing the property. Colin commissioned mapping work from designer Ben Missimer and uses the resulting set of maps to plan access, water flow, and future infrastructure. While awaiting legal decisions, he continues essential daily work such as grazing management and animal care and is learning design software to prepare plans for presentation to local authorities. Long-term plans include a connected pond system inspired by mountain-based projects, expansion of grazing across up to 50 hectares, development of on-site processing facilities, a restaurant serving farm-grown produce, educational areas, community gathering spaces such as a peace circle, visitor infrastructure, and workspaces for more than two dozen people. Practical topics in the conversation include terracing methods, material options, strategies to limit wasp nesting near structures, and the importance of habitat creation. Colin emphasises the realities of physical land work, the value of showing mistakes openly, and the need for more hands-on practitioners in permaculture. He also comments on navigating local bureaucracy, including examples of retrospective approvals and ethical civil disobedience in ecological restoration. Get full access to Cormac Harkin at cormacharkin.substack.com/subscribe

19. 112. Marty Ware: Inside the Garden Creator Hub from The Permaculture Vine, opens in a new tab

    Nov 25, 202558 min

    In episode 112 of The Permaculture Vine podcast, Cormac chats withpisode features Marty Ware , horticulturist, long-time gardening educator, and founder of the Garden Creator Hub . Marty began sharing small-space growing, worm farming, and composting online more than 15 years ago while raising his daughter as a single parent. His background includes agribusiness, horticulture, organic production, and early exposure to biodynamics. Marty encountered permaculture concepts during his agricultural studies in Australia, where ideas from Bill Mollison and David Holmgren were already circulating. Initial exposure focused on food-forest regeneration and perennial ecological systems. Over time he incorporated no-dig methods, companion planting, worm integration, composting, animal systems and closed-loop cycles into his own approach. His current property in Mullumbimby (800m²) includes an emerging food forest containing lemon myrtle, macadamia, mulberry, guava, mango and edible groundcovers such as betel leaf. Biomass inputs like sugarcane mulch support system health. Chickens contribute fertiliser, scratching, and heat through a deep-litter system. Multiple worm systems feed directly into his composting operation, forming the basis of a small local compost business. Practical observations from poultry keeping include: * new chickens settle best when confined for several days before free-ranging, * integration of two flocks often requires separate housing, * elevated feeders prevent contamination, * chicken tractors are effective for fertilising new ground. Quail management is also covered, including the issues caused by receiving mostly males, the behavioural problems that resulted, and the improved results from hand-reared female quail sourced later. Worm-integrated composting forms a major part of Marty’s work. Worms accelerate decomposition, increase nutrient availability, and improve compost structure. Connected piles allow worms to move into favourable temperatures, and vermicomposting becomes a cornerstone input across the garden. Marty has used these methods for years while supplying compost locally and is considering new educational offerings around composting inside his community. Guidance for new gardening creators includes keeping production simple, avoiding the pressure to appear as an expert too early, using a phone and basic microphone, and letting audience questions determine early content. Problem-solving, clear value, and authenticity matter more than heavy editing or algorithm chasing. The Garden Creator Hub is presented as an education and community space built on Skool. The structure includes free and paid tiers, grow-together challenges, cohort-style progress, and direct coaching for premium members. The platform enables stronger interaction than typical social media, supports skill development, and links directly to Marty’s composting work and brand. Starting points for new gardeners emphasise very small, manageable steps: microgreens and baby-leaf crops for fast success, followed by simple crops such as cherry tomatoes, cucumbers, lettuce, and container-based growing. Gradual expansion prevents overwhelm and improves long-term consistency. The Garden Creator Hub https://www.skool.com/the-garden-creator-hub-3162 Get full access to Cormac Harkin at cormacharkin.substack.com/subscribe

20. 111. Agrivoltaics: Integrating Agriculture and Solar Farms from The Permaculture Vine, opens in a new tab

    Nov 12, 20251 hr 4 min

    In this week’s episode of The Permaculture Vine Podcast, Graham Towerton from Permaculture Canada discussed a recent tree-planting project at a solar farm in Adrian, Michigan, and the broader concept of agrivoltaics—incorporating agriculture within solar farms. The Tree Planting Project Graham’s team recently completed a $325,000 contract to plant 1,122 Black Hills spruce trees around a solar farm. The project took six weeks and involved replacing trees that a previous contractor had planted, more than half of which died within the first year. The trees are required by local ordinance to create a 150-foot buffer zone around the solar farm. They must be evergreens, planted at 10-foot intervals, and six feet tall at installation. The team included Graham’s daughter Lily, Azura, farm manager Julia, and several other participants. The work involved removing dead trees, digging holes, planting new trees, removing cages and burlap, and mulching. The Ordinance Issue The local township ordinance requires that all vegetation inside the solar farm be kept under 12 inches in height year-round. This requirement was causing unintended problems. Graham observed that monarch butterflies and other insects were abundant on the property when the clover and other plants were allowed to grow. After the required mowing, the insects disappeared because their food source was gone. When Graham presented this observation at a township board meeting, board members were receptive to discussing changes to the ordinance. He plans to work with them to revise the rules to allow for deeper vegetation and more diverse plantings. What Agrivoltaics Means Agrivoltaics refers to incorporating agriculture into solar farms. The specific options depend on the design of the solar installation. Graham’s neighbouring solar farm has panels mounted 5-6 feet off the ground on north-south rotating bars that track the sun from east to west. This design limits what can grow directly underneath. Some other solar farm designs are more accommodating: * Dutch solar farms mount panels 30-40 feet high, allowing tractors underneath * Some newer panels are translucent, allowing light through for vegetation * Circular tube designs that rotate while following the sun Michigan State University has developed guidelines for grazing sheep in solar farms. Sheep don’t climb on panels like goats do, making them a better option for vegetation management. Buffer Zone Opportunities The solar farm has about 25 acres of buffer zones outside the fence that are currently just pasture. The company has told Graham they’re open to ideas for using this space. Potential uses include: * Community gardens * Tree farms to grow seedlings * Regenerative pasture with livestock grazing * Perennial crops like raspberries and asparagus * Wildflower meadows along stream beds The solar company requires that any vegetation be planted no closer than 3X its maximum height from the nearest panel (to avoid shading). This only applies on the east and west sides of the arrays, not north and south. Farm Land and Solar Development The conversation touched on concerns about solar farms taking up agricultural land. Graham noted that in Michigan, Indiana, and Ohio, farmland is disappearing under both urban sprawl and solar farms. The particular 160-acre section that became the solar farm next to his property sold for approximately $2.5 million before the solar development. However, he pointed out that much US farmland isn’t producing food for human consumption: * 97% of corn (100 million acres) is GMO and goes to animal feed and ethanol * 96-97% of soybeans (100 million acres) are GMO, crushed for biodiesel oil and animal meal for livestock * Wheat (80 million acres) is the main grain crop still grown for direct human consumption The traditional Midwest farming model—where a family would grow diverse crops and raise animals on 80 acres—largely disappeared in the 1940s-50s, replaced by large-scale monoculture production. Future Plans The tree-planting project has opened doors for Graham’s team. The solar farm manager has invited them to bid on mowing 440 acres across multiple solar farms, and other solar companies in the region have expressed interest in working with them. Graham plans to develop a proposal for Permaculture Canada to design and implement agricultural systems in the buffer zones, potentially including community gardens with public access and educational components. Azure suggested creating an information centre at the solar farm where visitors could learn about how the panels work and what they produce, helping address misinformation about solar energy in the community. The full podcast includes additional discussion about rural depopulation, distributed vs. centralized energy systems, and the team’s upcoming travels to Central America. Get full access to Cormac Harkin at cormacharkin.substack.com/subscribe