Permaculture

Though editing and writing sustain my household, love for planet Earth is my passion, and I express that through my permaculture work.

Permaculture is a design system inspired by nature.

Formulated in the 1970s by David Holmgren and Bill Mollison, based on ancient traditions and nature’s systems, permaculture has now spread across the world.

It has been described as a revolution disguised as gardening.

Permaculture Ethics and Principles Wheel courtesy of Permaculture Principles.

Though I love to design gardens using permaculture, I also apply it to so many parts of my life and work. I’ve even applied it to my course, Story Editing Masterclass, The Ecology of Novels.

I had the great privilege of working with David Holmgren on his retrofitting the suburbs book, Retrosuburbia.

I also took part in the editing and writing of Milkwood’s ‘Permaculture Living’ course, a 12-week course transforming the lives of people across the globe, and as a scriptwriter for Milkwood’s, ‘Organic Vegetable Gardening’ course.

Over several years, I worked with the legendary Rosemary Morrow on her Earth Restorer’s Guide to Permaculture, which has been endorsed by the United Nations Decade on Ecosystem Restoration.

I earned my Permaculture Design Certificate via Milkwood in 2010 and Certificate IV and Diploma through TAFE NSW from 2011–2013.

I teach, facilitate courses and run working bees at various local community gardens and farms, and am a regular Farm Hand at Sydney City Farm.

In the past, I’ve designed and run gardens and programs for vulnerable communities, including asylum seekers.

Though I struggle to cram any more gardening into my life, I am keen to spread the message about permaculture and its benefits.

I love to facilitate online learning about permaculture. I have appeared as a Renew Expert in Sustainability and run #TheGreatPause zoom series. #TheGreatPause sought to keep communities connected during the COVID-19 pandemic.

My story was featured in the Sydney Food Innovator program, along with those of many other food innovators, led by Dr Sarina Kilham of Charles Sturt University, with creative and intellectual collaboration with Dr Tania Leimbach and Dr Tanja Rosenqvist.

So if you have a project that requires online training, ecological thinking and/or writing/editing skills, I’d love to help!

My group, Permaculture Partners – running since 2020 – links with communities around the world to teach and implement nature-based thinking systems: that means, permaculture.

Using the core ethics of planetary care (first and foremost), people care and fair share, we all grow together, learning from each other, and creating a fairer and more connected world.

We work mainly with refugee‑led groups in some of the toughest places on Earth, offering practical training, expert connections and crowdfunding so local people can design and run their own regenerative projects.

Due to demand by refugee communities, we have run sessions on topics as diverse as arts, photography and climate change, movie making and Canva for permaculturists. We go where the knowledge is needed. Where we don’t have the skills, we bring other experts to the table.

Our current focus is in East Africa, specifically Uganda and Kenya. Our groups establish
community gardens, schools, skills development courses, and just about anything they’re
passionate about. Our only prerequisite is that groups follow permaculture ethics and principles
in their approach. Here are a few projects we’ve been involved in: