06/04/2025
Last week was very important to me. On Sunday, 17 students graduated from my 20th intensive Permaculture course. My heart is full, my tribe recharged, my purpose clear.
Since 2011 I've been running courses for students and consulting for clients - inspiring and guiding others how to reconnect with our physical and social world. By growing food, making homes, and caring for land, we re-find ourselves, community, and a relationship with our planet that we are proud of.
However, my journey teaching and consulting in this space has been far from easy... it has always felt like feast or famine.
In the beginning, I was terrible at running a business, marketing, and valuing myself. With time, I found my niche and groove. And I learned my skill-sets are needed more than ever before in history.
But, like you, I still had to face the roller coaster of the past 5 years. I kept asking myself - "How can I have MORE impact? MORE success?" At really low times, I asked myself if I should quit.
The highs and the speed of the roller-coaster has always kept me screaming... mostly with excitement. Lol. My favourite moments are graduating a class and re-visiting consulting clients to help them with each step of their property journey.
And THAT is why these 2 pictures are so special.
I came to Deniz & Maya (and their baby boy Mavi) as their consultant and mentor. Kinda like Alan from "Biggest Little Farm".
In bursts of effort we have been building their demonstration site - Straight Fin Farms, one project at a time. And along the way, they made me a part of their beautiful family.
So when I needed a location to run a Permaculture Intensive Workshop in Eastern Canada, we rolled up our sleeves to make it happen in a beautiful convergence of community, consulting, and education.
All together, I led the family and students in building 6 raised garden beds, 7000 litres of rainwater harvesting, and a compost bay system for an acreage. We hired an amazing professional chef - Doris Fin and I lined the class list with people like yoga teachers and massage therapists. Basically, try to make this the most wholesome, healthy, and amazing adult summer camp I could.
I can't begin to tell you how special the whole experience was... the students... the food... the late evenings full of laughter... the mornings kayaking or yoga on the dock....
My cup was full. And I was affirmed - no matter how difficult it is to pull something like this off - I need to keep running an event like this every year for the rest of my life.
With that affirmation, I am excited to be planting more seeds and offerings for my community in between these courses.
1) Community Centre Incubator Program:
A 1-on-1 service to take someone through the process of making a landscape and event space for courses, stays, weddings, and more, with a focus on making a place of natural abundance, inspiration, and community. Starting with a discovery call, clients can choose their own adventure, keep bringing me back to their property, and keeping me in their corner as long as they need. The goal is of course for them to succeed, and one option in that journey is to bring a whole class of my students to you to learn with you and help a burst of development.
2) WOW Factor Landscapes, Homesteads & Homes:
Clients who want a property worthy of a TV show or magazine feature. Let's blow our human potential out of the water and demonstrate just how positive humanity can be with landscapes and homes that drop jaws, feed ecosystems, and make healthy and happy people. This client either already has the land/funds to execute, or will use my services to fuel their pitch deck for investment, and then need project oversight.
3) Playful Projects Where Function & Fun Collide
Not everyone wants a place driven by business objectives and grandiose goals - they just want to have a fun place to call their own; a happy place that is a creative expression of you, your whims, wants, and needs. Helping people make that in their backyard or acreage brings me so much joy. I've helped make custom gardens that are living sculptures... all the way to making a frisbee golf course + downhill bike route that is also a food forest.
So much excitement and fun ahead 🙂
Again - this week was truly special. Thank you to Deniz & Maya (and Mavi) for not just being clients and dear friends, but also our hosts for this latest course. So many beautiful humans showed up and walked away with dirty hands, new skills and friends, smiles, and tears for the experience and community we provided them.
Next Up?
Costa Rica! Then British Columbia!
![Let's blow your mind about bees + make you laugh. 👇[god creating bees] "Put a needle on its butt."“Come on God, wha—“ "....](https://img4.businesses10.com/594/941/1295185775949411.jpg)
