FITNESS BROUGHT ME UP. Farming is bringing me down … down to the earth, where the start to Chapter “Heart” has already begun. From city slicker to farmer boy, this is me in my new happy place, a place I’d never imagine myself. Meditatively gardening, tending to the animals, farm labouring (the epitome of functional fitness), and nourishing my spirit with farm to table food and nightly deep talks with soul tribe.

PERMACULTURE = INDIGENOUS LIFE PRINCIPLES repackaged for the modern world. Permaculture Design is a design system that incorporates traditional and indigenous knowledge with sustainable modern technologies to provide for our needs, while at the same time respecting the Earth and all species. The beauty is that these principles are clearly applicable to any and every part of our lives. From the above diagram, I’m currently enjoying 1. 5. & 10.
1. because I’m missioning to change up my default patterns
5. because I’m leveling up my code of conduct
10. because grandiose, complex, and fast are overrated

(If you so please, write back to me your top 3 fav principles, I’d love to know which resonates with you and why)

“THE TEACHER ARRIVES when the student is ready” is the perfect description of my experiences with local Guatemalan gardener Herman. At 21 years of age, he has already taught me much just through his wise eyes, and gentle character.
Getting my hands in the soil has been the “and back” of the permaculture “out and back” journey. My certification back in January with Finca Tierra in Costa Rica was great for theory and foundational pillars, but this experience at Granja Tzikin in Guatemala has been great for application and practice. This balancing chapter of my life is one of nurturing, connecting, and being, gratefully powered by the divine feminine guides within.
(If you’re interested in follow in my footsteps, I’d be happy to introduce you to the owners of both farms - Ana and Ian from Finca Tierra, Jeremy and Neal from Granja Tzikin).

SO WHAT DOES A CERTIFICATION ALLOW ME TO DO???
”With problems such as political and economic corruption, climate change, globalization, pollution, land degradation, and species extinction on the rise, many people are looking for answers. They know that the current status quo systems are failing and they are seeking sustainable alternatives that can help us all survive and thrive into a new and brighter future. They also realize that conventional education has not prepared them properly for living successfully and happily in the modern world and that conventional university degrees are increasingly not worth a fraction of the extreme costs and time involved. This search brings many to discover Permaculture Design.”

Most PDC Course graduates use the knowledge obtained throughout the course to establish their own home and/or farm systems, setting up a less-stressful lifestyle that is more sustainable and in-tune with nature. Some permaculture designers choose to specialize in (my preferences in bold):

• Teaching

• Consulting

• Organic gardening/farming

• Natural Building

• Renewable Energy Systems

• Aquaculture / Aquaponics

• Natural Animal Husbandry

• Apiary/Beekeeping

• Alternative Economics

• Sustainable Business

• Agroforestry

• Earthworks

• Nursery Operations

• Water Harvesting systems

• Greywater systems

• Market Gardening

• Composting

• Community-Supported Agriculture (CSAs)

• Community Garden development

• Biodynamic gardening/farming

• Biointensive gardening/farming

• Green Event planning

• Food Preservation and/or Preparation

• Ecological Restoration

• Ecovillage / Intentional Community Design

• Communications / Activism

• International and Local Aid Work

• Community Revitalization

Who knows what will come of my engagement with Permaculture, whether it be a career, a consulting angle, a new homestead, a backyard gardening hobby, a community garden meetup, or a more intentional effort at revitalizing and rewilding my existing communities, I’m in it to shift it, and make it more mainstream so that more can benefit from its intelligence.

OUR FINAL PROJECT for our PDC (Permaculture Design Certification) was a presentation of our proposal for an undefined plot of land on the PDC farm. We scanned the topography, analyzed the neighbouring vegetation, learned the microclimate conditions and environmental concerns, brainstormed threats and growth opportunities, and listed community impact considerations. By the end of the design process, we gathered enough data to put a case study for our dream homestead farm and business. However nerve racking the final delivery felt, to me, the most simple and straightforward answer to a beautiful, thoughtful solution is knowing that the design process starts with empathy and finishes with embodiment.

Designing from a heart-centered perspective is the spirit and soul of permaculture. It forces you to consider the value of all living things and their interdependence. Without one input, the chain of reactions that yield a harvest are affected. With too much of another input, the processes that work together must now compensate and adapt, forcing a shift in energy management. The complexity of an operation such as a homestead farm is as complex and wildly beautiful as a human body, like the tensegrity model of fascia. So when you take the time to truly understand your body and it’s incredible bodily functions, you’ve stepped into the higher principles of permaculture without even having to open a textbook! As a way forward in society, I foresee a wave of movement practitioners adopting permaculture in their lives, and bridging a powerful link between nurture (social wellbeing) and nature (environment).

I’VE BEEN DOING PERMACULTURE ALL ALONG
I didn’t realize it but my @2.0toronto work has been “Social Permaculture” the entire time! Creating intentional communities is one of the pillars of being a permaculturalist. I always thought you had to be a full on farmer, gardener, and/or environmentalist graduate to be initiated and welcomed into this unique world, but boy was I wrong. Some reminders I’ve received from Adam Brock, author of ‘Change Here Now’, an amazing book that has helped me see my work as permaculture:
- Don’t do permaculture, apply it to what you do
- Permaculture is not a destination, but a process - a mindset and medicine for all living things
- You don’t have to limit your PDC to designing food bearing landscapes, perennial polyculture, and food production, you just have to see permaculture as a process for using knowledge.

All in all, anyone and everyone in some way, shape, or form, is applying permaculture; indigenous practices to the place they live. Whether it’s recycling, donating to charity, eating organic, supporting local, and communing with like-minds regarding change-making and contribution to societal betterment, you’re playing your part in the cycle of life. Now, all you have to do is just be more conscious and intentional about it!

ONE OF THE MOST REWARDING ACTIONS in life is to seed it. Beyond dropping seedlings into the earth, the reward comes from reading the garden as a whole, brainstorming seed suggestions, and then preparing the earth. I’ve learned that the proof of success has stemmed from the process, not just from the end product. It’s like the adage of giving a person a fish rather than teaching them how to fish. It’s incredible how much you learn to appreciate the outcome of your effort when you pour your blood, sweat, and tears into the process.

Simple actions like harvesting your own herbs from your urban herb planter so that you have fresh basil for your pasta. Or taking care of your aloe vera so that it can take care of you when you get a cut or sunburn. Or cooking a meal from scratch with organic ingredients from a local market. These processes that provide for us are designed to help us thrive, they are tools worth acknowledging and appreciating every time we benefit from their products.

HERE I AM with Jeremy Fellows and Neal Hegarty, co-owners of Granja Tz’ikin, or what I’d call The REAL DEAL humans who practice what they preach and teach the preach like no other I’ve met. The ability to see and shadow days in the life of permaculture Jedi Masters was such a privilege. Two things I noticed about them that helped me realize where I need to be as a future permaculturalist practitioner:

1. ARTICULATION. The ability to articulate your vision and ideas to investors, the function of the land to students, the problems and solutions to peers, the strategies to locals, the education to friends and family, the finances and funding to partners, etc., is a skill to be honed. Articulate communication is an asset for all teachers, consultants, coaches, and subject matter experts, and it unsurprisingly comes down to passion and empathy.

2. CONTEXT. The ability to filter the breadth and depth of knowledge and data, and then interface it with a holistic mirror, is how an expert communicates content using IQ. But if you want to truly go next level, the mastery lies in the ‘how’. When an expert describes something complex to you, but does it in a way that keeps you intrigued, inspired, while leveling you up, they’ve nailed the EQ part of context. They’ve created a container for learning and mapped a playground for you to frolic.

How we share information is a strong ‘tell’ for how much of the what and why we truly understand. These guys, along with many of my permaculture mentors, do it elegantly and effortlessly.

May the flow be with you