I’m excited to be participating in some great local events over the summer months.

‘Everyday Permaculture’,  my series of monthly two hour workshops at my neighbours, the brilliant Salts Works workshop space in Saltaire, West Yorks, continues on the third Saturday of each month 10-12pm .  ‘Everyday Permaculture - Climate Actions’  takes place on June 17th, ‘Everyday Permaculture - Designing Events on Saturday July 15th and Everyday Permaculture - Right Livelihoods on Saturday 19th August. For more details and how to book, click here 

It will be my second year hosting the work of 2 other artists alongside my own creative work as part of the super popular Saltaire Arts Trail - taking place over the late May Bank Holiday weekend 27th-29th May. People walk through the wildlife area of my garden to get to my edible gardening area and kitchen where work by Cameron Ling, Felicity Pockets  and my permaculture themed illustrations will be displayed.

This year for the first time I’m participating in Shipley Open Gardens for the first time - happening over the weekend of the 10th and 11th of June my permaculture inspired garden in Saltaire will be open from 1-5pm both days. I’ll be selling my zines, cards and prints from my kitchen, where vegan chai and flapjack and permaculture info will also be served! Through the weekend I’ll also be hosting work from one of the amazing ceramic artists at Hive Community Arts 

My Open Garden and June Everyday Permaculture workshop (both events as above) are also part of  ‘Shipley’s Great Big Green Week’, connecting to the national Great Big Green Week initiative 

And round the corner into September, I’ll be taking part in the Open Gardens weekend of the brilliant Saltaire Festival, which will be celebrating its 20th  birthday this year. Saltaire Festival takes place from 9th -17th September, the Open Gardens event is over the first weekend, Saturday 9th & Sunday 10th. 

I love this South facing wall in my edible garden so much - such a great example of using microclimates. 

Early January saw me sorting though my seeds to work out what I needed to order for the year ahead. It turns out, I don’t need to order any! Where do all these seeds come from!? 

Mulching raised beds and the wild garden ‘edge’ with a thick layer of leaves topped with woodchip supplied by a local tree surgeon. The soil along the wild garden edge is looking, smelling and feeling SO much better in terms of fertility and structure, now into its 3rd year of this winter mulching application.

Imbolc fire with my girl. 

Beautiful fungi 

Pruning back some of the larger baby trees in my wild garden edge, so that the more recently planted ones get enough space and light. I added these prunings to two different insect habitat areas.

Creating a new area for fallen leaves, including leaves from several of my neighbours’ gardens. 

Cutting down seed heads, (intentionally left standing over the winter for insect habitat) ready for new growth in spring. Tied the dried stalks complete with seed heads together and left upright so that the little critters can carry on snoozing until the days get lighter and warmer.

…..and to mark the start of 2023 growing season, I had a stall at my local Potato Day, 40 varieties of seed potatoes and lots of amazing people buying them and supporting the accompanying stalls and cafe too. I’ll be sowing my chilli seeds over the next few days. More details about this years growing in my next blog post. 

I’m excited to be facilitating a series of 11 workshops throughout 2023, about how to use permaculture design in everyday life situations and events.

The 2 hour monthly workshops are taking place at my brilliant neighbours, Salts Works in Saltaire, Bradford. Through relaxed information sharing, creativity and informal discussion, these workshops will enable  participants to explore how permaculture can be used to navigate everyday life in ways that connect with our values. Each workshop focuses on a different topic and is created to be enjoyed as a stand alone event or as part of the year long series.

Access 
Places are limited to 10 per booking. Salts Works is accessible for people using mobility aids, including wheelchairs. This includes an accessible toilet. There is also an accessible garden for anyone who needs a break from being indoors. 

COVID 19
Please feel free to wear a face covering/mask in the workshop, if this gives you the confidence to participate. People are asked not to attend if they have any symptoms of a new bug or virus. Cancellations for a full refund are available until 24 hours before the event.

Also 
Each workshop costs £20. The price include hot/cold drinks, vegan & gluten-free sweet goodies and a takeaway mini zine about the main themes of the workshop. 

Everyday Permaculture - An Introduction
Saturday 18th February 10.00 - 12.00

Everyday Permaculture - Edible Gardening
Saturday 18th March 10.00 - 12.00 

Everyday Permaculture - Health & Wellbeing 
Saturday 15th April 10.00 - 12.00

Everyday Permaculture - Wildlife Spaces
Saturday 20th May 10.00 - 12.00 

Everyday Permaculture - Climate Actions 
Saturday 17th June 10.00 - 12.00 

Everyday Permaculture - Designing Events  
Saturday 15th July 10.00 - 12.00

Everyday Permaculture - Right Livelihoods 
Saturday 19th August 10.00 - 12.00 

Everyday Permaculture - Caring For Others 
Saturday 15th September 10.00 - 12.00

Everyday Permaculture - Death, Dying & Bereavement 
Saturday 21st October 10.00 - 12.00

Everyday Permaculture - Winter Festivals Planning 
Saturday 18th November 10.00 - 12.00

Everyday Permaculture - Designing 2024
​Saturday 16th December 10.00 - 12.00

​Please feel free to email me if you have any questions about these workshops

Here is a little update about events I am participating in over the next few weeks 

I’m so pleased to be participating in the above creative events this month, all of which are within a ten minute walk from my house. I’ll be selling my cards, prints and zines  along with permaculture books and other resources  by Graham Burnett, Pippa Chapman, Twigs Magazine and (free copies!) of Permaculture Magazine. As always I’ll also be happy to chat about most things permaculture related! 

Thriving With Principles is a design that Diploma apprentice, Kate Dickinson and I are collaborating on. Its a design about sharing and celebrating the voices, knowledge and experiences of permaculture designers using permaculture theory and practice to thrive while living with disabilities from chronic illness. We are at the stage of evaluating the first part of the design and are getting excited about where this will lead in the months ahead.  

Check out Kate’s Instagram space for more of their creativity and wisdom 

As I continue to slowly recover from the long term impact that Lyme disease has had on my body, so the number of permaculture educator events I am able to be involved with are increasing.

​This makes me very happy!

Here is a little round up of past, present and future happenings in my little corner of Earth.

Last month I took part in the Saltaire Festival Open Gardens & Pop-Ups event for the first time. I loved the preparation for it and the weekend itself. It pushed me into trying out some new creative ideas in my garden which have worked out really well. I also won the ‘highly commended’ (runner up) prize, which I was SO pleased, (and surprised!), about. 

My open garden was also part of the Permaculture Association’s My Green Community event which saw permaculture projects opening their doors/gates to visitors throughout the UK 

A new project, ‘Thriving With Principles’, I am working on with one of my Diploma apprentices, Kate Dickinson also started last month. Thriving With Principles (TWP), is a permaculture project documenting and sharing about how permaculture principles can enable people affected by disability and/or chronic illness/long term health issues (CI/LTHI), to thrive. Its a series of  online discussions through Zoom, then the creation of a zine.

​The first two Zoom sessions far exceeded our expectations of how much discussion would emerge from all of the wonderful people attending, so we have organised a further three Zoom sessions to take place this month, before Kate starts on their zine design.

​Click here for further information about TWP - you are very welcome to join in with the October Zoom sessions 

Earlier this month I facilitated my first ‘in person’ permaculture workshop since I became poorly six years ago. The hour long ‘brief introduction to permaculture’ was part of the bigger Sustainable Saturday event hosted by my local community centre, the Kirkgate Centre. I really enjoyed being back chatting about how permaculture can be applied to so many of our everyday life and work experiences. There was a lot of enthusiasm from the people attending for further workshops, and this is something I am going to be exploring for next year.

Next month I’m very much looking forward to two creative events less than five minutes shuffle from my home!

​I’m going to be selling my prints, cards and zines and hosting a permaculture resource space at ‘Prints & Plants’, at the amazing Salts Works & People Powered Press on Sunday 13th November. 

I will also be having a stall at the Peace & Craft Fair hosted by the  Yorkshire Campaign For Nuclear Disarmament at the Victoria Hall here in Saltaire on Saturday November 26th.​ 

​We are inviting participants to share experiences they have had or ideas about, using the Holmgren Permaculture Principles in managing their disabilities and/or CI/LTHI and/or supporting someone else with disabilities and/or CI/LTHI.

This link features more information about each of the 12 principles

Permacultureprinciples.com

Ways of sharing these experiences and ideas with others in the session might include -

Talking
Sharing an image (photo, doodle, illustration, mind map) 
Written/typed so that Kate or Kt can share on your behalf 

Participants will also be encouraged to discuss these experiences and ideas in the sessions. There is no pressure to either share or discuss in the sessions. People who want to attend the sessions and just listen in are very welcomed.

The Zoom sessions will be recorded and then the content shared about experiences and ideas will be collated and used to create a zine which will be available to others as a resource. The zine will be available in both electronic and paper versions. 

The zine content can be anonymous or participants can be named and attributed to their experiences and ideas - either preference is great. 

​In the week after the Zoom sessions finish, you will be asked to complete a short evaluation tool so that we can learn from the experiences of participants and plan future events accordingly. 

We will be sharing information about this project on social media and on Kt’s blog and newsletter 
​
Please email Kt if you would like to take part in this project - remember it’s totally fine and very welcomed to just listen in to the ideas sharing and discussion. Also, feel free to email me with any questions you may have. 

[email protected] 

If you have already attended the initial sessions I will automatically be sending you an email with the link for the Zoom sessions.

I’m taking part in the ‘Open Gardens & Pop-ups Trail’ event happening over the first weekend of Saltaire Festival in September 2022.

Come and visit my garden in central Saltaire, where I am using permaculture design to create a space where both people and the wildlife we are connected to, can thrive. I’m having a pop-up shop  selling cards, prints and zines of some of my permaculture themed illustrations from my kitchen, (accessed through my garden), too.

I will also be doing short online tours of my garden through Instagram live over the weekend - more details about times will be shared closer to the event. You can connect with me on Instagram at @KtShepherdPermaculture  

My garden and kitchen are accessible for people using wheelchairs and there are garden benches available to sit on in the garden. Children are very welcome and will need supervising by an adult visiting with them. Dogs on leads are also very welcome and there will be water, (and possible some Scooby snacks!), available for them.

More information about the ‘Open Gardens and Pop-Ups Trail’ can be found in this link. Including the map of the trail 

Saturday 10th September 12-4.30pm
Sunday 11th September 12-4.30pm

My open garden and shop event is also part of the ‘My Green Community - a celebration of practical permaculture’  event being organised by Kathryn Baker at the Permaculture Association.

We are inviting participants to share experiences they have had or ideas about, using the Holmgren Permaculture Principles in managing their disabilities and/or CI/LTHI and/or supporting someone else with disabilities and/or CI/LTHI ​

​This link features more information about each of the 12 principles

Permacultureprinciples.com

Ways of sharing these experiences and ideas with others in the session might include -

Talking
Sharing an image (photo, doodle, illustration, mind map) 
Written/typed so that Kate or Kt can share on your behalf 

Participants will also be encouraged to discuss these experiences and ideas in the sessions. There is no pressure to either share or discuss in the sessions. People who want to attend the sessions and just listen in are very welcomed

The Zoom sessions will be recorded and then the content shared about experiences and ideas will be collated and used to create a zine which will be available to others as a resource. The zine will be available in both electronic and paper versions. 

The zine content can be anonymous or participants can be named and attributed to their experiences and ideas - either preference is great. 

​In the week after the Zoom sessions you will be asked to complete a short evaluation tool so that we can learn from the experiences of participants and plan future events accordingly. 

We will be sharing information about this project on social media, on Kt’s blog and via the Permaculture Association’s website events notice board 
​
Please email Kt if you would like to take part in this project - remember it’s totally fine and very welcomed to just listen in to the ideas sharing and discussion. Also, feel free to email me with any questions you may have. 

[email protected]