A few weeks ago, I started drinking a glass of water with freshly squeezed lemon juice in it first thing in the morning. I also drink hot water with lemon slices, plus fresh ginger in it throughout the day too. There have been lots of articles written about the positive outcomes of drinking lemon water over the past year or so. One of my favourite articles, with quite a few evidenced based links, including protecting your teeth from any harmful effects from drinking lemon juice, is here .
Here in our new edible garden we have planted a beautiful lemon tree, though its too young to fruit yet. Our neighbours however have a great tree, producing a huge abundance of wonderfully smelling lemons, and the fruits have just started to fall from the tree, indicating they are ripe enough to eat. A post I read recently suggested freezing freshly squeezed juice in ice-cube trays, making it super easy to create lemon water on busy mornings, but it also sounds like a good way here for preserving the harvest too. I reckon its too early to know whether or not drinking lemon water each day improving my health and well being, but I'm certainly drinking less caffeine and more water because of it, and in the last few mornings have woken up really looking forward to its sour, floral, citrusy taste...will keep you posted
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I've found myself becoming overwhelmed with the desperate state of our world and communities recently...the nagging spiral of erosive thinking ' can what I do really make any difference?' getting louder and louder...need to refocus and reground again...and in perfect timing, my 2016 Leonie Dawson workbooks arrived in the post. A quick flick through revealed heaps of relevant positive motivation for me - so looking forward to spending time in the next few weeks designing for the months ahead with them.
Loving this Maya Angelou quote too Last month I completed a 10-day residential course ‘ People and Permaculture Facilitator Training (FiT)’ run by Looby McNamara and Peter Cow, at Ragman’s Farm in the Forest of Dean. I only heard about the course a few weeks before it was due to commence, but the timing and content seemed to fit perfectly with everything else in my life.
Being back at Ragman’s was really special for me. This was the amazing permaculture site where I spent time learning much of my core permaculture knowledge from Patrick Whitefield on his PDC in June 2011, and then again for a weeks course in Organic Horticulture the following January. The whole FiT course was an incredibly special experience, and perfectly timed to coincide with thinking about my next steps as a permaculture designer. Here is a summary of some of the many positive outcomes of the training for me: - Spending the duration of the course getting to know the most fantastic group of social permaculture/people centred designers and facilitators from all over world – being really motivated by the prospect of continued learning and growing alongside them over the next year, and hopefully much further ahead, through regular online meetings and connections. The FiT training was a very different style and aspect of permaculture learning from Patrick’s courses. Being there in the same landscape with those connected experiences enabled me to further widen understanding I had built up in my Diploma, about the importance of putting people care at the core of any permaculture design, for a design to be be resilient and successful. A much more detailed and in-depth understanding of using the Design Web as an intentional process for Social Permaculture/People centred permaculture design. Developing skills, confidence and knowledge in facilitation – exploring the ability to see how this can be applied to and transferred to work and life situations beyond permaculture focused settings. The creation of the first phase of my Facilitators/Right Livelihood Pathway as an umbrella design to incorporate several other smaller designs. The FiT course will run again in November 2016 at Ragmans Farm. See the Thriving Ways website for further links and contact. Last month I spent a wonderful 10 days on a residential course learning about facilitation of social permaculture courses…to fuel us through our long, productive days of learning, Rebecca, the cook for the course, created some amazing meals.
With a variety of diets (including vegan, high protein, gluten free, allium free!) to cater for, our lunches and dinners often included a variety of delicious toppings and accompaniments (toasted seeds with tamari, sprouted pulses, various seed/pulse ‘dips’, cheeses, eggs, salad leaves) to meet our diverse needs. Back at home now, and feeling inspired by our course meal, I have started making a lot more yummy healthy plant based additions to our main dishes of the day, and snacks …first up, ensuring we grow a continuous supply of sprouted seeds and pulses, and toasting pumpkin, sunflower and sesame seeds each day. Also posted in Nomadic Food Divas Wild, stormy few days spent back in the Yorkshire Dales ....November weather goddess strength at its best, and a perfect time to re read The Earth Path by Starhawk . One of my favourite books ever, I always close the chapters with a new depth of essential understanding about life
I've spent the last few days back in Yorkshire, in Leeds, with a fantastic group of people, all keen to work as tutors for the Diploma in Applied Permaculture Design. Led by senior tutor and generally wonderful woman, Hannah Thorogood, and held at the fantastic LILAC (Low Impact Living Affordable Community), the training was 2 intensive days of teaching, reflecting, sharing, weird and wonderful beers from the corner shop, and a fair bit of fun too! As ever with permaculture events I got far more out out of my time at LILAC then simply learning what I need to be a new tutor - being around such inspirational people in a really great setting enabled me to start pushing some my comfort zone edges and creativity in terms of right livelihood and life direction further. Yes, I would like to be a tutor (I'd signed up for the training to gain more information)...Could other forms of teaching permaculture be something I do have the skills and knowledge for?...Is there a need/demand for life coaching/self development work guided by permaculture design? ...were a few of the topics I aim to explore further. So I'm now midst spending time processing the last few days..making some kind of sense of my many mind maps and notes, and starting to create my Tutor Learning Pathway, updates to follow!
...end of summer, winter commences....thin veil between different worlds..dreaming, recording dreams....remembering those who have died, how they have influenced who we are now...plans for dark winter evenings , reading, writing, crafts, games, music...pause and regeneration time...further work on edible garden ready for early spring planting ....tree planting...fires to cook, keep warm, reflect and celebrate... Beautuful artwork by Jaine Rose at jainerose.co.uk
This week, 'Permaculture and the Five Elements', an article I wrote based on one of the designs in my Diploma Portfolio, was published in the Winter (No 86) edition of Permaculture Magazine. Along with some beautiful art work (not mine!), it was really good to see some of my design tools inspired by my Earth Based spiritual connections, being shared with the big global permaculture community. You can read the full design 'Journey To Spain' here To find out how you can subscribe to the wonderful Permaculture Magazine click here
Ive just finished reading People and Permaculture by Looby Macnamara - or should I say re-reading, its actually the 3rd read for me!. I initially read P&P from cover to cover when it was first published, (helpfully as I commenced my Diploma!), and then used various parts of it throughout the designs created for my portfolio. Reading it again in its entirety, a few pages each day, including journaling the suggested activities as I finished my Diploma has been really useful. P&P is one of those books that the more you read and use it, the more you gain from it. But in addition it made me realise how much I had developed and matured as a designer and practitioner throughout my Diploma journey. Alongside reading Looby's latest book 7 Ways to Think Differently, Ive spent time in the last few weeks identifying areas of ‘people care' and ‘social permaculture’ that I would now like to explore further in my design work . Aspects of these very much connect and Edge with the exciting Liberation Permaculture ideas, currently evolving within work undertaken by Nicole Vosper and Graham Burnett in the UK. (Spookily as I write this I’ve just received a questionnaire from Graham inviting me to engage further in the dialogue around Liberation and Permaculture!). I’ve also just signed up to attend thePeople and Permaculture Facilitators Training led by Looby and Peter Cow at Ragmans Lane Farm later this month, which is hopefully going to be a great step in taking my practice to a greater depth.
There are lots of reviews about People and Permaculture out there, and I’m not going to attempt another one here, only to say that its definitely one of the key resources I recommend for any one wanting to learn more about permaculture, and/or wanting to look at personal development design. Many reviews have been left on Amazon and there is a great one at Permaculture Magazine. If you decide to buy a copy of either People and Permaculture or 7 Ways to Think Differently then you can order them directly from Looby or support the fab work of independent publisher Permanent Publications by purchasing through Green Shopping. Designs in my Diploma in Permaculture Design portfolio using The Design Web, the framework at the core of People and Permaculture, are Action Learning Pathway Healing Agriculture Journey to Spain Today the moon is full, and with its fullness comes change, abundance and completion. I'm spending some time focusing on connecting with its energy to do some visioning and reflecting this afternoon. There's little chance of seeing the moon here, as the cloud is all around us in the hills today, but in any rain breaks i'll be planting some ground cover seeds and seedlings. (salad leaves, nasturtium, calendula) amongst the winter veggies.
Beautiful artwork by Hannah Willow |
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December 2020
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