One thing missing in the sphere of Permaculture & Regenerative Ag. is useful quantifiable documentation.  Be it financials, results of actions on the actual land; this movement suffers from the promulgation of ideas & concepts that are not necessarily tried and tested in the experience of the advocate.  It's a problem we seek to address in general by documenting & sharing all that happens at the farm, both successful & unsuccessful.  We initiated research that will grow and continue in the following years.  As a demonstration site we put pressure on ourselves to actually demonstrate the results of what we are talking about & doing and we are intent on following that up.

Below you will find some of the initial survey work began by our awesome farm manager from 2014,  Kate. This work will continue and broaden in this and following years.  We use a weather station installed at the farm to allow us to monitor and somewhat account for the circumstantial evidence that perhaps debases so many claims of "observed" results.

Congrat's to Ben & Fotini who we decided to offer subsidized spots for our August PDC and Internship program at ridgedale permaculture

Ben joins us from Australia, having been living and working at an eco village in South East Queensland, Australia, where he led up the kitchen gardens. Having been teaching Outdoor Education and Sustainability for the past 5 years in a range of school settings over in Australia, this summer Ben is planning of spending 3-4 months travelling parts of Europe, visiting eco-villages and seeing what and how people are approaching land education over there.  Happy to have you join us for the PDC Ben! 

Fotini will be joining us for the 8 Week Internship program from Greece.  She has studied biology, organic farming and herbal medicine and I has been involved in various different projects in the fields of sustainable food production, herbal medicine and community activism, living and working in eco-communities, participating in community garden groups and grass roots initiatives related to health and food sovereignty over the past 10 years.

Fotini is the co-founder of the Nea Guinea non-profit organization (NPO) based in Athens, Greece, that has been in operation since 2009, focusing mainly on the re-appropriation of our everyday lives in terms of food, health, energy and shelter.  She has been organizing a number of projects developing different alternative practices and techniques on the above subjects and also promoting these practices as tools for increasing self-sufficiency and resilience of people and communities.

"Our projects aim to inform, educate, encourage and support people in redefining their basic everyday needs and getting actively involved in the production process in order to cover these needs, based on their own knowledge and their own resources, becoming less dependent on the goods and services of the global market."

Fortini took a PDC with Rod Everett and Mill Millichap, (my own original teachers; amazing folks!) then a Regenerative Agriculture and Land Management Course with Darren J. Doherty and a TTC with Rosemary Morrow, and is now starting a Diploma with the Permaculture Assosiation of UK.  We feel like Fotini's commitment to her pathway is obvious and feel happy to be able to flesh out & extend on her previous training experiences in a beneficial manner.

Congrat's to you both, and thanks for everyone who went in for the opportunity; something we will continue to do we think, so stay tuned.  Looking forward to an intense and engaging year.  Look forward to sharing all we can via media for those of you who won't be able to join us on the ground….