For many years I’ve had a fascination with ethnobotany, the stories that have evolved around plants, and how certain plants have had major cultural impacts on different societies leaves me mesmerized and constantly wanting to learn more. Plants have played a pivotal role in my life; they are the teachers guiding me through all of life's ups and downs.

In my mid-twenties I had a health crisis, this went on for many years. Conventional medicine was unable to provide the support my body needed to heal. My healing journey brought Tibetan medicine into my life, here I learned about the traditional uses of plants from the Himalayas. South American plants called me next. This time I travelled into the Amazon basin to experience the traditional healing ceremonies of the powerful jungle plants. Whilst in South America I went high into the Andes to work with healing plants that grow in that region. All this time I was learning about our relationships with plants. Throughout this period, I was also growing a wide variety of plants along with foraging local medicinal plants at home in Richmond, North Yorkshire.

The years passed and my healing journey continued, it was when Ayurvedic medicine presented itself to me at a time when I was going through a difficult phase with my health. This was when things clicked into place.

At this time, I had been reading books on permaculture for a few years. I was growing a small amount of food in my garden using biodynamic methods. Then came along a book on Ayurvedic medicine that changed my life, after reading the book I made an appointment with an Ayurvedic doctor. Several months later my health was the best it had been in years and continues to be so.

Ayurveda is a holistic approach to health, learning about it at the same time as learning about permaculture was as if I was learning about the same subject using different languages to achieve the same outcome.

Not one to miss an opportunity to visit the plants I travelled to India to experience the plants that helped give me my health back growing in their native soils. Ayurveda completed my triad. I had been practising Yoga for many years followed by permaculture then Ayurveda. All three of these can be used as design protocols for decision-making and problem-solving based on the patterns of nature.

Permaculture

2014 I completed the Permaculture Design Certificate, I opted for the two-week intensive course. The PDC was originally developed by Bill Mollison the co-founder of permaculture to teach the principles and foundations of sustainable design consisting of 72 hours of learning. I then completed Patrick Whitefield’s Land Course, consisting of four modules, ecology, organic horticulture, sustainable forestry, and soil. 2016 I started a Diploma in Applied Permaculture Design with the end date of completing it in 2022. For the diploma, you need to produce a portfolio of ten designs that will demonstrate how you have developed into a proficient permaculture designer.

During the Diploma in Applied Permaculture Design, I bought a house in Richmond which has become the focus of many of my portfolio designs. These designs can be viewed here.

Photography

As more of a side note, all of the photographs on this website have been taken by myself. I enjoy taking photographs and throughout my diploma design write-ups, I’ve used a lot of photography to help present my designs.