Session 1. What a great start!

Icy cold wind coming from the East. Brrhhh. There were 10 of us plus 5 children. Tea and food seemed to feature highly as a handful arrived early for lunch and most stayed for soup afterwards with cups of hot beverages in between.

The focus was very much on getting to know the garden. We explored the fundamental Permaculture skill of observation. We did a treasure hunt to find about 20 things round the garden. I think I made it too easy as everyone did it really quickly. We did some nature awareness games which included only a few eyes closed exercises. We walked the boundaries of the property, I found myself in places I had not been before. This was fascinating to me as I see lots of things that need doing and tidying I had stopped noticing. I have lived here a year now which has given me time to understand how the sunlight and winds really influence this place, As my place is sandwiched between conventionally worked fields, pesticide sprays are an issue especially as I (and my neighbour) do not use chemicals in the garden.

I really enjoyed the day and always love the way a group of people start bonding when working on a task together. I appreciated having my daughter around. The children were part of it all, free to come and go. They mainly played hard on their own games. My team worked hard. We got started on re glazing the greenhouse, created a log store, pruned a shrub, put a door knocker on my door, cleaned windows in the summer house, listed resources around the place and a measured survey was done to create a base plan. ..all in 1.5 hours! Plus the working into the dark of the two Andys to complete the log store! The summer house makes a great workshop space. this is the first time it has been clear enough to use in this way. It works really well. It can only get better now.

I was very excited. Now I am panicking a bit on the huge job ahead! It is important to have fun doing this so I will acknowledge the panic and the need to relax and enjoy the process. This is of course a design issue! I will first apply a KISS! Keep it Simple Sister. My garden is already pretty fab and everything that happens now on is making it better. My years of foraging means I can find food in the garden already and I have made an excellent start.

Next time we will start exploring Permaculture design techniques and start watching as a design unfolds. I already sketched out a design, shortly after moving here. Now I am spending time applying Permaculture design techniques and principles it will be interesting to see what evolves.