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The Permaculture Vine

The Permaculture Vine

Written by: Cormac - The Permaculture Vine
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 We interview permaculture designers, practitioners and educators on how they discovered permaculture, and how they are doing in their permaculture careers and businesses.

cormacharkin.substack.comCormac Harkin Careers Economics Personal Success
Episodes
  • Lucy Elder-Slow on Teaching Permaculture, Learning Pathways, and Designing Education with Children

    Lucy Elder-Slow on Teaching Permaculture, Learning Pathways, and Designing Education with Children
    Jan 23 2026
    In episode 115 of the Permaculture Vine Podcast, Cormac Harkin speaks with Lusi Alderslowe about her background in permaculture, how she came to teaching, and the different ways permaculture design can be applied to education, community work, and working with children.Lusi begins by introducing herself and explaining that she lives in South West Scotland, in Dumfries and Galloway. She notes that she has mostly lived in Scotland, including time spent living in Glasgow and Edinburgh, before settling where she is now. She describes herself as a permaculture educator and shares that she has been practicing permaculture since 2005, when she first studied a permaculture design course.Before studying permaculture, Lusi completed a master’s degree in human ecology. She explains that this felt like the academic side of permaculture and included concepts such as head, heart, and hand. One of the modules she studied was eco-psychology, and she explains that her interest has always been strongly connected to nature and how people relate to it.Lusi first heard about permaculture through a friend who was studying in Newcastle. This happened after she had been living and working in Africa, where she experienced living in community and living off-grid. She reflects on how this experience helped her realise how wealthy people are in industrialised countries, how much is already available, and how much is not actually needed. She describes permaculture as offering positive solutions to global problems through everyday actions.She went on to complete her permaculture design course in 2005, shortly after the birth of her son. She explains that she attended the course over weekends and brought her baby with her, completing the course in person. A few years later, she began teaching permaculture herself, moving into education alongside raising her children.After completing her design course, Lusi enrolled in the permaculture diploma. She explains that the diploma involves completing ten designs and that these designs can be varied. She describes working on designs related to parenting, community gardens, personal sustainability, and garden design. One of her early projects was Nurture in Nature, an outdoor playgroup for parents and young children living in an inner-city environment. She ran this group for six years as part of her diploma journey.Lusi explains that one of the strengths of the diploma is that it supports people to do projects they are already motivated to work on. She describes the diploma as a way to receive feedback on designs and develop confidence, while also allowing flexibility in how work is presented. Writing is not the only option, and she discusses alternatives such as presenting work verbally or through recorded conversations.As the conversation continues, Lusi explains what motivated her to start teaching permaculture. She describes noticing that there were no permaculture design courses being taught in the cities where she lived. Rather than waiting for someone else to fill that gap, she decided to organise courses herself. This led her to complete teacher training and to organise permaculture courses by bringing teachers to her location rather than travelling elsewhere.She talks through how she developed as a teacher by co-teaching, assisting more experienced tutors, and building session plans over time. She explains that this approach helped her gain confidence and made it possible to eventually lead full permaculture design courses herself. She later became the lead tutor on two-week courses in Scotland and Ireland, as well as running long-running weekend-based courses in Glasgow.Lusi describes how her permaculture design courses have evolved over time. More recently, she has developed a hybrid model that combines online materials with in-person practical days. The online content allows participants to revisit videos and tools when working on future designs, while the in-person days focus on outdoor learning, visiting community gardens, and seeing different systems in practice.A significant part of Lusi’s work focuses on children and education. She discusses teaching teachers, working with schools, and developing projects that combine outdoor learning with subjects such as maths and literacy. She describes writing booklets for parents and carers that introduce outdoor activities linked to curriculum learning, as well as working on materials designed directly for children.Lusi also reflects on large-scale projects she has been involved in, including funded programmes that reached thousands of people through outdoor learning activities. She explains how permaculture ethics are embedded into all of this work and how concepts such as earth care, people care, and fair share are introduced in practical, accessible ways.Towards the end of the conversation, Lusi shares her perspective on why this work matters to her personally. She explains that permaculture gives her energy and a sense of meaning...
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    46 mins
  • 114. Permaculture Events

    114. Permaculture Events
    Dec 16 2025
    In this episode of The Permaculture Vine Podcast, hosted by Cormac Harkin, we focused on permaculture events. The conversation brought together guests from Permaculture Canada, Creasol Permaculture, and Candlelit Tales to discuss their direct experiences with attending, hosting, and creating events connected to permaculture, education, and collaboration.The discussion covered personal experiences of events, challenges in organising them, the role of storytelling within event spaces, and a detailed outline of a forthcoming permaculture design course and gathering in Guatemala.Who’s at the TableLindsay Brandon Lindsay joined the conversation from San Pancho, Mexico. She described her role working with Permaculture Canada and her current context of travelling, speaking at conferences, and participating in meetings with regenerative consultants focused on off-grid living and recycling initiatives.Hu Man Hu Man appeared alongside Lindsay as part of Permaculture Canada, also speaking from San Pancho, Mexico. Their participation was framed within the same on-site context of visiting a recycling centre and engaging with regenerative consultants.Neal Hegarty Neal joined from Lake Atitlán, Guatemala. He spoke about his background learning and teaching permaculture through events, his work in project management and design, and his current involvement in hosting and organising a permaculture design course and event series based in Guatemala.Aron Hegarty Aron joined remotely and described himself as a storyteller and actor with a background in creating and hosting storytelling events through Candle of Tales. He explained his connection to permaculture through attending courses run by his brother Neal and his role in bringing storytelling and performance into collaborative events.Experiences of Permaculture EventsThe conversation began with participants sharing their personal experiences of permaculture events. Cormac noted limited experience with in-person events, describing attending Permaculture Ireland and finding the format challenging for his preferences. Others described a mix of in-person and online events, including conferences, design courses, farmer-to-farmer trainings, festivals, and retreats.Lindsay described being involved in a wide range of events, often as a speaker within broader conferences not exclusively focused on permaculture. Neal outlined how events were central to his early teaching work, particularly in rural and agricultural contexts, before stepping back due to the stress of organising them. Aron discussed his long-term experience producing live storytelling events and festivals, including the logistical and emotional demands of event creation.Learning and Collaboration at EventsSeveral speakers described events as spaces where learning happens through direct interaction. Neal discussed peer-to-peer learning as a key feature of in-person gatherings, contrasting it with online formats. He described how group settings allowed participants to share ideas, collaborate, and complete practical work together.Lindsay and Hu Man shared examples of informal and spontaneous events, including gatherings created while travelling, where meeting local people led to the exchange of practical information. Aron described his own event format combining shared meals, discussion circles, and performance, noting how participants connected skills and resources directly through those gatherings.Storytelling in Event SpacesStorytelling was discussed throughout the episode as part of how events are structured and experienced. Aron described storytelling as central to his work and explained how it is incorporated into events through performance, improvisation, and shared narratives. Neal connected storytelling to how people frame projects and personal goals within permaculture contexts.Lindsay spoke about listening carefully to individuals to understand their motivations and goals, both in human interactions and in site observation. She described reading “the story of the land” through observation during site visits, noting similarities between working with people and working with landscapes.Challenges of Hosting and Attending EventsThe group discussed practical challenges associated with events. These included travel distances, infrastructure capacity, food provision, water access, sanitation, and managing participant energy. Several speakers highlighted food as a critical factor in maintaining morale and effectiveness during longer gatherings.They also discussed the organisational effort required to host events, including the stress of planning and promotion, and the need to develop additional skills beyond teaching or facilitation.Speaking and Teaching at EventsWhen asked how people become speakers at events, Lindsay explained that she actively applies to events and also receives invitations through professional networks and online visibility. Neal described being invited to speak locally in Guatemala, ...
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    52 mins
  • 113: Colin Crawshaw, Creating Heaven on Earth!

    113: Colin Crawshaw, Creating Heaven on Earth!
    Nov 26 2025

    In episode 113 of The Permaculture Vine podcast, Cormac chats with Colin Crawshaw, who lives on a steep farm in Switzerland between 860 and nearly 1,000 metres in elevation. The land had been fallow for 70 years and previously supported families for centuries. Colin frames his move there as part of a commitment to contribute to practical ecological solutions.

    Colin completed a Permaculture Design Certificate with Geoff Lawton in Hungary. He highlights teachers and participants he met there, including people working on projects in France, Romania, and Austria, as well as practitioners focused on animal care, mapping, cob building, and rocket-stove systems. Several instructors and classmates are identified as influential to his ongoing work.

    Significant personal changes followed the course, including the end of his marriage and an active legal process to determine whether he will retain responsibility for the land. His stated intention, if granted full responsibility, is to establish a permaculture foundation on the site and create space for a long-term community of at least eleven residents.

    Recent developments on the property include expanded grazing, increased animal numbers, creation of 13–14 water catchments, new terraces, additional tree planting, and access agreements with neighbouring landowners. Colin identifies sun exposure, predictable winds, water management, and windbreak establishment as major environmental challenges. Attention has shifted toward completing Zone 0 and Zone 1 areas due to public visibility from a hiking trail crossing the property.

    Colin commissioned mapping work from designer Ben Missimer and uses the resulting set of maps to plan access, water flow, and future infrastructure. While awaiting legal decisions, he continues essential daily work such as grazing management and animal care and is learning design software to prepare plans for presentation to local authorities.

    A GoFundMe campaign is active to cover veterinary bills and the remaining fees required to complete the property transfer. The target is 10,000 CHF, with approximately 1,500 CHF still needed.

    Long-term plans include a connected pond system inspired by mountain-based projects, expansion of grazing across up to 50 hectares, development of on-site processing facilities, a restaurant serving farm-grown produce, educational areas, community gathering spaces such as a peace circle, visitor infrastructure, and workspaces for more than two dozen people.

    Practical topics in the conversation include terracing methods, material options, strategies to limit wasp nesting near structures, and the importance of habitat creation. Colin emphasises the realities of physical land work, the value of showing mistakes openly, and the need for more hands-on practitioners in permaculture. He also comments on navigating local bureaucracy, including examples of retrospective approvals and ethical civil disobedience in ecological restoration.



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    54 mins
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