It was a cold January day that I started to look for a Permaculture course. There are a lot out there, but few that fitted my needs. the I found ‘The One’! Two week intensive Permaculture Design Course, by Patrick Whitefield Associates at Ragman’s Lane Farm. Two whole weeks of immersion into the nuts and bolts of Permaculture, in a glorious part of the world.

As the start date approached, I became nervous, how would I cope with communal living, would I remember anything I learned, and of course who would be on the course with me? Would the other students be bearded wierdos or live on alternative cosmic plains? Would they all be young and idealistic and talk about ‘yoof’ things that I wouldn’t get?

The start date arrived, and I finally met the people who would be my Permaculture family for the next 2 weeks…. they were all really friendly, human and seemed a great bunch. People of all ages and from many parts of the world.  Great relief!

Caroline and Matt our tutors were fabulous, we learned so much from them, and from our excursions out to visit other enterprises. It dawned on me quite early on that although we were learning so much, we were barely scraping the organic matter. A long reading list has been drawn up, but the only real way to learn is to get out there and do it.

After an amazing fortnight, I headed home with a head full of ideas, a heart full of memories, a lot of new friends and an overwhelming feeling of apprehension.

Where on earth do I start and how do I convince my husband that I’m not bonkers, and that there are practical reasons for my what appear to be slightly insane ideas. How do I describe a forest garden to someone more at home with lathes and machinery?

The answer, start small, and start at the beginning.