Permaculture Convergence 2019

I’ve just returned from the Permaculture Association annual convergence in Oxford and was amazed when Yolande told me that 5 of the attendees of the convergence had spent the afternoon with her and were “blown away” by what they saw in the garden. So Huw Richards from Wales, who is a successful Vlogger on gardening, and four Danes wanted to meet and decided to meet at our place because on Google Maps we are a cafe!

Anyway back to event itself. It was my first time there and I was impressed with the organisation of the event as well as the variety of talks and practical sessions available as well as the evening films to see at the cinema. I went to see what I might learn and to find a new learning project to occupy me during next year. As many of you may know, every year I do what I call a university course with nature as my teacher. So I don’t go anywhere but rather find a significant subject that will give me a step function improvement on how I garden and the yields I get. I then research the idea, roll up my sleeves and give it a go in the garden.

So what did I find at the event? Korean Natural Farming. Check out my blog on the subject.

So what else inspired me?

How about a film about Hugh Wilson on the Banks peninsula in New Zealand. He’s managing over 100 hectares of former sheep farming hills which is covered with gorse. Now if you ever talked to a Kiwi then you should know that they hate gorse with a vengeance! Hugh has used the gorse as a nursery cover for regenerating the native forest without planting. The native seedlings have protection from the gorse and grow steadily through the gorse until they shade it out and it dies, having fulfilled its role. Now I can learn a lot from it because there are many “weeds” in my garden that fufill and role before dying once they have achieved it. Brambles have completely disappeared from one of our sloping banks after the willow herb and hemp agrimony moved in. Obviously the latter has taken over the same role as the brambles. It just goes to show that we should observe and think before attacking unwanted plants!

I found Sarah Spencer’s amazing journey through regaining health by replicating the natural patterns found in trees. Her presentation “Think Like a Tree” and her book bring new meaning to permaculture by exploring how the principles can be used in human well being as well as society generally.

A lot of talks and demos were around the importance of feeding our soil. Now I want to take the idea that Sarah has for her own health journey and the idea of feeding soil and tease out the subject of human nourishment through our own “soil”. I’m trying to figure out what human “soil” is but once I get that maybe I can develop conditioners and fertilisers to enable the human race to grow and thrive in the human/natural world without stress and conflict but in harmony and abundance?!

Matt Willer is a teacher in Norfolk who set up the Papillon Project from his work at his secondary school in Reepham where he established an allotment project for the students to learn in. He started out wanting to resurrect the allotment space and ended up creating a movement for health and wellbeing as well. He used the idea of “Grow your own Help” to engage and activate the parents and local residents to support the enterprise.

So what is going to change in my life now?

I am going to:

• Study and apply Korean Natural Farming
• Build a charcoal pit
• Write and article on Nature Gardening
• Research perennial plants
• Ask my local secondary school if they would like to learn more about Reepham
• Figure out what human societal soil is

The 2019 Permaculture Convergence was inspiring and motivating and I made loads of new friends some of whom I haven’t met yet!