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Newspaper Article Permaculture by Amanda Griffin "So have you changed your name to moon child yet and have you got flowers in your hair?" commented a friend. She was phoning me after a few days immersed in permaculture, learning about living in more earth friendly and people friendly ways.
I booked myself on to the ten day residential permaculture course, with some trepidation and lots of excitement. I made my choice based on recommendations from several friends who had embarked on the adventure a year earlier. In fact the course now has an international reputation and is also one of the best value for money permaculture design courses available in Britain. Mill Millichap, chair of the local permaculture association, was instrumental in my decision to embrace a simpler lifestyle; as another member of our study group commented: "he is a man whom saying no to would not really enter my head!" The course was based on land from which Mill runs a tree nursery for The Native Oak Group, near Jurby. The idea of camping, in mid July, on an eco-site was a pretty strong draw too. A near vegan diet for the duration was not so attractive, visions of a very close relationship with the site's 'interesting compost toilet' were hard to suppress. In reality I ate better and more consistently than I have ever before in my life. Fresh hand picked veggies every day, wild raspberries and currants of every shade available as you strolled around the edible forest garden. Amazing meals, that would rival those served up in top restaurants, created cooperatively, in a temporary field kitchen. As for the loo, my three-year-old had the system mastered after just one visit, and it wasn't particularly smelly either. So, ten days in a field talking about saving the planet. Not exactly; I soon discovered that permaculture is about learning, changing perceptions and going back into the 'real world' to make things happen. In my case that has started literally in my own back yard, I am also applying the principles at work, in my writing and hopefully in the near future with a radical change in lifestyle.
Rod summed up the ideals he teaches: "Permaculture is about creating sustainable systems that largely base themselves on systems found in the natural world, systems that include humans, animals and buildings." "The simplest way is to start by growing some of your own food. That could be sprouting beans in a jar in your kitchen or growing a few lettuces in a window box. By taking that step we start to recognise that food is not something that comes in a plastic bag from a supermarket." Having begun each day with Tai-Chi at 7.30am the group of 19 students from across the British Isles, started lessons which went on until way past 9pm most nights. We had to achieve a minimum of 72 hours study each in order to gain our qualifications in permaculture design. By the second day I realised that this diverse bunch of people were very serious. Rod had us stretching our minds and imaginations, looking at the natural world with senses engaged as we began to notice that nature is an incredible teacher. He had us on our hands and knees scrutinising what really goes on in a wildflower meadow. We visited some of the most stunning hidden gardens on the island finding out what is possible. We examined the chemical cycles existing in productive soil using role play to make an academic biology lesson come alive, we studied the weather by living in it, learnt about surveying sites by doing it, and poured over books and picked each others brains to learn more. Two of the fundamental principles of permaculture are that 'Everything Gardens' and that 'The problem is the solution.'
By the end of the course we had four stunning garden and lifestyle designs to take back to reality and thousands of ideas to digest and apply. The designs included extensions and improvements to the existing wildlife garden at Sulby School. There were plans for permaculture in practice gardens and more communal veggie growing plots near Jurby. The design for my Douglas town centre backyard keeps children, adults and pets happy whilst also growing enough food to at least half grocery bills plus recycle household waste and utilise local resources. The most radical and long term plan was a street scheme based in Gratitude Road, Bristol. The neighbourhood featured on the BBC1 breakfast news, two days after the course ended, as one of Britain's friendliest streets. The basis of the proposals was to build on this existing strong sense of community. The initial designs, created by a team of five students, included sharing self sufficient gardens. It offered reduced energy bills for residents using efficiency measures and alternative energy generation. There is provision for a green corridor for wildlife linking the street to parkland, a local cemetery and the busiest cycle path in the UK. Grand plans aside, the basics of permaculture are largely common sense and have very practical tangible outcomes. As Ramsey resident Andy Cannell, who runs his own garden maintenance business in the north of the island, explained: "it totally sparked some new interests, particularly in construction methods, design patterns, and making the most of what resources you have to create a simple solution to problems."
Encouraging others to learn about permaculture he said: "Least impact for most return, that's what people need to take on board - the reason why the world is in a mess is because people want too much when all you need are the basics and a strong sense of community and belonging to have a great lifestyle." To find out more about permaculture and sustainable living Manx residents can join the Isle of Man Permaculture Association. The Association's library of books is also available as a public resource at Ramsey library. Titles cover everything from garden design to sustainable building techniques, folk crafts, through to technical handbooks on alternative energy systems. You never know this time next year it could be you with flowers in your hair. About the Writer
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It was a reasonable observation that I had become a revived hippie in a short space of time. I was listening more, and had a new sense of peace and energy that I can best describe as some kind of loved up high. 
The course was taught in a creative and often unconventional ways by the inspirationally eccentric, Rod Everett. He has been teaching permaculture design for the past eighteen years and runs Middle Wood, an eco-community based on a 100 hectare farm in Lancashire. 
Relate this back to my back yard and suddenly the blank surfaces in my pint size space become opportunities for sustenance. The roof of my daughter's Wendy house for example could be transformed into a fragrant herb garden; attracting pollinating insects for my beans, peas and existing flowers, reducing my shopping costs for culinary flavourings and giving Megan a beautiful roof garden to tend. 
"There are many things for me to look at in detail but the things that struck me immediately were, using mulch much more, creating the right compost, using companion planting, encouraging weeds that may be good to eat, using comfrey as a defence against invasive weeds." 
Amanda Griffin is a freelance writer living in the Isle of Man. She also works part time for the Manx National Farmers' Union and is a member of the Isle of Man Permaculture Association. Since attending the course in July 2006 she has sold her Douglas house and now lives a much simpler permaculture based lifestyle in the North of the island with her young daughter.