Dutch permaculturist cultivating a piece of steep hillside in Liguria along permaculture principles. Keen wild food forager and published author of a guide to wild food.

I took to participating in the moneyed economy, wearing shoes, learning to drive, getting a mortgage and all relatively late in life when I was in my late 20's. After 15 years of doing that, learning useful skills such as how to tie a neck tie, counting money, bullying my way through Central London traffic with a white van, I decided that that wasn't my kind of life after all, sold everything I had, packed my bags and dragged my wife along to live as subsistence farmers on a plot of land in Italy. That was in 2004.

The first few years we struggled against the mighty forces of bramble and bamboo jungles and against the constant threat of landslides. Christmas 2010 we had a catastrophic landslide, which nearly made me give up, but then I discovered permaculture. Now we no longer have problems, just challenges! :).

For 2013 we will be taking on a second project in Bulgaria. How we are going to tackle the logistics of that I'm not sure yet, but will keep you updated...

Latest update is that the Bulgarian project has long been abandoned and we now run a permaculture project in Portaferry Northern Ireland. We have a couple of people who are looking after our Italian project, but Ireland is now our main focus experimenting with Fukuoka-style natural farming