I am a woman who as a child believed in the beauty and perfection of the world around her. I saw the "weeds" that grew as food for foraging. I saw the animals around me as my friends, captured too many of them as "pets", and accepted what it meant to hunt some to eat. The woods and world around me were my playground and I would have done anything to protect it and teach my friends how important it was to me. Then I "grew up".

Permaculture came at me when I was looking for a better word than organic. Every time I wanted to research something sustainable or green I got the word organic and it wasn't enough. Then I saw a side-bar add on Google for Jessie Lemieux's Permaculture Courses. The perfect, all-encompassing word. I was hooked. That was all it took...a word. I now try to live like I did when I was a child. Yes, there are adult responsibilities, but I appreciate how perfect the backyard is again. I love the world around me and want to love it like I did as a child.

Today I am working on a Landscape Design Diploma. When completed I will own and operate a business called "Foodscape Design" which will design permaculture systems into common backyards. They will be functional spaces with vegetables and perennial edibles as the main attractions. "Have your backyard and eat it to". Our slogan. I currently grow citrus and veg in my livingroom during the cold winters and I hope to develop a community garden/permaculture learning site in a lawned green area by the railroad tracks. I want to help the world change what went wrong yesterday, encourage positive change today, and develop sustainable systems for tomorrow.