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8 forms of capital active hope adaptation agroecology agroforestry alder buckthorn Amazon anxiety apples arthritis autumn Autumn equinox back yard beans Bec Hellouin beech tree bees beneficial berries biochar biodigester biodiversity blackberries blackthorn book review brain brassica cage budget build building campesino capital card deck Celtic festivals change changes chemical-free chickens christmas circular clay pot cleansers cleansing milks climate change climate chaos climate collapse climate emergency climate grief climate solutions climbers climbing cob comfrey community Community Nature Network community projects compost compost teas connection consciousness conservation container cooking coppice coppicing cordial cosmology courgettes crafts crisis crop protection Cross Quarter Festival cultural emergence culture cut flowers cycles degraded design diary diversity DIY do it yourself dryland earth care earth's cycles Earth's energy earths cycles ecoculture economics ecopoetry ecosystem ecosystem restoration camps ecosystems edges edible edible flowers education efficiency elder elderflowers elements elixir energy equinox ethics face mask fair shares Fairtrade farming feedback feminine ferns figs film firewood floristry flower essence flower garden flowers food food forest food garden footbath forage foraging forest garden forest gardening forests fruit fruit leather fruit trees full moon funding fungi future future care gardening gardens garlic gift economy gin Give Nature a voice Glennie Kindred global poverty glut grapes green space greenhouse grief groundcover grow grow food grow your own growing guilds habitat habits handcream harvest harvests hawthorn hazel hazelnut healing shrubs healing trees health healthy soil heart health hedgerow hedging herbal herbal remedies herbal teas herbalist herbs holistic holistic planned grazing home homeless homemade wine homestead hope Hugelkultur humanure hummus hungry gap IBC tanks Imbolc incense increase yields Indigenous inexpensive influence inspiration International Womens Day jam keyline kingfisher kitchen garden lacto-fermentation Lammas land landscape landscapes life lifestyle limeflowers livelihood livestock living labs logs Looby Macnamara lotion low cost low-impact Lush Spring Prize macerations Manda Scott Mangwende Orphan Care Trust market garden market gardening marmalade marshmallow mass heater meadowsweet medicinal microbes microfarm Midwest Permaculture mimic mindset mitigation money moon phases Morag Gamble moringa Mother Earth movement mulch multifunctional mushrooms native plants natural natural building natural fertiliser natural skincare natural swimming pool nature nature connection nitrogen no dig no waste no-dig north-facing novel November nutrition nuts observe oca October off-grid oil cleansing orchard orchards organic organic flowers organic gardening outdoor shower oven oxymel oyster pallets pasture-fed patterns people people care peoplecare perennials permaculture permaculture design permaculture magazine award permaculture projects permaculutre permayouth pesto pests philippines pine tree pips pizza oven plant profile plants pollinators pollution polyculture polycultures positive change preserving principles propagating protection pruning prunings psycho-spiritual awareness psychospiritual transformation rainforest rainwater raspberries recipe recipes reduce reed beds regeneration regenerative regenerative agriculture relative location relative matter remedy renewable renewable energy resilient resources restoration reuse revolution rhythms rootstock rootstocks roundhouse roundwood runner beans Rupert Read sage salad salads salve Samhain schools Scotland scotts pine seasonal seasons seeds selfcare Sepp Holzer september septic tanks sewage treatment shade shamanism sheet mulching shrubs skincare sloes slugs small solutions small-scale smallholding social justice soil health solar solstice solutions sowing spiritual spring squash stacking functions stock-free straw straw bale summer support sustainable Sweet Bay syntropic systems temperate terraces thistles thrutopia timber timber framing tincture tonic toolkit tools transformation Transformative Adaptation trees upcycle urban urban gardening veg garden vegan veganic vermicomposting vinegar visionaries walnuts waste water water cleansing watering weeds wellbeing wetland wild edges wild food wild garlic wildflower wildlife wine recipes wings winter winter greens winter salads winter solstice wood stove woodburner woodland woodland management woodlands world is possible worms yarrow year round year-round food yield young people youth zai pits zone 00 zoning

Topics

8 forms of capital active hope adaptation agroecology agroforestry alder buckthorn Amazon anxiety apples arthritis autumn Autumn equinox back yard beans Bec Hellouin beech tree bees beneficial berries biochar biodigester biodiversity blackberries blackthorn book review brain brassica cage budget build building campesino capital card deck Celtic festivals change changes chemical-free chickens christmas circular clay pot cleansers cleansing milks climate change climate chaos climate collapse climate emergency climate grief climate solutions climbers climbing cob comfrey community Community Nature Network community projects compost compost teas connection consciousness conservation container cooking coppice coppicing cordial cosmology courgettes crafts crisis crop protection Cross Quarter Festival cultural emergence culture cut flowers cycles degraded design diary diversity DIY do it yourself dryland earth care earth's cycles Earth's energy earths cycles ecoculture economics ecopoetry ecosystem ecosystem restoration camps ecosystems edges edible edible flowers education efficiency elder elderflowers elements elixir energy equinox ethics face mask fair shares Fairtrade farming feedback feminine ferns figs film firewood floristry flower essence flower garden flowers food food forest food garden footbath forage foraging forest garden forest gardening forests fruit fruit leather fruit trees full moon funding fungi future future care gardening gardens garlic gift economy gin Give Nature a voice Glennie Kindred global poverty glut grapes green space greenhouse grief groundcover grow grow food grow your own growing guilds habitat habits handcream harvest harvests hawthorn hazel hazelnut healing shrubs healing trees health healthy soil heart health hedgerow hedging herbal herbal remedies herbal teas herbalist herbs holistic holistic planned grazing home homeless homemade wine homestead hope Hugelkultur humanure hummus hungry gap IBC tanks Imbolc incense increase yields Indigenous inexpensive influence inspiration International Womens Day jam keyline kingfisher kitchen garden lacto-fermentation Lammas land landscape landscapes life lifestyle limeflowers livelihood livestock living labs logs Looby Macnamara lotion low cost low-impact Lush Spring Prize macerations Manda Scott Mangwende Orphan Care Trust market garden market gardening marmalade marshmallow mass heater meadowsweet medicinal microbes microfarm Midwest Permaculture mimic mindset mitigation money moon phases Morag Gamble moringa Mother Earth movement mulch multifunctional mushrooms native plants natural natural building natural fertiliser natural skincare natural swimming pool nature nature connection nitrogen no dig no waste no-dig north-facing novel November nutrition nuts observe oca October off-grid oil cleansing orchard orchards organic organic flowers organic gardening outdoor shower oven oxymel oyster pallets pasture-fed patterns people people care peoplecare perennials permaculture permaculture design permaculture magazine award permaculture projects permaculutre permayouth pesto pests philippines pine tree pips pizza oven plant profile plants pollinators pollution polyculture polycultures positive change preserving principles propagating protection pruning prunings psycho-spiritual awareness psychospiritual transformation rainforest rainwater raspberries recipe recipes reduce reed beds regeneration regenerative regenerative agriculture relative location relative matter remedy renewable renewable energy resilient resources restoration reuse revolution rhythms rootstock rootstocks roundhouse roundwood runner beans Rupert Read sage salad salads salve Samhain schools Scotland scotts pine seasonal seasons seeds selfcare Sepp Holzer september septic tanks sewage treatment shade shamanism sheet mulching shrubs skincare sloes slugs small solutions small-scale smallholding social justice soil health solar solstice solutions sowing spiritual spring squash stacking functions stock-free straw straw bale summer support sustainable Sweet Bay syntropic systems temperate terraces thistles thrutopia timber timber framing tincture tonic toolkit tools transformation Transformative Adaptation trees upcycle urban urban gardening veg garden vegan veganic vermicomposting vinegar visionaries walnuts waste water water cleansing watering weeds wellbeing wetland wild edges wild food wild garlic wildflower wildlife wine recipes wings winter winter greens winter salads winter solstice wood stove woodburner woodland woodland management woodlands world is possible worms yarrow year round year-round food yield young people youth zai pits zone 00 zoning

Vibrant Stories of Another World is Possible

Maddy Harland's editorial from PM119. Maddy shares how the exquisite visit from a Kingfisher encouraged her to serve the woodland and continue publishing about another world that is still possible.

Welcome to the first PM of 2024, an issue full of vibrant stories of growing food, crafting and making, creating more resilient landscapes, and building community and collaboration. These pages speak of personal experiences, lessons learnt and practical knowledge straight from you, our readers. They are filled by authentic people, exploring ideas, sharing techniques and practices, and weaving together a very different vision of the future than our current trajectory. We hope you find them inspiring and uplifting as well as useful.

In Britain, since last September, there have been eight named storms – the highest number in a season to be named by the Met Office – with the period between July and December last year being the wettest on record since 1890. Climate chaos has flooded homes and farms all over Europe whilst El Niño subjects the southern hemisphere to more drought and increased risk of wildfire. Living on the Atlantic edge in the west, these damp and dark days have been challenging. Regular readers of this magazine will know that I lost my friend and life partner, Tim, very suddenly at the end of September. In a matter of moments and without prior warning, he left this life, despite my efforts and then the efforts of two ambulance crews and the air ambulance doctor. Never, ever have I so appreciated the swift action of the NHS who came to our house and tried to save him.

Although there have been many times recently when I haven’t felt it, I know that I am lucky. I have the love and support of my two daughters who have stood by my side and grieved with me. Close family have checked in with me daily, and I am blessed with good and loyal friends. The PM team have been outstanding, meeting all their commitments and producing new books and reprints on time despite their very personal loss. We have all had to pull together, take on new tasks and learn new skills.

Sometimes the permaculture movement is criticised for being a bunch of impractical dreamers, armchair practitioners who speak more than they know, or worse purveyors of appropriated information that should be given away freely. My experience after over 30 years of working with permaculture and with its people is very different and recently I have been humbled by the care and support I have received from friends, colleagues and people who follow our work and feel a deep sense of kinship and allegiance. Some I have met, some not, but that has made no difference. This sincere community is helping me through some very dark days. I am so grateful to you all.

Without my right-hand man (quite literally), there would always be the question: Do I carry on at my home, in the Wood, and with publishing? When a life is so suddenly and so brutally changed there is no certainty in anything. I have inevitably spent much time alone, walking in the woods and the landscape around me. On a dark December day when the light was falling early in the afternoon, I was beside the stream that borders the Wood. I heard the distinctive, insistent yaffle of a bird flying swiftly like an arrow at the edge of the farmer’s field towards me. It turned sharp right and flew down the stream towards the house, calling loudly. For a few moments, I caught sight of the exquisite and unworldly iridescence of a kingfisher. I was overcome with a sense of wonder to see the unmistakably beautiful, turquoise plumage of a bird that appeared completely at odds with that dull, damp day. Joy arose in my heart. I decided to take this experience as emblematic: That no matter how dark and hopeless life can seem somewhere, somehow there is a spark of light that carries an unquenchable message of hope and rebirth. 

I decided to dedicate the rest of my life, for as long as I can, to conserving the beauty of the Wood where I am blessed to live. I will continue to improve the habitat of the species here, some rare and even endangered, and carry on writing and publishing material that seeks new pathways in a world that is unravelling, ecologically, economically and socially. Whilst my family and I have experienced an unexpected tragedy, I am aware that everything is relative. The suffering in a war zone where whole families are wiped out and communities and land destroyed by mines is unimaginable. I find the complex politics of war and the way it is waged, supported by other nations, psychologically eviscerating.

The only way I know to stand up against human cruelty and violence is to try and live in greater peace and harmony in my own life. So as the rhythm of the year turns, I will continue, alone now, to apprentice myself to the difficult and lifelong lessons of peacemaking, to speak up and publish about another world that is still possible, to take deep solace in nature, and do all I can to care for the little patch of land I call home. Life is incredibly difficult. All of us are subjected to the sometimes harsh reality of impermanence but, in that darkness, there is always the possibility of a kingfisher.

Maddy and the Permaculture team

Maddy’s editorial first appeared in Spring PM119

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Further Resources

Books

Fertile Edges
by Maddy Harland

Articles

A Worldwide Movement for Change

About the Author

Maddy Harland is the co-founder and editor of Permaculture magazine and author of Fertile Edges – Regenerating the land, culture and hope.