My earliest memories of when I began to really appreciate and love the natural world was when I was a child. My Nonna and Papa had come from Italy and they cared for an enormous garden, beehives, hens and rabbits. I learned to garden with them and loved the summer days spent foraging for berries, and mushroom on their 10 acres of land or the surrounding woods. I lost contact with this as I grew up and moved to the city and didn't begin exploring it again until the last year of my undergraduate degree.

After taking some time off I decided to pursue my masters degree in Sustainable Environmental Management with a focus on green building. The built environment has become a passion of mine and I was interested in alternative building technologies. While completing my masters I was able to look into some of these alternative building applications and stumbled upon permaculture. I wanted to integrate a holistic approach to my designs that seemed to emphasize the stark contrasts between the inside and outside world.

In the spring of 2013 I started my own company offering consulting services in green and alternative building and design and was looking for an opportunity to expand my knowledge in permaculture. In May/June 2014 I completed my PDC in Nova Scotia.

Until recently I have lived in very small spaces and grown greens within the home or dabbled in small container gardens. May 2015, my husband and I purchased our first home. A small 60 year old home on a 54'x120' urban lot. We are lucky in that we are able to do this and that our property is a completely clean slate where we can dream and plan and create our own permaculture paradise. As I sit and observe the sun, shade, and wind patters, notice the insects and the plants we have, the large green space and ravine we have at the back of the property, the neighbours and everything else, I can begin to plan and dream of what we want to see here, what we want to create.

This is our new project and I am so excited for it!