My background was in education and training; teaching, designing courses, administration and management.

I first learnt about permaculture through reading Grass Roots magazine in the 1970s. In 1996 I heard Bill Mollison speak at Queenbeyan and subsequently read An Introduction to Permaculture. Although we had always grown some of our food wherever we lived my job required frequent moves so the dream of living sustainably had to wait until 2001 when we bought a small farm near Warragul as a weekender where we established an orchard and vegetable garden. In 2008 I completed my PDC with Rick Coleman at Southern Cross Permaculture Institute in Leongatha South and started to focus my efforts on using permaculture principles in the development of the property.

We moved to the farm in 2009, added chickens, ducks and sheep and a greater variety of food plants.

In 2014 I moved into Warragul to live on a normal house block.

I am involved in the local permaculture group as a member of the steering committee for West Gippsland Permaculture, a member of Permaculture Victoria and Permaculture Australia. I served as a director on the board of the latter for three years. Since moving into Warragul I have joined Growing Together Baw Baw, a community garden group, and have been invited to join the steering committee of that group.

I plan to create a sustainable food garden on my house block as well as contribute to building a sustainable community.