Permaculture has been a large part of James’ life for the last eleven years since completing his Permaculture Design Course in 2003 with renowned Australian teacher and designer Robyn Francis of Djanbung Gardens, NSW.

Over the past ten years James has gained experience in Permaculture Design and smallholding management by contributing to design and practical work on a 20 acre farm in North Eastern Portugal, working primarily on designing and setting up food gardens and poultry systems along with maintenance of mixed fruit, nut and vineyard terraces. He has been involved with his local Transition Town group where he helped establish a Community Garden, undertaken workshops and small scale design consultancy work and implemented several home garden designs throughout central and northern Scotland.

James is now Managing Director of Tap o' Noth Permaculture, a dedicated Permaculture demonstration and education Centre in Aberdeenshire, Scotland. Tap o' Noth is an official Master Plan site for the Permaculture Research Institute and a ScotLAND site for the Permaculture Association of Britain.

Building a basic compost toilet

The human body has within its waste products (faeces and urine) pretty much all the suitable nutrients needed to help grow the food we need to keep ourselves healthy and well fed.