Tom Kendall grew up and worked on his parents' farm and took on the farm in 1992 when his father retired. He downsized the 11,000 acre farm to 7,000 acres and converted to Biodynamics. The farm produced wheat and barley and ran cattle and sheep. In 2000 he sold the farm and moved to the Sunshine Coast.

In 2005 he and his partner Zaia found their ideal property in Kin Kin, Noosa Hinterland. Tom had by then become interested in Permaculture, and started converting the property into a Permaculture site. With his background in farming, he was able to take on most jobs that needed to be done himself; renovations, building, operating heavy machinery for earthworks etc, gardening, fixing, installing plumbing and many other jobs that came with setting up the property. He became a wwoof host and always taught the wwoofers about Permaculture and why the property was set up the way it was. In 2008 he did a Permaculture Design Certificate with Bill Mollison and Geoff Lawton. He followed that up early 2010 with a Teacher Training Course with Geoff Lawton. At that stage he realised he had so much knowledge to share with people about Permaculture and Self Reliance skills that he decided to focus on teaching. It was a natural extension from teaching wwoofers for all those years.

Tom is a very practical person with an wealth of knowledge about shaping landscapes and creating tools and infrastructure. Having spent all his life working the land he has an astute awareness about today's environmental issues and aims to minimise his footprint as much as possible. His courses are unique in that he shows a lot of practical applications on his property Kin Kin Souls, now a Permaculture Demonstration Site, to complement the theory taught. His aim is to bring Permaculture to as many people as possible, and to empower people to be self reliant. Following this quest, he and his wife Zaia are now, on invitation of Geoff and Nadia Lawton, heading the Permaculture Research Institute Sunshine Coast. You can find their website at http://permaculturesunshinecoast.org . He has recently (May 2013) taught a Permaculture Design Certificate course in Vanuatu for the Adventist Development and Relief Agency (ADRA), empowering and inspiring Vanuatu locals to implement Permaculture techniques in their villages and aid projects.

Permaculture Research Institute Sunshine Coast

We, Tom and Zaia Kendall of Permaculture Kin Kin Souls, were recently invited by Geoff and Nadia Lawton to be a satellite of the Permaculture Research Institute on the Sunshine Coast.

Article about Kin Kin SOULS on the Green Journey Website

This article published today (2/12/2011) on the Green Journey website tells you a bit about what we do here and where we are headed...

Future updates

Future updates will from now on be posted on Kin Kin Souls project page.

Yacon syrup

How to make a healthy sweetener from an abundant resource...

Simple organic raw cultured butter making

Simple step by step process on butter making with raw organic cream that anyone can do at home.

Native bees to help our garden

As the world's bee population is becoming more and more endangered we are keen to embark on the journey of native bee keeping.

Creating a garden bed with compost and mulch

Step by step process describes the creation of a garden bed with compost, mulching and adding seedlings.

Courses at Kin Kin Souls are now even more affordable!

Greater accommodation options have now made our courses even more affordable.

Use of Biological Resources in Establishing a Food Forest

This article talks about how we use biological resources to direct and accelerate the growth of our Food Forest.

Upcoming courses - from May 2011

Permaculture and Self Reliance courses at Kin Kin SOULS