My parents grew up in the mountains of the Appalachian region of the United States growing most of their own food. Farming and food production were part of the family narrative. After a long personal history in education, non-profit, and work abroad, my partner and permaculture instructor Edward Marshall and I chose to re-commit to the region we are from. We returned to the Appalachian-Piedmont region in 2011 to found the We Are All Farmers Permaculture Institute as a teaching center, community space, and permaculture demonstration site.

In short, we are committed to facilitating for people in this region more responsibility for their food and energy. The We Are All Farmers Permaculture Institute is a registered North Carolina non-profit and in addition to providing permaculture design certificate courses and other workshops on site, we work with our PDC graduates to get out into the community and provide free permaculture workshops for community gardens, community housing, places in need, etc. We seek to make permaculture accessible and affordable and take very seriously the "Care of People" ethic in particular. Our learning approach is grounded first in permaculture ethics and extends to very hands-on learning. We learn permaculture together in a community, are very active in creating a permaculture oriented community, and are not afraid to expose the trials and errors of food & energy production, learning, and creating community along the way.

My husband has deep and long experience in organic farming (having been a commercial organic farmer for almost ten years prior to becoming an advanced permaculture teacher) and who also has deep experience in land stewardship and regenerative agriculture. My experience lies more in critical pedagogy and experiential learning. Additionally, I am doctoral student working on policy issues regarding towns that are sites of energy extraction.

I earned my permaculture design certificate at the Hancock Permaculture Center in the US State of New York in 2011.

We also welcome people for tours or for farm work-stays (as WWOOFERS: http://www.wwoofusa.org) & teach Permaculture Design Courses
(see: www.weareallfarmers.org).

Catch us on Facebook here! http://www.facebook.com/weareallfarmers