I accredited at the National Diploma Gathering in March, just under six year since I started. That's me with my certificate, in the middle of Dano on the left, whose diploma portfolio is here, and Barry, on the right, who has been my 'response partner' throughout, with monthly video chat check-ins, and a bit of friendly rivalry as we raced to the finish.
Six years is a long time, and I've meandered my way to the finish via a change in jobs, a house move, the addition of some chickens (hooray!) and all sorts of other things besides. I'm grateful to have had my diploma, and permaculture more generally, as a framework to guide my decisions and actions.
I'm also very grateful for the lovely people who've supported me throughout, and who volunteered to be on my peer group at the end. Jo for being my first tutor, Katie for supporting me in the middle, Hannah for holding my hand to the finish line, and Carla who stepped in to lead to facilitate my accreditation when Hannah couldn't be there in person. And on my peer group Dave, Hildur, Anne and Steve, and Barry of course. I couldn't have done it without you.
So what now? Well, I want to use this space to keep writing about permaculture, to show how our projects are developing. Barry and I continue our monthly check-ins, and this morning I set out plans for planting more seeds, building a fence round our veg growing area to keep the chickens out, and doing some design work around water harvesting. Watch this space.