Paul Jennings is speaking at the Big Straw Bale Gathering

April 4, 2018

Name : Paul Jennings

Organisation : Criafolen Permaculture

Lecture title : Permaculture Design for Builders

Brief description : Permaculture design offers a whole site and beyond basis for builders looking to fit their projects sensitively and sustainably into the landscape and community. This lecture will provide a brief look at the application of Permaculture to building, site and settlement design.

Paul’s Bio :

Having trained as an academic in Modern History, I realised that I’d be much happier growing lettuces than working in a university. Thanks to a well placed Permaculture course or two, I moved into organic agriculture and worked for a number of vegetable growing operations and organic gardens over more than a decade. In that time I also built with my partner Sarah my first straw bale house, a very low tech place, and I achieved my Diploma in Permaculture Design.

We moved to  France in search of land in 2007, and spent 6 years building in stone and slate,  and bringing a mountain farm back to life. One Planet Development brought us to Wales in 2013, and we now live in our second straw bale dwelling, a little bit of an upgrade on the first one, but still built with an eye wateringly low budget. We’re developing our project, Criafolen, as a Permaculture teaching and demonstration site, working on a range of crafts and growing plans. I write  fiction, non-fiction, teach Permaculture whenever I am invited to do so, and can be hired out at a very reasonable rate for Permaculture consultancy.
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