Aaron and Kathryn had a piece of property, dreams of developing it, and a multitude of plans and ideas. Research into cold-climate greenhouses led to a rabbit trail of “Passive Solar”, “Rocket Mass Heaters”, and finally the term “Permaculture”. But while permaculture immediately felt like the right context to apply to the property, this just multiplied the complexity of their plans. Every new idea they discovered dove-tailed into more concepts and plans to be evaluated.

When Verge offered their PDC online, they thought that having someone in a similar climate tell them what to do would be perfect. But instead, in their PDC they learned how to evaluate their own specific context, how to observe what was already around them, and what the building blocks of creating a permaculture design are.

Aaron and Kathryn used their PDC design project to map out a plan to develop their property. Breaking the property down into zones and sectors focused and narrowed the multitude of options, and knowing their values and visions helped prioritize what really mattered. Six months later: Gardens have been started, a barn has been raised, and plans for livestock, a greenhouse, fruit trees, ponds, and pizza ovens cover the foreseeable future.

Curious what Kathryn and Aaron thought about the Online PDC? Wonder how it influenced their property design? Check out the interview below where they share their thoughts, opinions, and experiences after having completed the 2020 Summer course.