John Dolan
My lifelong interest in self reliance, sustainable development, and preserving and interacting with the natural world was wrapped in the permaculture cloak when I did my design course with inspirational teacher Marcus Mc Cabe. This helped me to downsize in 1998 and co found the eco hamlet “sli an uisce” where I now live.
I Generate cash / resources using my skills in “Farmscaping” projects and project management. These include, green building, Pond and wetlands design and construction, and supplying some special trees, plants, seeds and produce.
My first few years at sli an uisce was focussed on building my cabin, starting my garden, and learning new skills. The growing need for propagation space led me to excavating a large pond which gave me an extra 1/2 acre of water, and fertile garden. It also gave me 100 tonnes of cob for my new home. The cob phase was finished in autumn 06, the stone and timber and finishing phases will take longer.
Hopefully the future will see me helping more people ‘farmscaping’ their sustainable smallholdings. As well as finishing the “castle” farmhouse home, I will extend the smallscale food and seed production areas into the fertile southern slopes below the pond as the effects of peak oil continue to make this sector more economically viable. And after that, a long time in a hammock, in an orchard, somewhere!