This Stylish Permaculture Queen Is Combating Climate Change And Sharing Simple Regenerative Solutions That She Practices Everyday

We were so incredibly honored to chat with Poppy who is a permaculture designer and organic grower based in the UK. We’re so inspired by her story and her land-based lifestyle and how she shares her journey with the world.

Check out his amazing interview:

First and foremost, how are you feeling during this pandemic?

I’m actually feeling super charged now. At the start I was not great, I was in total denial for ages that there was a pandemic at all! I got mad at my boyfriend if he ever even brought it up! It’s crazy how we as humans cope with stress, the journey through denial, acceptance and then adaption... eventually the penny dropped, which was an important lesson in surrender for me. Accepting a new reality and that I am totally out of control, making now work, because the future is so uncertain... and then the beautify that comes after the surrender. Peace, calm, creativity. It’s like Yoga or 5rhytms (2 communal practices I miss like crazy).

After the penny dropped I went into a bit of a state of panic and chaos (I guiltily admit I panic bought compost and oats online!). Permaculture teaches the importance of designing resilient systems, but I didn't feel ready for this! My grandma called, she said “Ginikonwa, (my Nigerian Igbo name) what’s the point of life? The point of life is to serve”.

I’m incredibly lucky, my loved ones are safe and my partner and I have created a set up that I just love being in, so much so that after coming to terms with our new reality, lockdown has become quite a magical time! We live on a boat on a community mooring in London, when you’re on the canal here it feels like the countryside. I have a little enchanted, semi wild garden, that backs out onto a peaceful ancient cemetery. We can take our rowing boat out to find secret foraging spots along the river. I work as a model traveling a lot, as I don’t fly anymore, travel takes time. Cancelled work has meant I spend my days in my garden, planting seeds that I know I will be here to nurture and harvest. I keep finding myself feeling just so overwhelmingly grateful. So when my grandma said life is about service... it definitely felt that now more than ever is a time to give back.

Over the last few years I’ve been gathering knowledge while incubating the dream of teaching what I learn. Sharing of knowledge is everything, knowledge is power and the people need the power. Especially now while we feel so vulnerable.

So I’m feeling grateful and giving at the moment... but it took a second to get here!

When and why did you first get interested in agriculture/sustainability?

Waw well tracing this back is like following a spider web with infinite strands... I’ll try and keep it focused!

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I’ve had a connection to the natural world foreve. But the transition from loving the great outdoors to the desire to work with and protect it came a bit later. When I was 18 I moved to London from the countryside and started modelling. It was very fast paced, I was stressed and not really taking care of myself, I sort of drifted from nature. I ended up developing IBS, western doctors didn’t seem to have a great deal to offer past diagnosis, so I began exploring holistic health and healing, especially through diet. Creating time for my own health naturally led me back to nature, the plants and opened my eyes to what we are doing to our home, Planet Earth. I got a bit obsessed with house plants to begin with! My first squash successfully grown outdoors felt like a miracle! It became apparent to me that human health and well-being is totally dependent on that of the planet. We are connected. I was also aware that so many of us are utterly out of touch with nature, our health, where our food comes from and the cost to us and the planet. Food and growing offered me a direct link back to nature, it allowed me to enter into a dynamic, caring, give and take relationship. Why couldn't this be repeated? This quote from “The Yoga Of Herbs” by Dr Frawley and Dr Lad sums it up perfectly...“Plants bring us love, the nourishing energy of the sun, which is the same energy as all the stars, of all light… they offer us not only their nutritive value but the very light and love from the stars, from the cosmos who’s messengers they are… they exist for psychological as well as physical nourishment”. I adopted a plant based diet for my health and that of the planet and all those inhabiting Her. The more I learnt about the importance of healthy ecosystems, soil, air, water the more obvious it became that in the game of treating the Earth as a resource, we are the biggest losers. Everytime. My mission became to learn how we can nourish ourselves, reconnect and fall back in love with the wild, while we do more than sustain but actually build healthy soils and ecosystems. Organic growing didn't feel like enough; it was a step in the right direction… but a bit like putting a plaster on a wound without treating the infection. My journey with regenerative growing began with Biodynamics, which I was familiar with from my childhood. I still respect and integrate Biodynamics into my work. A pivotal moment was going to India and meeting an incredible man named Krishna, he led the Permaculture food forest in Aurovile. I’d read about permaculture but after seeing that food forest in the flesh I knew that was it. That was Eden.... The balance of give and take, it was wild, yet abundant. It brought people together. Krishna said for him living is growing food together, harvesting together, lovingly preparing and eating the food and then dancing in thanks, all in harmony with nature! I decided if that’s what I wanted to do I needed to study. So I did.

My purpose now is to make this all available and accessible for anyone ready for it. Though it often doesn't feel this way, we are living through a climate emergency. The IPCC report in 2018 (that we have 12 years left to halt temperatures rising above 1.5 degrees and lessen the impact of runaway climate change) and Jem Bendell’s Deep Adaption paper were the final push. Now every choice I make I consider the impact. For now I am growing at home in our little garden and hopefully offer an exciting example of regenerative home growing.

One day I will have a farm where we experiment with growing in harmony with nature, we heal ourselves and the land, people will come, learn and grow, we will be a resilient community.

How do you define permaculture? And how to do you envision permaculture being implemented by communities post Covid?

Bill Mollison the guy who dreamed up permaculture (permanent agriculture) in the 70s said it is:

“The conscious design and maintenance of agriculturally productive systems which have the diversity, stability, and resilience of natural ecosystems. It is the harmonious integration of the landscape with people providing their food, energy, shelter and other material and non-material needs in a sustainable way.”

So it’s about living comfortably and sustainably on the planet. The idea being that in nature we observe truly sustainable systems, producing no waste, that can support themselves pretty much indefinitely. There are 12 principles that offer basic structure or guidence.

For me the term permaculture has come to mean or symbolise so much that it's almost like a verb or a feeling... I feel Permaculture is about letting nature take the reins, stepping back and observing before engaging. It offers us a gateway back into a mutually beneficial relationship with nature, it's about community.

I love that the solutions permaculture offers are incredibly simple, often even glaringly obvious...it just requires a change of glasses to see them. They can be applied to any lifestyle anywhere. You don't have to be self-sufficient on a ranch in the middle of nowhere to use permaculture, infact bringing permaculture into city life has been massively exciting!

Since the outbreak of covid-19 people just seem so much more receptive and open to the idea of living differently… I guess we’ve been forced to do it once, why not choose to do it again. I hear a lot of talk of going back to “normal”... but what if we dreamed of a new future, a new normal. Permaculture offers beautiful ethics to support the dreaming and creation of a new world. A world with empowered, joyful communities that are resilient in hard times, where we no longer see the planet as a resource to be owned and pillaged.

Does your culture/heritage or being a WOC inspire your work? If so, how?

I am mixed race. My mum is white British and my dad is Nigerian. I’ve lived in South Africa, I now live in the Uk. My African and European heritage collide in me. Remembering the old ways of growing, harvest, food preparation, medicine, understanding the seasons and the landscape, is part of honouring my heritage. From my Nigerian side I can ask my Grandma questions, she grew up in Nigeria and has a fair amount of light to shine on these matters (since the time of living with the land was not so long ago, in many areas traditions are still strong). She laughs and doesn’t see the point in talking about “pagan” backwards traditions! On my British side it’s different. The old ways are far more forgotten, but it’s where I live, so I can learn from the land instead. I follow the Wheel of The Year (the pagan calendar), learn the uses of plants. It’s all important, fostering a living relationship with nature, honouring our ancestors.

You are very stylish - how do you see the marriage between fashion and sustainability?

We need to change our relationship with clothing I think. We’re so out of touch with the process of creation and history (in so many realms of life), understanding creation and the story of the tradition I feel leads to valuing things so much more. I see the future of fashion being more focused on quality, crafts and the story of garments over sheer quantity. I love old clothing, I rarely buy new. I daydream about the life the garment had before me. As consumers we have a lot of power, we can choose where we want to put our hard earned cash, every purchase matters.

Learning about the role the fashion industry plays in climate change (not to mention human rights issues) has meant I’ve felt increasingly uncomfortable working in the industry. But I feel it's important that people are pushing in the right direction from the inside, supporting businesses that are truly part of the future our grandchildren deserve.

What are some basic tips/resources you would give to folks who are just getting interested in this lifestyle?

1- Read read read! The internet can be overwhelming so I suggest investing in some second hand books, keep your eyes peeled on eBay and abebooks.com, you can get some real steals.

2- YouTube is a wealth of knowledge.

3- Short courses are an amazing way of connecting to like minded souls, fostering community. I find I learn more from the community than the teacher in the end.

4- Practice in real life, we learn so much from trial and error. Don’t be afraid to get stuck in, remember you are part of the ecosystem, part of the Earth, you are part of it all.

5- Last but not least, when working with nature, growing plants, building structures whatever it is, make sure you observe and consider your environment deeply before interacting. We humans like to think we always know best, but nature does just fine without us. Be humble, be open to being wrong, don’t rush, be strong and let Her show you the way...