Portaferry Permaculture Project

My name is Heiko.  All my life I have been torn between my wanderlust and a pull back to the land.  Born a Dutchman in Germany, I have since lived in Germany, the USA, India, Northern Ireland, England and Italy.  During a 10 year stint in Italy I discovered permaculture and I completed my Permaculture Design Certificate in Scagnello, Italy under the tutelage of Pietro Zucchetti and Aranya in 2012.  We still have a mature food forest in Liguria, Italy. You can read about our Italian adventures on my previous blog.

In 2014 my wife Susan and I decided to move back to her homeland of Northern Ireland and have now settled on a 1 acre smallholding in Portaferry, County Down.  With the help of many volunteers we have been in the process of restoring the land using permaculture methods and also inspired by the Natural Farming philosophy of the late Japanese philosopher and farmer Masanobu Fukuoka.  You can also follow us on our Facebook page.

I have also written and published a book on foraging and give guided foraging walks for anyone interested.  You can purchase the book directly from me or order it from my publishers here.