Josephine Holleran

As a child, I was greatly influenced by my paternal grandmother and spent many happy times with her on her smallholding in the rural south of England. There, she grew fruit and vegetables and kept jersey cows and chickens. On the other side of our family, my maternal grandfather loved to spend every spare moment in his urban garden, where he enjoyed observing the life in the garden pond and cultivating the most amazing tomatoes. 

As time passed, the rural area where I grew up was developed into a city, and I was lost to my career for many years. In 2003, I was made redundant from an exciting but demanding international role. This presented an opportunity to re-design my life, with input and support from my husband. We made the decision to relocate to my husband's native North Yorkshire. Here, in this beautiful part of the world, I embarked on a new career in Horticulture, working and studying to improve my knowledge, skills and experience and subsequently specialising in organic methods and edible gardens.

​I attended my Permaculture Design Course (PDC) in Leeds from 2006-2007 and was further inspired to re-design my working life with a first 'right livelihood' project, which led to the creation of our joint business, offering organic gardening and eco-cleaning services.

​In 2008, we packed our bags and headed for Portugal, in search of a more self-reliant and natural life in the hills. We spent a year or so living and learning in the stunning mountain landscape before returning to the UK much richer in experience. 

​From 2009-2014, I continued practising and designing with garden-scale sites in the UK, with an aim of taking Permaculture to the mainstream, expanding 'the edge.' I also worked as a Lecturer in a specialist land-based college, provided business development support to an emerging green initiative in Yorkshire and produced designs for a 2-hectare site in Tuscany, Italy.

​Many of these designs and experiences were reflected in my Diploma portfolio and I accredited at the Permaculture Association (Britain) AGM in Leeds in 2013. I embarked on my Tutor Learning Pathway shortly afterwards, retiring from this role in 2023.

​In 2015, we re-located to rural southwest France, where we are developing a 1-hectare small holding using Permaculture practices. I am continually designing for all aspects of our life here and I’ll never run out of things to do! 

My current projects and passions are: the re-design of our orchard; wildlife observation; landscape and music photography; writing; and sewing. I’ve just started to learn to play the mandolin.