Marina OConnell

Taking new apprentices?
No
Individual or group tutorials
both
Notes about contacting me

My phone number

1803863272
About me

I am an experienced permaculture designer and trainer. I work with people or groups to co design gardens and larger scale small holdings, farms, projects and schools. I like to work in an interactive and inclusive way as possible. I am also a diploma tutor and train other people to design and work in this way. I have 30 years of detailed horticultural knowledge and farming systems, especially regarding fruit, agroforestry and biodynamic systems.

I work as part of the APricot centre team, and we also have expertise from Bob Mehew with finance and business planning, so we can take a permaculture design and transform this into a detailed implementation plan and a business plan.

Diploma Tutor Experience

I am an experienced designer of large scale farms, small holdings, and larger gardens, schools and community gardens. I have created 3 farms of my own, that are run as economically viable enterprises, as well as regenerating the land and biodiveristy on the farm. I have worked with a wide variety of people and facilitated desgins for many differnt groups. My farms ususally have a wellbeing aspect to them wth people and the communtiy involved in some capacity. 

Diploma Tutor Skills

My particular expertise is in soil regeration after industrial farming, Agroforestry and facilitating the design of economically viable farms. I am particulary skilled at detailed knoweldge of organic fruit growing. I am currently involved iwth Small scale grain and milling enterprise. I understand how to include the community and or wellbeing aspects into farms and gardens. I like to carry out the desgins in an interactive and collaberative way, often involving the farmers, growers or community in the design proces itself.  I work as part of a team, so Bob Mehew can help develop buisness plans and cash flow forecasts. Dave Wright can help with the design of green manures, vegetable planning, and machinery requirements. Mark Oconnell and Rachel Phillips help with the wellbeing design and set up. 

Educator experience

My designs tend to be larger scale, large gardens, small holdings, farms, schools, estates. My speciality is in regerating soils, crops planning, fruit growing, agroforestry, alley cropping design. How to integrate this iwith Machinery, markets and sales etc.  We run the farm Biodynamically so this is another area of expertise. With Bob Mehew we can also do business planning as well. 

Educator skills

I am skilled in detailed  soil regeneration, fruit planning, top fruit and soft fruit, small scale grains and processing, agroforestry and alley cropping systems. As a team we have exptise in chicken tractors, vegetable grwoing and rotations and detailed business planning. 

Educator qualifications

BSc Horticulture Bath Univeristy

Masters in Enviroenment and Society Essex Univeristy

Permaculture Diploma

Further Education trainer.