Nenya Milne

My websites

Availability

Please contact me for availability, as it may be unpredictable at times.

I can travel moderate distances to deliver courses and tutorials, and I'm happy to deliver tutorials at my place or online.

Individual or group tutorials

both

Notes about contacting me

Please contact me through the contact page here or on perennis.weebly.com

Taking new apprentices?

Yes

About me

I am a Permaculture designer, teacher, gardener and grower, based in south Edinburgh, Scotland. Having discovered Permaculture in 2009, I shifted away from a career in university education to primarily land-based Permaculture work.

I completed my PDC in 2012 with Patrick Whitefield at Ragmans Lane Farm, and Permaculture Educator's Course at Friland, Denmark, in 2014.I finished my Diploma in Applied Permaculture in 2023 and I am part of Scotland's Permaculture Diploma College No 1.

I teach courses on forest gardening, unusual edibles, foraging, composting, plant ID, and botanical cosmetics, as well as contributing to James Chapman's PDCs in Edinburgh and around. I'm a co-director of NonStuff Industries CIC, founded to promote Permaculture education.

My business Perennis Permaculture offers design and consultancy services on edible low-maintenance gardening and other forms of regenerative land use, as well as garden maintenance in line with Permaculture ethics and principles. My home in south Edinburgh features examples in suburban-scale forest gardening, rain water harvesting, composting (inc. humanure), and renewable energy retrofitting (solar PV and storage, insulation).

My interests

Diploma Tutor Experience

I have recently trained as a registration level tutor and have shadowed an Induction and a design support tutorials. I am planning to do the assessment level training when it becomes available.

Diploma Tutor Skills

I can offer guidance on most aspects of garden design (edible and otherwise) and regenerative land use on a small to medium scale. I have extensive plant knowledge ranging from horticulture to ethnobotany, and plentiful experience of annual and perennial growing in cool and cold temperate climates. I can advise on designing educational projects, events, and small permaculture business ventures, based on over 10 years' experience of working with a range of private and business clients. I also have some experience of working with water, designing structures and energy retrofits, and social permaculture.

Educator experience

I have taught on over 10 PDCs; designed and delivered courses on Forest gardening, composting, and botanical cosmetics.

Educator skills

I have experience and expertise in:
- Designing for a range of clients and scales
- Teaching and organising courses and events
- Gardening and garden design, implementation and maintenance, in cool and cold temperate climates
- Plant ID (wild and ornamental), foraging, wild foods
- Food preservation
- Botanical cosmetics
- Sourdough bread making
- Composting and soil flora
Interests (in addition to the above):
- Water in the landscape
- Ecosystems and succession
- Fungi
- Sustainable architecture

Educator qualifications

Registration level Diploma tutor training, 2023
Diploma in Applied Permaculture, 2023
Permaculture Educator training, Friland, Denmark, 2014
PDC, with Patrick Whitefield, Ragman's Lane Farm, 2012
PhD in International Relations (Conflict and Peace Studies), St Andrews, 2010
MLitt in International Security Studies, 2003
BA in Semiotics and Cultural Studies, Tartu, Estonia, 2001