Hi, everyone. I'm new to the forum here, but not especially new to permaculture. I did my PDC in 2012, completed my journeyman design (with a group) in 2014, and have been experimenting and learning (mostly in urban settings) with mixed results ever since. My partner and I bought our first home last fall and are excited to begin our design for the property. We have planted a few annuals and herbaceous perennials like lovage, tansy, and rhubarb just to test the waters and get things going a bit (knowing that we can easily move things to accommodate our design as it develops). It's hard to hold off on putting in more permanent things like fruit trees and other woody perennials until we have an actual plan, but I know it's for the best. Slow and small changes make it easy to observe and accept feedback from the land. And it's good for me to practice patience and deep listening with the plants and to think long-term, as I can get a bit over-zealous about my ideas in the short term if I'm not mindful. The permaculture principles certainly help to moderate those tendencies. I don't know many other folks in my area who are into permaculture, so I'm hoping that I will have lots of fruitful discussions about innovative design strategies and how to help manage the garden ecosystem with minimal interference.
Welcome Hedgewitch, Congratulations on your new home! Look forward to seeing how your design progresses. Have you looked at the PRI Global site to help find other Permaculturists near you? https://permacultureglobal.org/
the sheer amount of work that just going ahead can generate is frustrating when you come up against it later. the entire site here is mostly that with retrofitted things i could do after the fact. much, much more work... even with the frustrations and challenges i still enjoy doing this than doing something else. at times i daydream of a much simpler location.