Caspar Lampkin
I am a self-employed Permaculture designer and implementer and I have extensive knowledge and experience with all types of building work and various methods of vegetable and fruit cultivation which have been my passions since childhood. In particular, I have built a cob house, compost toilets, an underground house, thermal mass rocket stoves, bread ovens and saunas. In ecology, my strengths are bee-keeping, food forests, vegetable and fruit cultivation, kombucha, sour dough bread and wine production. To share my experiences I started teaching courses and have recently completed a teacher training course.
I mainly work as part of a workers co-operative that I founded, Tangleha Artists Collective, organising events and courses, permaculture designing, implementing projects and training volunteers. I have also supported the establishment of Embark Forest School and I volunteer with the sessions and help manage the woodlands where they take place. My main work is on the Permaculture design and implementation of Tangleha House and the surrounding area, eco-renevating the house, planting forest gardens, seeking out new places to forage and plant up with edible perenials, and building links with community groups. I have done designs for a local nursery school garden and was employed by Aberdeen University to develop a permaculture design for a new student garden. I organise community action days and help to care for the ecology of the St Cyrus and Mill of Benholm community gardens and have started a plant nursery at the Mill of Benholm of productive local fruit bushes and vines. More recently I have been part of a local group, including the St Cyrus Nature Reserve manager and the council ranger, to establish an edible path network in the area.
My formal education consists of a degree in Maths and Stats and a masters in Land Economy. I have been employed in public funded projects and I also have experience in applying for public funding, setting up a community bike workshop, an eco teams project, a low impact food project and organising events including a community empowerment conference and a green wood work gathering.
I have stayed in a variety of different international Permaculture projects helping to run a children lead land based project and the reforestation of a desert, helping to design, make compost and bake bread, maintain a food forest, a rainforest reforestation project and organic farming. I have attended non-violent communication workshops, enjoyed raw food diets, practised yoga and capoeira and been involved in intuitive music concerts. I have also volunteered with a vegbag co-operative, cooked at a weekly soup kitchen, organised and lead cookery workshops, film nights, and various events and trips.
I first heard about Permaculture while volunteering at a farm in Portugal in 2009, a couple of years later I attended my first introduction course and shortly afterwards I completed the full design course. I have since worked and lived involving the permaculture ethics (people care, earth care and fair-share) and principles as a core consideration in everything I do.