God, Country, and Family were the core of my late husband William Swanson’s personal philosophy.  It was generational.  Katrina had instilled caring for this planet in William,  and he wanted our sons to be instilled with the same values he had been.

The front and back yard of the house in Maine was notorious for being “overgrown” with weeds while in fact, Katrina refused to weed the indigenous plants.  She maintained three bee colonies and composted.  And she had a thriving vegetable garden. These practices had been handed down from generation to generation.  Katrina’s mother’s side had come over on the Om Bang and we still have old rural farmland dating back to when it was originally deeded as Dutch Charter.

William took a great deal of time sharing family stories about the Hetloo Farm in upstate New York as did Katrina.  Often when driving back east to visit with family in Maine we would always take the time to drop by the farm just outside of Old Kinderhook. And while in Maine we always made time for the bees.

Our youngest son Harry worked with Anna Combi a friend who has started a permaculture sustainable practices program. This amazing group has been travelling since.

Here is a little bit about the program:

This Fall, a group of inspired solutionaries…from diverse backgrounds, will embark upon a permaculture activation quest, integrating social and environmental action, performance arts and holistic education, into local communities along the west coast. In each location, we intend to gather communities to plant food forests, medicinal herbs and edible gardens, create drought-resilient infrastructure, and utilize natural building techniques and energy-efficient cooking technologies to catalyze resilient living and thrivability.  We aim to nurture the blooming of regenerative biodiversity everywhere we go.

To learn more about her work please click here