Val de Foy, join us
on a regenerative journey.

Welcome to Val de Foy, our young permaculture project in the beautiful Dordogne where I teach people about working with nature and not against it. Learn through experience, theory and stories the regenerative power of nature.
Our growing community
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The ambition

Rebalance with nature.

Blog
Val de Foy: a food forest in the making, based on the principles of Permaculture. Watch our homemade video.
Val de Foy

Why it’s necessary to teach people about sustainable food systems and restoring our balance with nature.

The statistics are staggering; the Earth is losing 65-95% of it’s biodiversity, 25.000 species are on the heavily endangered list. Our moderate climate and unique ecosystems are lost due to expanding cities, evergrowing consumption, intensive farming and the use of fossil fuels and pesticides. We also seem to be on an accelerating curve of climate extremes. We are looking an urgent crisis in the eye and I -as many- feel compelled to do what we can to help break our patterns and show a way out of the crisis.

Here in tranquil rural Dordogne, far away from the big cities of Europe, you get a sense of ‘what used to be normal’. Although biodiversity loss and weather extremes are very visible here too. In fact this area is one of the fastest heating parts of Europe. Winters are cold and summers are extremely hot and dry. And an abundance of species is very much under pressure. A lot has to do with our own choices in how we ‘maintain’ the land.

At Val de Foy, we aim to teach people about how to work with nature instead of against it. Here you can escape urban stress and overponder the mark you want to leave on planet earth. Just being here will let you tune in with the pace of life in the countryside. But even here we run into the difficulties to nudge nature into its restorative power. We are learning every day and we aim to work together with initiatives doing the same.

We invite people to resonate with our land and fellow initiatives and pass on what we’ve learned. We want to show there is hope in changing our perspective with perseverance and we encourage our students to nudge their own communities to become aware of our role in nature.

Our regenerative agenda

From two-hour to two-week sessions.

Workshops

Learn about the principles of permaculture and how to work with nature instead of against it, and be inspired by how a different way of looking can transform our food system and help restore natural balance.
One on one visits and reflection, onsite or at your location.

Consults

Curious to see how we are reshaping the land from permaculture principles? Book a visit. I am also available to give personal feedback and advice regarding your own methods of farming or gardening.
Events or services to help or bring together the community.

Specials

Restoring balance with nature is also about recognising our place in the natural system. We also believe in the strength of community. Be prepared to find activities that focus on sharing, wellbeing, fun, care and lending a hand.
Surplus or homemade products , only when we have enough to share.

Share surplus

One of the plusses of working with nature is that our land gives more than we can use. Although we keep surplus as much as possible within our system we sometimes have products to share with friends and our community. Check it out!

Val de Foy – A food forest in the making

Why forest edge systems are more diverse and robust than monoculture and cultivated landscapes and why we work with the principles of permaculture at Val de Foy.

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of species live underground
As humans we often focus on what we see above the ground. Did you know that 60% of biodiversity is underground? Pesticides and digging, disrupt soil systems. A healthy ecosystem starts with an undisturbed living soil. Learn how to cultivate healthy land.
Incredible perspective changing reading tip:
Teaming with microbes
– Jeff Lowenfels
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of water is needed to produce one kilo of beef
For the production of one kilo of beef, 15,000 liters is needed, whilst one kilo of beans requires 4000 liters of water. If we eat less meat and respect the seasons in our chosen diet, we can also stop transporting (cattle)food across the world with polluting planes and ships.
The average water humans use per day is 150 liters. Did you know you can reduce your water footprint?
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= food for 125 people
The earth has an incredible amount of space. Without monoculture, the use of pesticides and intensive farming or gardening, we can not only feed 125 people a diverse pallet of food per hectare (100 x 100 meters) of land, but also respect and maintain other living species.
In a food forest we not only feed humans, but an incredible amount of diverse living species.
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Less variety in edible plant species in our diet.
Since the beginning of 1900 we have lost 90% of the edible variety we previously knew and ate in our daily diet. This is the result of breeding select varieties in farming practices. The scarcity of species makes these variants vulnerable to deceases. The loss of knowledge about edible plants makes us vulnerable to ingest less nutritional value and diversity in ‘good’ microbes. This increases also proneness to allergies and disease. At Val de Foy we promote genetically strong and diverse (food) systems.
We support initiatives bringing back forgotten foods. Also be amazed how many wild plants (weeds) are edible.
Blog

Resetting what people know about ‘green’.

Blog

Learn about forgotten edible plants and their healing power.

Join the global rewilding
and regenerative movement

Stop working against nature, instead help to bring it back and awaken its diversity. When we renew our relationship with nature, you’ll be amazed by the restorative power of it. You will not only help heal the planet, but also yourself and future generations.
Val de Foy is an
initiative of