Guest Blogger Miss Victoria Walker ;)

hi all!
i am the friend of fiona's who is very into permaculture, land use design etc etc but i deeply refute the use of the word 'guru'. that is a VERY premature label for me... i am fairly new to all this but have a real affinity for it as well as Certificates II, III and IV in Horticulture and many years of experience in the field.
but she wanted me to comment occasionally on her blog and the practises being used etc
SO the first thing i must do is give her a wrist - slapping about her lack of cohesion in the approach to design from the outset.
the circumstances of the trip away and self imposed time limitations obviously made fee and pat feel a pressure of ''getting set up'' in a limited amount of time, which is a recipe for disaster i think, if they are hoping to set up ''permanent'' elements of their design. Also not living on the land yet means they havent had time to gather the information required to make smart decisions about how to do it. Neither have they had the time and calmness of mind to really think about WHAT they want to get out of their land, and HOW all these elements are going to combine and lean on each other. only then can one start to consider WHERE these elements will be located to achieve the desired outcomes!! 
my favourite of the permaculture principles is the humble first: OBSERVE AND INTERACT.
some recommend that a person can occupy a piece of land for a year or more before they make any decisions. although frustratingly slow, i consider this fine advice
i think my first recommendation would be to these guys....SLOW the f**k down when it comes to planning!! putting in a usable vege garden is a fine idea (may i note that fee is a very talented vege grower, among other consumables), but it may have to be moved when your more permanent design comes into fruition.
concentrate on the house first and your water systems and broad scale plans before garden design. at all times LOOK around you and NOTICE as much as you can. this takes some training but developing an ECO LITERACY (one of my favourite terms) is an important step to designing in response to your land. which brings me to another important design concept: DESIGN FROM PATTERNS TO DETAILS. 
okay i will stop there for now but i want to say that after all that criticism that pat and fee are to be greatly admired for this massive venture, and that they both have much diverse skill and clarity of heart to nudge them along the path. also they are open to input from any area which might offer useful knowledge and that is a fine attitude i think.
victoria walker, signing off!!!