The Florida Permaculture Convergence is the fruition of 4 years of effort by a small, dedicated group of organizers. Here is a summary of our founding, and current members:
Sheryl Dutton is a native Floridian, currently living in Homestead. She is the Director of Earthscape Art & Design offering Permaculture Design Services and environmentally focused Fine Art in South Florida. All areas of her work are inspired by nature, culture and inter-connectivity. Other skills and interests include organic farming, song writing and recording, event planning and more. Sheryl is a founding member of the Florida Permaculture Convergence and hopes the tradition continues for years to come.
Judi Gulko has lived in South Florida since 1996. She lives and works in Coral Springs, in Broward county. Originally from Montreal, she obtained a doctorate in clinical psychology in 1990. Judi facilitates individual and group psychotherapy and has designed, taught, and conducted both workshops and seminars ever since. Since 2010 she has been a student of ecological design, “infected” with renewed passion born of this crucial perspective in our times. She experiences a growing awe in the productivity, empowerment and bonding that occur as a result of projects like the Convergence as well as local gatherings – focused in recognizing essential tasks and learning essential skills as a community. She is co-organizer of the Coral Springs community garden and food forest. She is starting to be an adequate garden designer and gardener, and a burgeoning plant nerd.
Loretta Buckner holds space for transformation and cultivates inspiration. Involved with permaculture before the word was invented, as a second-generation organic subsistence farmer/gardener, she adopted the “Square Foot Gardening” approach in the 1990’s. After 30 years in accounting, finance and real estate, growing food seemed the only choice in the economic void of post-crash Florida. One garden led to another, and “We Grow From Here” was born in 2010 with an ongoing food forest which then spawned ‘Casa Seranita’, an eCo-housing and demonstration foodscape in 2012, and then ‘Ollie’s Heartland’, an organic family farm and transitioning into permaculture in 2014. After completing two PDCs and most recently “Designing Educational Ecosystems” with Dave Jacke, she now designs educational ecosystems, enhancing permaculture projects worldwide and locally. Workshops are scheduled on Meetup in Florida and North Carolina Read and see more on her blog: WeGrowFromHere and Facebook: Casa Seranita, Ollie’s Heartland, We Grow From Here