Brian Kerkvliet of Inspiration Farm
Brian has a wide breadth of practical knowledge on how to partner with natural systems to bring forth stability and abundance. He has been co-stewarding Inspiration Farm, along with his wife Alexandra, since 1994. They use both biodynamic and Permaculture practices at inspiration Farm. Brian has taught permaculture at WWU and other PDC venues and events since 2009. Having completed several Permaculture Design Certifications, he consults, installs projects and teaches workshops. Inspiration Farm is a showcase for many aspects of designing a living resilient system that provides for most of the food fiber and medicine needed to live a happy healthy life while restoring the ecosystem. His enthusiasm to share this with a wider audience shows in all that he does.
Brian Kerkvliet
Alexandra King of Inspiration Farm
Co-steward of Inspiration Farm. Alexandra has a BA in Org. Communication from ASU. She completed her PDC at the Bullock farm in 2006. Brian and Alexandra have 2 beautiful daughters that were born and raised on the Farm. (Now grown)
Their kids did 4-H for many years. 4-H was a fun journey of learning for the whole family. Alexandra hand milked Buttercup their sweet Jersey cow for about 11 years. She won first place at the NWWA Fair hand milking contest in 2014! Over the years they have had lots of different farm animals including chickens, turkeys, rabbits, goats, and cows, sheep, and pigs. Alexandra heads up the animal husbandry section of Inspiration Farm.
Alexandra has passions for animals and plants and more recently, lots and lots of flowers especially dahlias! She has yet to meet a flower she doesn’t like!
Alexandra is also the office and finance manager for the farm and other endeavors. If you want to find her smiling, go to the flower garden!
Alexandra King
Paul Kearsley of Queen Mtn. Homestead
Paul Kearsley is an experienced designer, educator and illustrator. He cut his Permaculture teeth at the Bullock’s Permaculture Homestead back in 2007. Since then he has worked with Terra Phoenix Design doing permaculture masterplanning locally and internationally. He holds a B.S. in Industrial Design and an MA in Environmental Education and teaches as a Senior Instructor in Western Washington University’s Design and Industrial Design programs. He is the illustrator of Practical Permaculture as well as other publications. He has taught Permaculture Design introductory courses, PDC’s and advanced PDC courses within WWU and the wider Pacific Northwest throughout the last 15 years.
At home, he co-stewards Queen Mountain Homestead, an 8-acre peri-urban homestead in Bellingham with his extended family. He fills his time working on the farm; adventuring and learning with his kids and niece and nephew; and drawing, drawing, drawing. His other passions include salvaging lumber, arranging flowers, foraging in the woods, smelling things, repairing stuff and cooking for his friends and family.
Jane Campbell of Queen Mtn. Homestead
Jane grew up shaped by the forests, wetlands, and beaches of the Salish Sea’s coast; and, the worldview of her therapist parents. As an adult, her curiosities led her to study Earth Sciences and Cultural Anthropology at the University of Victoria; landscaping and market farming after; and, then, permaculture. In 2010, she began three profoundly joyful years living and apprenticing at the Bullock’s Permaculture Homestead, where, she likes to say, she learned how to learn. Since “graduating” from the Bullock’s, Jane has owned and operated the Bellingham based landscaping company Beauty Land & Tree Care LLC; taught and mentored in gardens & orchards throughout Whatcom County and the Puget Sound; engaged in civic activism; and, most importantly, become a parent two vibrant kids. She lives on and co-stewards Queen Mountain Homestead with her extended family and friends.
Some of Jane’s current obsessions include: being in trees, pruning, seasonal food preparation and preservation, woodcarving, neighborhood disaster preparedness, listening, writing, and recently, rock setting.
Elizabeth Chace (Counselor, MA, LMHCA) of Queen Mtn. Homestead
Elizabeth (Liz) is a licensed mental health counselor practicing in Bellingham, WA since 2014. Her work is informed by systems thinking and attachment theory- the notion that we are at our core relational beings, hardwired for compassion, love, and community. She is passionate about healing and strengthening relationships within ourselves, between loved ones, and with the broader world, and is excited to bring her knowledge and expertise to the Whatcom PDC again in 2024!
Liz grew up playing homestead with her little sister, Jane, in the backyards and greenbelts of suburban Vancouver, B.C.. She has been growing her own food since 2005, gradually converting more and more of her lawn into kale, tomatoes, eggs, sauerkraut, and more KALE! Liz and Jane, and their families have been playing homestead for real at Queen Mountain since 2016.
Elizabeth is mom to 2 amazing teens and partner to Ryan. She also enjoys: civic activism, her cats, being silly, her Queen Mountain sour dough bread, reading, and playing music with Ryan and their band at music venues around Bellingham.
Guest Presenters
Caitlin Leck
Caitlin Leck is a mother, activist-farmer, and strategist-facilitator who believes permaculture design can act as a mechanism of de-colonial action. She has helped guide the Orcas Community Participatory Agriculture program since its inception in 2014, and is working with a stellar group of local food advocates to design and implement a Food System Plan for San Juan County. She serves on the SJC Agricultural Resources Committee, Orcas Food Co-op Board, and Orcas Women’s Coalition Steering Committee, and operates her Eastsound-based edible landscaping company. If Caitlin had her druthers, she would clone herself and spend long days in a hammock, reading Octavia Butler in the dappled shade of an apple tree. Caitlin is honored to live on Orcas Island, which since time immemorial has been and continues to be stewarded by Coast Salish Peoples, with her family and beloved community.
