CURRENT MISSION

To learn how to develop local varieties of perennial plants that are extremely hardy yet useful for the forest gardener.

ABOUT ME

I help run a community forest garden and I'm very much starting to pursue plants in a serious way. I teach foraging and plant identification courses. I'm interested in almost everything and I know this can be a good thing but as my interests widen my focus tends to be spread too thinly and as such I'm learning how to manage my ever changing interests.. I teach English privately and a Turkish evening class; I love languages but I must admit they are not the bright-burning obsession they used to be - that's occupied by other things.

I live in a housing co-operative in fairly central Leeds and, until recently, along with running the garden I was helping look after my grandma. I've found my niche in Leeds with lots of niche-loving people so I'm content to stay fairly solid here this year, but who knows what I'll do next year.

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

Couchsurfing is simply one of the best tools to develop a global international outlook that isn't focussed on how to run your life as a small business. I believe that money, specifically the exchange of money for services, is incompatible with forming decent friendships and we should develop alternative ways to meet our needs where money, as it used now, is but one of many and is definitely NOT the first way.

Interests

I play the violin and classical guitar. One of the benefits of being forced to play an instrument as an o so innocent child! And now I play in a band called Balkanique that plays balkan and klezmer music.

I'm interested in the co-operative movement and its particularly British peculiarities. Because I'm in a housing co-operative and on the legal working group I've developed an interest in certain aspects of housing law, which is something I thought I'd never say.

• yoga
• running
• gardening
• politics
• music
• guitar
• violin
• business
• languages
• law

Music, Movies, and Books

All these things change but I recently read the Earthsea Quartet by Ursula le Guin and I thought that was amazing. Then I watched the Studio Ghibli film adaptation and unfortunately it was beautiful yet extremely slow.
My favourite music at the moment definitely tends to be klezmer and Turkish music because I'm finding new songs for the band to play.

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

I've swum in the Barents Sea which is the sea that lies off the Northwest of Russia and east Scandinavia - it was cold!

Teach, Learn, Share

I can teach you what plants are edible or not in the UK and how to identify them using patterns - quite handy. If you have a garden and you would like it to be low maintenance and perennial I can help you with that. Music I can swap songs, the same with a language that I speak. Lefty green politics I can say a word or two about too! I know a few card games and I know some yoga poses. I know how to carve things with a knife and axe. All teachable. Also housing co-operatives or co-operatives in general I can blab about.

What I Can Share with Hosts

Everything! I think this is very important and forms the basis of couchsurfing philosophy.

Countries I’ve Visited

France, Germany, Israel, Italy, Russian Federation, Turkey, Ukraine

Countries I’ve Lived In

Turkey, United Kingdom

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