Who are you?
Hi there… We are Kat & André, but together we are more than the sums of the parts, we are SOIL & SEA. After many years traveling the world and some more living in Africa, where soil and sea so vividly express themselves, we started to have a different vision about the great mystery of life. With a huge heart for the ocean, we found our way among forks and spades, while attempting to live a simple and meaningful life… And Soil & Sea was born. The project finds his roots on a journey of increasing levels of self-awareness, many beautiful friendships with enlightened people and a dream of reconnecting humans with nature. Soil & Sea combine our passions for business, the wondrous outdoors, a rooted life and a dream of being an agent of positive change in our society while generating real value and leave a positive legacy for future generations. As a project, we are trying to create a space for learning and fostering a community around the topics of permaculture, nature conservation, skills and farming. We’re committed to live a hands-on life and share knowledge and skills with people trying to do the same.

How’s life on the Island?
Life on the Island has been kind of a rollercoaster of emotions for us! Despite the endless beauty of the island, and mainly because of the nature of our project & lifestyle, we have been tasting Azores in a very special way… When you live a life so tidily weaved with nature as we do, you learn how raw and demanding the elements in Azores can be… Nevertheless, 3 years down the road, with all our roofs tightly fastened and all our fences and gates reinforced, we are finally starting to enjoy the bright side of life here.

Favorite place? Why?
There's a couple of places that we really enjoy… The lagoons are one of them, as they hold such a unique, intense and incredible energy. However, as plant lovers & collectors, we can get very easily lost in any of the old gardens around the Island, such as Jardim José do Canto, Terra Nostra or some other private gardens that we know… These places fascinate us as we can fully understand the growth potential of the Island, and that keeps us motivated to grow more plants and trees on our farm. But the truth is, we can't stay away from the ocean for too long.

Favorite object? Why?
Despite not always being easy, and as much as we can, we try to live simple and practice non-attachment, special to the material. But we assume a soft spot for some tools of pleasure, such as surfboards and in some cases, travel objects that hold special memories that can't ever be replaced.

Hobbies?
We have a very diverse life, as we enjoy to do many different things. And it goes from horse riding to freediving, as long as we outdoors we are fully in & and happy…

What about surfing. What role does it have in your life?
Surfing has been a major drive in our lives and the reason behind many decisions. Nevertheless, and after 20+ years with salty eyebrows, we felt the need to explore new frontiers and dimensions of our ourselves… What used to be our ONLY passion, for not calling it obsession, is now sharing our hearts and time with some other new passions. Not that we stop surfing, but we find out that we like to do some other stuff too… Some might call it growing old but we are taking it smoothly…

One song / one band
There´s no such thing as one song / band. Oh man, so much music… So little time!!! We are really into electronic music , specially when it has african influences, and we enjoy the smoothness of Jazz & Blues

What does a typical day in your life consist of?
It's mainly a life of Soil & Sea: Working on the farm in the morning & swimming, surfing, sailing or diving in the afternoon… or vice versa depending on the tide/wind. Sometimes we need to take it a bit more seriously, as more recently, we start consulting for some other projects with similar philosophies and design aesthetics, but as much as we can, we try to keep it simple…

A unique moment in your life?
We have a couple of milestones in our lives, but opening the gate of the farm for the first time is one that we recall quite well… The vision of a more resilient, abundant & happy life kind of flashed through our eyes in that moment. Almost like a promise of freedom… That was special for us…

If you could pick two people (alive or dead) one to surf with and one to have dinner or conversation, who would they be? Why?
We truly love to engage in conversation with anyone that is into life skills, alternative living or any other kind of “doers”. We always end up learning or get excited about something… That’s our kind of people, and there is always space for them at our table! I asked Kat about surfing, and she told that this days she kind of abandoned her dream of getting barreled, but she's looking to surf with any girl able to pull an “Hang-ten”.

What do people need to know about permaculture?
Although rooted in horticulture and agriculture, Permaculture touches on a wide range of subjects: From purify water, to grow your own food, cooking or building all lies under the same “roof”. Permaculture is no more no less then people trying to provide their food, energy, shelter and other material and non-material needs in a positive & harmonious way in nature. Permaculture, It’s a revolution. But, it is the sort of revolution that no one will notice. Mainly because Permaculture is anti-political. We have no room for administrators or priests. And there are no laws either, except for the laws of nature. In Permaculture we only obey our ethics and principles. In our case we do it for activism, and to fight for a sustainable future by making a regenerative present.

What haven’t we asked you?
For more… you need to come with a bottle of wine!!!

For more please follow Kat and André @soilnsea