How two people swapped city life in Malta for a mountainside in Sicily, and built a regenerative farm from the ground up
Permanido grew from a shared need to reconnect with the land. We, Sam and Christina, were living in Malta, feeling the pull of something deeper. We wanted to stop talking about regeneration and start doing it. So we uprooted our lives and planted ourselves in the Nebrodi Mountains of Sicily.
What we found was wild, rocky hillside: depleted soil and overgrown scrub. What we saw was potential. A chance to prove that regenerative agriculture doesn't just sustain a landscape, it can bring one back to life.
We come from different worlds, Sam from design and the kitchen, Christina from dance and yoga, but we share the same conviction: the best way to learn is by doing. We brought our separate passions to Sicily and let the land shape them into something new.
Today we farm, cook, teach, and host together. When guests get their hands in the soil, taste what the land produces, and feel the rhythm of the seasons, that's when something shifts. That's what Permanido is for.
Background in design and creative direction, with a lifelong love of food. Sam runs the farm, leads the kitchen, and has a talent for turning even the most reluctant vegetable-avoider into a convert.
Trained as a professional dancer, Christina discovered yoga in India and never looked back. She leads all yoga sessions and works the land daily. Her practice is as rooted in the soil as it is on the mat.
Our goal is simple: leave the land better than we found it, and invite others into that process. Permanido is a living classroom: food forests maturing, soil improving year on year, biodiversity expanding across the hillside.
We don't host tourists. We host participants. Every stay is a chance to get your hands dirty, reconnect with nature's rhythms, and take a piece of that experience home. Together, we're building a community around regeneration, not just for the land, but for the people who walk it.
Sustainability is the floor, not the ceiling. We actively work to improve the health of the land with every season.
We support local artisans, farmers, and traditions. Permanido exists within, not apart from, the wider Sicilian community. Our dream is to build a haven for green hands everywhere.
Hands-on participation is how real understanding happens. Every guest is invited to contribute, not just observe.
We keep our guest numbers small. Quality of experience will always come before scale.