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COURSE OUTLINE

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WORKSHOP ONE

 

PERMACULTURE - AN INTRODUCTION

DESIGNING A SUSTAINABLE LIFE

Permaculture is a design system that offers sustainable solutions for growing and living. Learn about the principles and ethics that underpin this systems thinking approach. You will explore design techniques and gain practical solutions to implement the following permaculture principles in all aspects of life. 


  • Use and value diversity 

  • Catch and store energy 

  • Integrate 

  • Observe and interact 

  • Use small slow solutions 

  • Apply self-regulation and accept feedback 

  • Design from pattern to details 

  • Creatively use and respond to change 

  • Use edges and value the marginal 

  • Obtain a yield 

  • Produce no waste 

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WORKSHOP TWO

EDIBLE GARDEN DESIGN

+ TECHNIQUES FOR GROWING EDIBLE PLANT

GROW A HEALTHY EDIBLE GARDEN USING PERMACULTURE TECHNIQUES

Grow your own healthy organic food to avoid rising costs and disrupted supply chains. 

Regardless if you have a tiny or large space, choosing the best site and layout is crucial to a healthy edible garden.

Learn techniques to quickly turn a hard neglected spot into a garden brimming with abundance! 

In this workshop we’ll be covering:

  • Building a garden using what you have

  • No dig garden demonstration

  • Growing on trellises

  • Plant what where

  • Continuous harvests

  • Maximising natural energy

  • Placement for sun and water

  • Retrofitting existing gardens


Don't know what to plant when, or how? Get ready to sow seeds, take cuttings and multiply plants without spending a small fortune at the nursery. A planting schedule and succession plan will have you growing food and saving your own seeds in no time. 

In this workshop we’ll ALSO be covering: 

  • Propagation

  • Placement

  • Seasonal planting

  • Seed raising

  • Seed saving

  • Cuttings

  • Grafting

  • Planting schedules 

  • Succession planting

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WORKSHOP THREE

WATER

MANAGING A PRECIOUS RESOURCE

Good water management is essential to a productive, healthy garden. A working understanding of how to manage water will enable you to design living systems for people and the planet. Learn how to adapt to changing rainfall patterns and enjoy practical sessions on swales, ponds, grey water and how to slow down, spread, sink and store water in your landscape


In this workshop we’ll be covering:

  • The Hydrological System

  • Rainfall capture

  • Water in the landscape

  • Watering your plants

  • Designing water systems that rehabilitate degraded land

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WORKSHOP FOUR

 

SOIL - THE FOUNDATION

HOW SOIL IS MADE, HOW IT IS LOST AND HOW IT CAN BE REPAIRED

Soil is the foundation to good growing. It is crucial to be able to recognise and protect healthy soils. As well as looking after your soil, learn how to identify problems, take a soil sample and improve your soil using techniques such as mulching, composting, biochar, worm farms and animal tractors.

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WORKSHOP FIVE

FOOD FORESTS + HABITATS FOR WILDLIFE

A NATURE BASED GROWING SYSTEM

Food forests are a wonderful way of layering plants to receive the best yields [Food forests are a diverse mix of edible plants that mimic natural ecosystems and patterns found in nature]. You will learn design skills and techniques such as plant placement, guilds, shelterbelts and microclimate adaptation. Practical examples of incorporating small animals into your design and how to use living mulch will get you geared up to start your very own food forest.

In this workshop we’ll be covering: 

  • Guilds

  • How to design the 7 layers of your food forest

  • Small animals in Food Forests (husbandry)

  • Rootstocks and grafting (explanation)

  • Living mulch

  • Windbreaks/shelter belts

  • Microclimates - heat traps

  • Bees


Preserve, protect and rehabilitate wild spaces. Understand the crucial role wildlife plays in the landscape and how you can design gardens that encourage and protect them. Learn basic first aid for helping injured and orphaned wildlife.


In this workshop we’ll also be covering 

  • Understanding the crucial role local wildlife plays in the landscape

  • preserving, protecting and rehabilitating wild spaces 

  • sharing our gardens with wildlife

  • planting and designing to protect and encourage wildlife 

  • wildlife corridors and the role they play 

  • Basic first aid for helping injured/orphaned wildlife

  • What are keystone species?  

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WORKSHOP SIX

MAKING THE MOST OF THE HARVEST

PROTECT AND PRESERVE THE BOUNTY

Did you know there are harmful bugs as well beneficial bugs in your garden? Learn how to encourage the good ones and the importance of diversity in your garden. Integrated pest management will ensure you protect your crops and enjoy a bountiful harvest. Learn how to preserve the surplus with cooking, pickles and ferments.

In this workshop we’ll be covering: 

  • ​​Integrated pest management and weeds

  • The importance of diversity 

  • Identify good & bad garden visitors 

  • Encourage natural predators 

  • Protect your crops 

  • Harvest your crops 

  • Cook, preserve, ferment & share 

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WORKSHOP SEVEN

LIVE THE LIFE + BUILD RESILIENCE

ETHICAL MONEY AND YOUR PERMACULTURE HOME ​

PLAN FOR A CHANGING CLIMATE

Would you like your lifestyle to be in step with your ethics? Learn easy strategies on how to turn your home into a resilient, healthy nest for you and your family. Decisions on how we use our money and resources can have a very real and lasting impact on the planet. Practical solutions on banking, insurance and superannuation so that you can feel confident that you are protecting people and the planet.

In this workshop we’ll be covering:

  • why money matters

  • Your permaculture home - your home, your choice - learn easy strategies 

  • Retrofitting 


Build resilience by learning how to prepare for and respond to disasters. Understanding how communities respond to natural disasters as they become more frequent and unpredictable. Explore what makes a community resilient and how to look after yourself and those around you in times of crisis.

In this workshop we’ll also be covering:

  • Future proof your home and community

  • Prepare for disaster 

  • Understand the disaster cycle

  • Understand what makes a community resilient

  • Looking after yourself and those around you in times of crisis.

  • Self care

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WORKSHOP EIGHT + NINE

BRINGING YOUR PERMACULTURE DESIGN TOGETHER

DESIGN A PLAN FOR YOUR AND YOUR UNIQUE SITUATION

Put the permaculture jigsaw together - bring together all the permaculture design techniques into a workable plan.  Inform your design thinking through patterns in nature and plan for a sustainable home, productive landscape and regenerative social actions . Be supported to present a final design and be awarded with a Permaculture Design Certificate.


In these workshops we’ll be covering: 

  • Design techniques

  • Principles in design

  • Patterns in nature

  • Site and sector analysis

  • Finalising and presenting a permaculture plan

  • Planning across seasons and time

(PDC will be awarded upon completed design demonstrating knowledge in key permaculture principles and techniques)

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