Join us for a Permaculture Design Course!
We will be hosting two Permaculture design courses. A 2-week spring PDC intensive as well as a 12-week summer PDC.
Many of us are hungry for a deeper connection with the land we live on and a deeper understanding of the water, soil, plants, and animals that share that land with us.
As modern humans, we’ve become disconnected from the wisdom of our ancestors and may struggle to visualize an abundant future.
Permaculture can help, it is a web of the deep wisdom that humanity has accumulated over the millennia through a relationship of observation, symbiosis, reciprocity, and respect for the land. This course will help you reconnect and bring yourself and your life back into the balance and abundance that the natural world freely offers..
Permaculture can show us a path to realigning our lives with the cycles,
patterns and rhythms of the natural world, It is the re-weaving of broken relationships between plants, animals, Earth, and humans, it shows us we can all live in abundance and heal the land.
Our lectures will be focused on temperate climate permaculture in urban and rural environments. Some of the topics that will be discussed in the lecture series include:
- the principles and ethics of permaculture
- sustainable regional food production
- small scale designs for yards and gardens
- Earth and the soil food web
- Water conservation and resiliency
- Wind, weather, and climate patterns
- Fire and how to live on our daily sun
- life/death cycles and working with natural patterns
- designing integrated systems with the web of life
- social and structural community building
Summer class time may occur outdoors so come prepared to learn both inside and out. This consists of observation walks and interaction with the permaculture demonstration site.
We have launched this program in response to the many inquiries by our local community to open up our outdoor classroom and lecture hall. The purpose of these classes is to spread the knowledge and the joy of practicing permaculture and to empower our community to create a resilient and healthy world.
Spring PDC Intensive
February 19th – March 3rd, 2024
(Class will meet all days, except February 26th & March 4th for presentation prep)
Summer 12 Week PDC
Mondays, June 17th – September 2nd, 2024
Tracks to Learn Permaculture:
- Take either the 2-week spring intensive or the 12-week lecture course plus 15 hours of free hands-on experiential learning in the Permaculture gardens and get your PDC – Permaculture Design Certificate for $1,000.
- Don’t need a PDC? Just take the 12-week lecture series for only $800, no final design project is required.
Looking for more?
Check out our Permaculture Internship that integrates regenerative land-based education, mentorship, community living, and the Permaculture Lecture Series while earning your PDC for $2,000.
Daily Schedule:
- 9:30-10:00 Coffee and Greeting
- 10:00-12:00 Lecture
- 12:00-1:00 Lunch (Bring a sack lunch)
- 1:00-3:30 Lecture
- 3:30-4:00 Q&A
Where:Â The lecture hall at the Dirt Rich School – 1463 W Uncas Rd., Port Townsend, WA 98368
PDC OUTLINE
Day 1: INTRODUCTION Teacher: Kateen Fitzgerald Morning Introduction to Permaculture Afternoon Ethics Principals (Holmgren’s 12)
Day 2: CONCEPTS AND THEMES OF DESIGN Teacher: Kateen Fitzgerald Morning Concepts and Themes of Natural Systems Afternoon Concepts and Themes of Design
Day 3: METHODS OF DESIGN Teacher: Kateen Fitzgerald Morning Functional Analysis Zones, Sectors, Slope & Orientation Yeoman's Scale of Permanence Afternoon Building the Map
Day 4: PATTERN AND CLIMATE Teacher: Evelyn Cilley Morning Pattern Understanding Afternoon Nature and Climate Factors
Day 5: CLIMATE AND TREES Teacher: Evelyn Cilley Morning Climate and its Effects on Design Afternoon Succession/Establishment of Vegetation Trees Food Forests and Guilds
Day 6: SOIL AND FOOD SYSTEMS Teacher: Kateen Fitzgerald Morning Understanding and Working with Soils Afternoon Garden Strategies Seed Saving
Day 7: WATER Teacher: Simon Walter-Hanson Morning Water Cycles and Management Keyline Design Afternoon Water in Landscape Aquaculture and Mariculture
Day 8: ANIMALS Teacher: Kateen Fitzgerald Morning Introduction to Mycology Afternoon Teacher: Kateen Fitzerald Domestic Animals Partnering with Wildlife
Day 9: APPROPRIATE TECHNOLOGY Teacher: Simon Walter-Hanson Morning Buildings and Structures Afternoon Appropriate Energy Conserving Technology Waste Disposal and Recycling
Day 10: RESILIENT COMMUNITIES Teacher: Kateen Fitzgerald Morning Designing for Catastrophe Afternoon Settlement Design
Day 11: SOCIAL PERMACULTURE Teacher: Evelyn Cilley Morning Vision and the Inner Landscape of You! Afternoon Cultivating Social Permaculture
Day 12: PRESENTATIONS Morning Present Final Projects Afternoon Presentation and Graduation
thedirtrichschool.org 