Join us for a Permaculture Design Course!
For 2023 We will be hosting two Permaculture design courses. a 2-week spring PDC intensive as well as a 12-week summer PDC.
This course is designed to help you connect to the land you live on, understand responsible resource use, and create a life crafted with respect to the plants, animals, and soil we live with.
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
- scalable strategies and techniques
Summer class time may occur outdoors so come prepared to learn both inside and out. This consists of observations 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 20th – March 5th, 2023
(Class will meet all days, except February 26th & March 4th)
Summer 12 Week PDC:
Mondays, June 19th – September 4th, 2023
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.
How do I sign up?
First complete this sign up sheet
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
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: Miller Ward Morning Pattern Understanding Afternoon Nature and Climate Factors
Day 5: CLIMATE AND TREES Teacher: Miller Ward 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: Miller Ward 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 