PERMACULTURE COURSE, MAY/JUNE 2011

Here am I to announce another PERMACULTURE COURSE here at the MOUNT OF OAKS, Portugal... As last years it will be taught by Lesley Martin who is a fantastic person, experienced learner and practitioner, and a great teacher in my opinion... I’m sure all the ones who did attend any course with her would say the same...
It ‘s gonna take place from the 28th of May to the 5th of June 2011, and it’s gonna cost 180E (if by any chance you’d like to offer more, know that all the money will revert to pay the teacher, the food expenses of the course and all the extras will be for our future projects...this land is still in a pioneering stage and all things we need are either bought with charitable donations, or done with recycling materials we get for free)...

The number of attendants to run the course has to be at least 10, and it wouldn't be practical to have more than 15...but as I experienced before , the courses get full pretty quickly and I often have to say "no" to many people, or make a waiting list for eventual dropouts (which happens too), so, my advice is that you'd book your place as soon as you can, when you are really sure you can make it. Last year I was able to make a second one at the end of summer, but that would not happen this year.

Now, what should you expect of the course:

It includes lectures, movie/documentary sessions each evening, field trips, hands-on projects,  camping and meals together. The course will be conducted in the internationally accepted manner, so all graduates earn a Permaculture Design Certificate for completing the 72-hour course which includes : Intro, Fundamentals, Field Trips,  Design Workshop (the attendants will be put into groups and each presents their own design project in the final day)... All students are required to be present for the full 9 days if they wish to receive the certificate. (there's a day off in the middle of the week, usually wednesday)

The course will consist of a broad range of topics applicable to life anywhere on this planet, yet will be tailored to the needs of the students present as well as the location at hand. Participants will help to co-create the design of  food forests, permaculture-style gardens, natural buildings, water catchment and irrigation systems, work with swales and dams, etc...
Permaculture courses are fairly standardized as far as content. We will cover every major topic . So quickly what that includes is the following:

1. Philosophies and Ethics underlying permaculture.

2. Basic permaculture principals and help shape things in general

3. Patterns in Nature, and how to use that in design

4. Methods of design. How to go from a damaged piece of land to having and idea for how to move forward with it.

5. Climactic factors. We will cover all the major climates and how to work with them.

6. Trees, forests, and why we want to mimic their systems.

7. Water: catchment, usage, importance, and conservation

8. Soil, minerals, microorganisms, building new soil, and preventing erosion

9. Earthworks: How to shape the land to help it acheive the goals we are aiming for.

10. Aquaculture

11. Natural Building

12. Alternative systems: community living, and other ways of choosing to live differently that works well for people and the planet.

Each of these categories has subcategories and the teacher also has their own additions and certain topics that are stressed over others.

You can also check here for the last years' reports... it might give you an idea of the site too : 

March 2010

August 2010

April 2009

Now, what are you expected to bring ?

• tent or if you have, your own mobile home :-)
• your daily care personal stuff (if you bring soap, shampoo, etc...only natural products please)
• a flash light or head-lamp (the moon will be growing as it will be full on the 29th, but still, it’s always handy)
• a cup/mug (we might not have enough here for everyone)
• we do have plates, forks and knifes, but if you prefer to bring your own that’s up to you...
• sleeping bag and mat or whatever you wanna sleep with...
• some hard surface for you to write on... We don’t have a conventional class room...Fiiiiuuu!!!
• if you have your favourite kind of chair or stool, do bring it...a simple pillow might be enough...the ones we’ve got might not be the most comfortable ones to seat for a long time :-/
• Some warm clothes...even though it will be almost summer, so hopefully warm, the nights can be chilly...but the days, are usually warm and sunny (I do hope so)...
• If you play any instruments and would like to bring it for the fire circle in the evenings, do bring them along...
• Joy, Love , open heart, laughter, your own knowledge, etc...all the good in you!!! The not so good stuff comes along too, but we all have it anyway, so hopefully we’ll all be gracious to one another :-)
• you can pay the 180E as you arrive, but if you have the chance to give it in advance one week before (all of it or a part), that would help on the shopping we need to do before everyone arrives...

What does the land provide ?

• A camping area
• A shit pit and or a dry compost toilet ... With toilet paper or water as you prefer...
• Drinking spring water and food (mainly vegetarian)...LET ME KNOW IF YOU HAVE ANY RESTRICTIONS ON YOUR DIET...
• I do hope to have a better shower system then :-)...but we do have a way to shower or bath :-)
• we don't have electricity, but we do have a neighbour's cabin (less than 5 minutes walk) where we can leave our devices to charge.

Hmmm...I guess that’s all the information I’ve got... If you have any questions, do ask ...

drop an e.mail gmail.com> or a comment on this post...

O.K, DON’T FORGET TO PASS IT ON TO PEOPLE WHO MIGHT BE INTERESTED... 

...a comment from one of the last courses attendants :
“What an absolutely brilliant course it was.. I am still digesting everything Lesley taught us. And thank you so much for hosting us all, and for this write-up!
 I look forward to seeing the fruits of her teaching in the years to come - when we are all working on established permaculture projects of our own!” Hannah xx

PEACE