RAISE YOUR KNOWLEDGE AND SKILLS IN PERMACULTUREWith the Advanced Permaculture Design course, advance your knowledge.This thorough, academically challenging course will develop you if you have some past permaculture experience, a PDC, or understand numerous permaculture concepts. It includes sustainable systems, how to choose site-specific planning tactics, seasonal patterns, water management, earthworks, taking into account various climatic conditions, and thorough planning, including creating cost estimates.
This will provide you a solid foundation for creating, putting into practise, and maintaining, or counselling others on how to maintain, a permaculture system. UNDERSTAND WHAT OTHER PERMACULTURE COURSES RARELY TEACH
You learn a lot more in this course than in PDC Foundation. It’s intended for:
- Graduates of other Permaculture courses.
- Professionals in the fields of garden design, landscape architecture, horticulture, ecology, or other related fields who are familiar with certain facets of permaculture but wish to expand their understanding.
Lesson Structure
There are 10 lessons in this course:- Evaluating Design Strategies
- Introduction
- The need for sustainability
- Low input farming
- Regenerative farming
- Biodynamic systems
- Organic systems
- Conservation farming
- Matching enterprise with land capability
- Polyculture
- Integrated management
- Permaculture planning
- Observation
- Deduction
- Reading patterns
- Analysis
- Mapping overlays
- Sectors
- Zones
- Design strategies and techniques
- Undulating edge
- Spirals and circles
- Zig zag trellis
- Temporary shelter
- Small scale sun trap
- Small scale sun shading
- Pathways
- Keyhole beds
- Understanding Patterns
- Understanding patterns
- Know your land: evaluate a site
- Weather patterns, soil pH, EC,temperature, water etc
- Electromagnetic considerations
- Herbicide or pesticide consideration
- Land carrying capacity
- Assessing land capability
- Checklist of sustainability elements
- Indication of sustainability
- Log books
- Water
- Water supply
- Water saving measures
- Tanks
- Dam and pond building
- Edges
- Construction; concrete, brick, stone,
- liners, earth construction
- Collecting rainwater
- Recycling waste water
- Using farm waste water
- Town water supply
- Well drilling
- Pumping subterranean ground water
- Pumping from natural supplies (eg. lakes, rivers)
- Pumps and plumbing supplies
- Water use: power generation, diesel generators
- Fish culture: land and water, dams
- Water plant culture
- Water plants to know and grow
- Seasonal changes in a pond
- Sewerage treatment: reed beds
- Problems with water
- Water and conservation
- Swales and keylines
- Keyline design
- Earthworks
- Site clearing
- Levelling
- Drainage
- Solving drainage problems
- Surveying techniques: triangulation, direct contouring, grid system etc
- Levelling terms
- Levelling procedure
- Levelling a sloping site
- Loss of soil fertility
- Erosion
- Salinity
- Sodicity
- Soil compaction
- Soil acidification
- Build up of dangerous chemicals
- Improving soils
- Using lime, gypsum or acidic materials
- Humid Tropics
- Climatic systems
- Precipitation
- Wind
- Radiation
- The wet tropics
- Sources of humus
- Mulches
- Soil life in the tropics
- Barrier plants
- Animal barriers
- Permaculture systems for the wet tropics
- Garden beds
- Tropical fruits to grow
- Dry Climates
- Introduction
- Water storage and conservation
- Dryland gardens
- Dryland orchards
- Planting on hills
- Corridor planting
- Overcoming dry soils
- Drought tolerant plants
- Vegetables
- Fruits
- Vines
- Temperate to Cold Climates
- Introduction
- Characteristics of a temperate biozone
- Cool temperate garden design
- Useful crops for this zone
- Crop protection
- Soils in a cool temperate area
- Growing berries
- Orchards
- Soil life
- Blueberries
- Raspberries
- Strawberries
- Nuts
- Herbs
- Planning Work
- Alternative planning procedures
- The planning process
- What goes where
- Equipping the environmentally friendly garden
- Barriers, walls and fencing
- Gates
- Rubble, brick and concrete walls
- Retaining walls
- Trellis
- Hedges
- Changing an existing farm to be more sustainable
- Monitoring and reviewing
- Contingencies and seasonal variations
- Planning for drought
- Excessive water
- Costing
- Property costs
- Making cost cutting choices
- Planning for the cost conscious
- Likely costs to establish a garden
- Socio economic considerations in farming
- Production planning
- Economies of scale
- Materials
- Equipment
- Value adding
- Sustainable Systems
- Other sustainable systems
- Working with nature rather than against it
- Minimising machinery use
- Only use what is necessary
- Different ways to garden naturally
- Organic gardening
- No Dig techniques
- Biodynamics
- Biodynamic preparations
- Crop rotation
- Bush gardens
- Succession planting
- Seed saving
- Hydroponics
- Environmental horticulture
- Sustainable agriculture around the world
- Integrated pest management
- Cultural controls
- Biological controls
- Physical controls
- Chemicals Quarantine
- Controlling weeds without chemicals
- Animals in sustainable systems
- Chickens
- Turkeys
- Ducks
- Geese
- Pigs
Aims
- Analyze the best design approaches for a certain development site.
- Describe the connection between a permaculture system and the local natural patterns.
- Create plans about how to handle water in a permaculture design.
- Establish the earthworks necessary for the creation of a permaculture system.
- The humid tropics need a Permaculture system, so create one.
- Create a Permaculture system that will work in a dry climate.
- Create a Permaculture system suitable for a cold to moderate environment.
- Establish planning tactics for the creation of an ecosystem using permaculture.
- Create a permaculture development plan cost estimate.
- Describe alternative sustainable methods used in different parts of the world.
What You Will Do
- Some of the activities you will be doing include the following:
- Describe how a Permaculture system that is at least five years old has evolved.
- Evaluate how well three distinct planning approaches would work for creating a permaculture system on a particular site.
- Using flow diagrams, create a permaculture design for a specific location.
- With a series of four overlay drawings, show the gradual evolution of one view of a permaculture system over the course of three years.
- Describe the connection between natural patterns and permaculture design.
- Justify the significance of observational abilities in permaculture design.
- Plan a permaculture system using an analysis of a site’s weather patterns in your area.
- Examine various water provisional strategies, like as water collection and storage, for a particular Permaculture system.
- Examine the suitability of two separate, specific Permaculture system designs with regard to the use, storage, and provision of water.
- Using labelled examples, describe how various surveying tools are used.
- Assess a site that has been chosen for a planned permaculture system and record information on the topography, dimensions, and locations of features. The site should be between one and four thousand square metres in size.
- Create a scaled site plan of the surveyed area that shows all existing features as well as the contour lines.
- Use labelled drawings to distinguish between various earthworks, such as banks, benches, terracing, and mounds.
- Examine several drainage provisioning techniques for a site that is being developed as a permaculture system.
- Identify the elements that are particular to the design of permaculture systems in cold, dry, and humid tropical regions.
- In each of the aforementioned climates, identify fifty plant species that are suitable for inclusion in a permaculture system.
- Choose ten animal species that would be appropriate for each of the aforementioned climates to be included in a permaculture system.
- Create a Permaculture plan for each of the aforementioned climates.
- Determine the quantity of materials needed to implement a given permaculture plan while demonstrating the relevant calculations.
- Calculate the approximate number of hours of work needed to accomplish each portion of the work, and include that information.
- Calculate the equipment needed to finish each part of work and include your estimate along with it.
- In accordance with the detailed designs that were provided to you, decide on the suppliers for all the supplies needed for a specific Permaculture development.
- Find out the prices of five different materials, from several vendors, for a certain Permaculture development.
- Identify the necessary expenses for services required to create a particular permaculture system, such as labour costs, subcontracting costs, equipment rental costs, permits and planning application fees, technical reports, and legal expenditures.
- Compare the prices of setting up two various Permaculture systems that you visit and research.
- Other than permaculture, list three more sustainable agricultural or horticultural systems.
- Distinguish permaculture from other sustainable farming techniques, such as biodynamics and organic farming.
- Compare specific international sustainable agricultural or horticultural techniques.
ADVANCES IN PERMACULTURE ARE MADE THROUGH MORE CAREFUL AND INFORMED PLANNING
Always invest the time in planning!
Low energy use and a wide variety of plants, animals, and microclimates are important Permaculture principles. You should designate areas that are hot and cold, covered and open, exposed to the sun and other areas that are shaded. A property’s (big or little) ability to support a wider variety of animals and plants will rise with the range of microclimates present.
Design is necessary to position plants, buildings, and animals in relation to one another to maximise their functions and outputs. Observation, deduction, analysis, mapping, pattern reading, and experience are all necessary components in permaculture design.Observation
A specific theme, such as how water interacts with the site, may be the focus of on-site observations. Moreover, observations can be done with the aid of tools or equipment. All the dynamic activities and interactions that take place at the location will be meticulously recorded as part of these observations. Consider using animal propagators or adding to the soil and water if you have a weed problem. Make a list of these observations and begin by checking off the improbable or improbable elements. Follow up on and test the remaining items on your list.Deduction
To develop a design solution, you may look at the process and structure of a landscape that is comparable to your own or from nature. You would locate a location that experiences the same weather feature if your land is plagued by really chilly winds. There may be windbreaks on this site, either natural or artificial. You can duplicate them while making some changes.Reading Patterns
Making links between your observations and deductions is the goal here. In time, space, and relationships, patterns can be found. You will be able to read patterns in the sun’s movement throughout the day, for instance. At various periods of the day, different areas of your garden will be shaded. Mists may enter and exit. Alternatively the wind can increase at various points in the day.Analysis
The integration of animals into the system is made especially beneficial by this. You should identify all of the animals’ yields and requirements before introducing any of them. Eggs, meat, or scraping the ground and eating weeds are examples of yield. The requirements of the animal must also be taken into account to ensure minimal human involvement.Mapping/Overlays
The basic map ought to be the first. This map of your property shows the property lines, geographical features like rivers and dams, and man-made features (buildings, roads). The other plans include your site study and your new design, which can be illustrated on overlays. Your site analysis plan is an inventory of your property that lists the soil, microclimates, aspects, vistas, climate, and other relevant information.
Improving A Property
Any property, no matter how big or little, has the potential to be planned using permaculture principles to create a more productive and sustainable system.You will learn more and more effective methods to do it in this course than you may have ever imagined.
AFTER THIS COURSE…
Graduates with experience in permaculture, agriculture, or horticulture will complete this course with more knowledge and a better understanding of how to apply “permaculture concepts” to sustainable land management, in urban or rural settings, and in any climate.
These studies will encourage you to consider permaculture more broadly and in depth, and they will improve your chances, whether you are a professional looking to further your job or business or an amateur wanting to learn about all facets of a sustainable living.
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