A 9-Day Forest Garden Design Intensive

With Dave Jacke, Matthew English, and Friends.

At Spiral Ridge Permaculture Gardens
and The Farm Community Center
Summertown, Tennessee
September 23-October 2, 2011

Forest ecosystems exhibit many beneficial properties we humans would be wise to emulate in our culture, agriculture and horticulture: they maintain, renew, fertilize and propagate themselves without human inputs; they build, store, and conserve clean air, clean water, nutrients, soil quality, and biodiversity; and they exhibit stability, resilience, and adaptability.  These qualities emerge from the dynamics of the forest as a whole system, not from any one or more of the elements that comprise the forest alone.  To design productive edible ecosystems that express these same qualities, we must understand forest structures, functions, patterns, and processes and use this knowledge wisely.

In this nine-day intensive course, you will dive deeply into the vision, theory, and practice of designing wholesome, dynamic, and resilient edible ecosystems using temperate deciduous forests as models.  Dave Jacke and his teaching team will offer lectures, site walks, and experiential exercises to help you understand how the architecture, social structure, underground economics, and successional processes of natural forests apply in the design of edible ecosystems of all kinds.  You’ll learn a variety of ecological design processes while designing a range of food-producing ecologies at our host farm.  We’ll also engage with issues of garden management, economics, and the deep paradigmatic shifts required to succeed at cocreating “humanatural” landscapes and cultures.  You will leave inspired and empowered to design food forests at home for yourself, and your friends, neighbors and clients.

Sliding scale (covers tuition and food): $1,100-$1,400.  Amounts paid over $1,100 will go into the scholarship fund.  Partial scholarships will likely be available.  Contact the below for lodging information (some options on site, some off).

Sponsored by: Spiral Ridge Permaculture Gardens
Location: Spiral Ridge Permaculture Gardens and
The Farm Community Center, Summertown, TN.
To register or for info: 931-964-2375
www.spiralridgepermaculture.com
spiralridgepermaculture@gmail.com

Permaculture Design Course
Three Epochs of Humanity
w/ Wayne Weiseman, Matthew English and Cliff Davis
www.permacultureproject.com
June 1-12th 2011
1400$
Spiral Ridge Permaculture Gardens and
The Farm Ecovillage Training Center
email spiralridgepermaculture@gmail.com
call 931-964-2375

Permaculture Design Certification Course
w/ Cliff Davis, Matthew English and Marjani Dele
August 18th – 30th
1000$
Victoria, Virginia
marjani.dele@gmail.com
(434) 696-2439

Edible Forest Garden Design intensive
with Dave Jacke and friends
www.edibleforestgardens.com
September 23-October 2
1100$ -1400$
email spiralridgepermaculture.com
call 931-964-2375

Permaculture Skills Apprenticeship
The Farm Ecovillage Training Center
2500$ includes food and lodging
Register at Ecovillage@thefarm.org

March 28th- May 22nd
Permaculture Basics:
Synergistic Gardening, Edible Landscaping, Compost, Teas, Primitive Skills and more

June 20th-August 14th ( w/ option to stay until Sept 11)
Natural Building:
Post and Beam,Straw-Clay Slip, Natural Plasters, Earthfloors, Primitive Skills and more.

Oct 5th – Nov 23rd
Advanced Permaculture:
Ecoforestry/Edible Forest Gardens
Mushroom Production, Bamboo, Woodland Crafts, Arborist Skills, Primitive Skills, Edible Forest Garden Design and Installation.

Check out Spiral Ridge Permaculture for more information!

Tuesday and Wednesday we listened to several instructors (Jennifer Dauksha-English, Catherine Austin Fitts, Albert Bates, Justin Sanders, Thomas Hupp, Greg Landua, Debbie Landers, Jason Easton, and Eathan Roland) who were well versed and knowledgable in Finance and Permaculture. They laid the ground work for the various discussion groups that would pop up in the Open Space environment over the next couple of days. Our instructors engaged us in think and listen sessions and wonderful participatory exercises. Their list of resourses will help all of us in the future to obtain our Financial and Permaculture goals.

On Thursday we had a “Market Place” where we took a sheet of paper and listed the thing we wanted to get out of the first open space session that day. There were several wonderful topics from financing a complete ecosystem to how to engage the disengaged. I chose the how to engage the disengaged mainly because I wanted to be able to better communicate with people and my employees. Our facillitator’s name was Kyle. Kyle is a GAIA University student who is awesome. He is quite intelligent and a born speaker and leader. He is from California. He made a documentary which he showed us about why it is important to have your money in localized banks instead of big corporate banks. The group decided first to list people who they had engaged or who engaged people that made an impact on their life. We then set goals and listed tools that we could use to accomplish those goals. We had definate moments of bonding and self sharing during this time. I feel that I have a better understanding of people after this session.
After lunch we again did the “Market Place”. We could choose to stay with the group we were in or have new topics to include into the Market Place. There were a couple of groups formed that built off of the earlier topics. I chose a group that was creating a business that would help those that wanted to build their soil quickly but did not have a lot of money by leasing equipment/knowledge to them cheaper and would take a shorter period of time. After listening to the group and throwing things out that would benefit me if I was starting a new business, Amanda Baxter and I decided to break out and start our own group. We discussed what we wanted for the respective companies we worked for and how to engage our employees to give them a vested interest in making our companies financial stable to still have jobs when the Perry County Stimulus program is over. We mapped out our Agenda, Stakeholders, Tools, and Goals to discuss with our employees the next day.

Hohenwald Permaculture Design Class

The fourth and final weekend, the participants going for certification, presented Permaculture Designs of their homes or businesses to the class and instructors. The design presentation included research information on their geographic, social/history and bioregional location, and a site survey, client interviews and a Permaculture design. Each participant had 10 minutes to present followed by questions and feedback. The graduation was held in the Strand Theatre on Sunday August 2, 2009.

After completing this series, the newly certified students will be able to apply Permaculture principles and design techniques to their homes, gardens, farms, businesses, and local or regional economic and community development.

The following individuals received their Permaculture Design certificate: Sheila Sewell, Linden, TN; Jackie Miller, Hohenwald, TN; Richard Miller, Hohenwald: TN, Bob Ogden, Hohenwald, TN; Jim Melton, Summertown, TN; Shea Moore, Kentucky; Kevin Guenther, Lavergne, TN; Bethann Easterly, Nashville, TN; Michael Robinson, Morrison, TN; Leela Robinson, Morrison, TN; Dotty Mulcahy, Hampshire, TN; Deanna Naddy, Hampshire, TN; Ellie Early, Summertown, TN; Joel Helge, Illinois; Kenny McDonald, Hohenwald, TN; Cheryl Smith, Lobelville, TN; Debbie Landers, Hohenwald, TN; Ryan Nichols, Nashville, TN; Mike Sheth, Hohenwald, TN; Jeff Neubacher, Michigan; Amanda Baxter, Linden, TN; Tonya Jones, Hohenwald, TN. Congratulations to everyone.

Please contact the Center for Holistic Ecology at info@holisticecology.org or call 888-878-2434 and 931-933-7592 for further information about Permaculture or upcoming courses and certification series.

Jennifer gave us a tour of their home and explained the various types of “natural building” techniques they used. Adobe brick and cement was used on the exterior, and a combination of Waddle and Dob, lath and plaster, adobe brick, cob and straw and clay were used on the interior.

Matthew showed us his gray water system. A simple tub of sand starts the filtration process,then it drains underground to a bog area,where specific plants aid in the purification process, from there the water meanders through a creek system, being cleansed by the roots of the plants until finally it makes its way into the forest garden.

Matthew led us through different areas of the property, pointing out gardens,(where Lela examines garlic seeds), greenhouses, water catchment devices and solar panels

Our lunch break included a delicious all natural and locally grown spread of veggies, eggs and muffins, whipped up by Jennifer and Cheryl. We were also treated to an impromptu talk on Financial Permaculture by Tom, who is a member of the local Financial Permaculture group.

No permaculture project would be complete with out a spiral garden!

Ecovillages have challenges –
• Financial challenges
• Urban challenges

It gets better if we can put our heads together
It’s not about us – it’s about those that come behind us and those that don’t have a place at the table
These concepts need to be taught to the next generation and they need to teach the next generation

Permaculture Certification – what does it mean?
• Recognized internationally
• No regulating agency in the US
• We will receive a certificate stating 72 hour course – our actual time is 80 hours
• We are officially “Permaculture Design Trainees”
• If we want to teach on our own – need 2 years experience, but we can teach under an experienced mentor immediately as long as we teach under their direction
• Permaculture Instructors need apprentices under them
• We can use “Permaculture” in our credentials
• To maximize the impact of our training, we need to put ourselves out there and start using the principles now
• We need to join the permaculture community with blogs and Twitter
• Don’t hesitate to reach out for help if we need it
• Highly recommended – Permaculture Activist magazine

Common elements to all communities –
• Workspaces
• Sleeping spaces
• Eating areas
• Toileting areas

Communities must address essential Human Needs – (Maslow’s Hierarchy)
• Air
• Shelter
• Water
• Food
• Excretion
• Sex
• Sleep
• Health
• Family
• Community

How have communities been designed through the centuries?
• Need large gathering places
• Spiritual gathering places – tied to the seasons
• Defensive areas – fortresses, underground cities, etc.
• As more planned communities developed, increased need for organized labor, engineering expertise

Group Discussion – What make a nice place to live?

Problems with cities –
• Wasted land resources
• Parking lots
• Total site disturbance
• Loss of public realm
• Not inviting
• Built for cars, not people
• We spend ~14 weeks/yr driving to work in our cars
• Predominantly non-productive use of time
• Use up resources
• All the same – minimal diversity

Improvements in Urban Planning –
• Agricultural zone
• Gathering places
• Sense of Community
• Dense occupancy in “walk-ups” – gives “eyes on the street”
• Living roofs
• Vegetation up walls for cooling
• Food coops from from gardens
• Trees and vegetation through city and along waterways
• Urban gardens
• Rain catchment to drip irrigation
• Water catchment buffers

Food issues –
• Most cities have ~3 days of food available (JIT inventory)
• Trend toward urban garden can help build a food buffer in bad times
• ’43 Victory gardens provided 40% of the food in the US

Recent trends –
• Organic gardens
• Bicycle Plan in Germany – Autobahn for bikes
• Taxes on high weight vehicles – Germany
• Zero energy use buildings

Intentional Communities –
• Commune concept from Bible – Acts 2:44-45
• Israeli Kibbutz – Moshav – Green Kibbutz
• ’90s Greened up the desert with permaculture techniques
• Co-housing – drew people with varied idealogical values
• Camphill Communities – service oriented (care for developmentally challenged kids)
• Eco-Village – “a fully-featured human settlement with independent sources of initiative, in which human activities are integrated into the natural environment in a way that is sustainable into the indefinite future” – Robert & Diane Gilman – Solheimer – Iceland

Ecovillage – A State of Mind –
• Ecological
• Economic
• Social/Spiritual
• Holistic approaches to governance, health access, energy, gardening, building, conflict resolution, etc

Ecovillage directories are available online and on CD
http://www.ecovillage.org/

Interesting aspects of some Ecovillages around the world – all ecovillages have a focus to provide service to their local areas:
• Seed library – take out seeds in the spring and replace them in the fall after harvest
• Focus on health care for underserved population
• Artistic focus – crafts, artisan cheeses and skills

Elements of Ecovillages –
• Pedestrian Planning – consider how long people can walk for various activities and in different situations
• Clusters of community elements with stopping areas strategically placed around
• Provide self-help for residents
• The direction that is necessary for the environmental movement
• Lots of greenspace, offset density, preserve land for wildlife
• Interesting relationships have developed between ecovillages around the world

We are at a critical tipping point on earth –
• Resources decreasing
• Food production/person decreasing
• Industrial output decreasing
• Isotherm creeping up
Outlook is not good

Permaculture can save the planet – we can green up the deserts

Side note –
They worked on a design for Hohenwald – if anyone wants to see the plans, talk to Greg

In order for the Greenway to be successful, you need Functional Integration.
Need anchor points –
• Markets
• Downtown
• Farms
• Neighborhoods along the way
• Jobs