Tag Archives: workshop

THIS WEEKEND! Introduction to Practical Permaculture

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This 1 or 2 day workshop (your choice) that gives you the tools to take permaculture home and use it in your own life.

Day 1

This interactive workshop focuses on the permaculture design process. You will leave with a much greater understanding of HOW to create a permaculture system in your own home. Some of the things we will explore include:

  • Permaculture ethics and principles
  • Wholistic observation
  • Guilds
  • Relationships in nature
  • Ecosystem web
  • Forest architecture
  • Principles applied to an actual site

Interactive activities make learning fun and makes it stick. You will also get an opportunity to see different gardens in different stages of development and what plants are placed together and why. A great opportunity to see forest gardening in action. Includes a practical permaculture booklet with the $100 Food Forest planting plant to help get you started.

Day 1: Practical Design – July 7: $65 

 

Day 2: Practical Skills

The focus is on the doing. Learn practical skills to take home to your own piece of land. You will be able to work on two projects throughout the day.

The first project is building a rainwater catchment pond and swale.

  • practice wholistic observation for swale placement
  • survey & stake contour lines
  • dig the swale
  • learn about different kinds of swales for different purposes

The second project is creating a new forest garden.

  • learn how to sheet mulch
  • determine plant placement
  • participate in planting the garden
  • help with succession planning for the garden

Coffee, tea, and water are provided. Please bring along a lunch.

 

Day 2: Practical Skills – July 8: $65 

Both Days: $100 

REGISTER

“What permaculturists are doing is the most important activity that any group is doing on the planet”.
-David Suzuki

Penetanguishene is an amazing town!

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penetang_0512_introPC_15.jpg  Okay, well the entire area is pretty cool. Last weekend I had the privilege to teach a Practical Intro to permaculture course in the beautiful town of Penetanguishene. I am so grateful to Erin, Sylvie, and Jenn at the Karma Marketplace and 100 Mile Huronia. They all did a wonderful job at getting the word out, helping me through the weekend, and providing great company as well. Oh, and I can’t forget to thank them for putting me up for the weekend!

The workshop took place in the Ecology garden in Penetanguishene. It’s story is inspiring. In y a few short years the Ecology gardens has become a hub of agriculture, and now permaculture activity in the area. There are many rented garden plots as well as some plots that are used in the community. Many more plans for community and social enterprises are in the works at the gardens as well. It was very exciting being there. All 14 participants were eager and braved the cool winds and soggy ground. Much needed rain had arrived the day before. By the afternoon we were all hot and enjoying being outside in the sun.

penetang_0512_introPC_12.jpg Everyone came with a different experience of permaculture and a wealth of knowledge in their area of expertise. I was really blown away with the knowledge and innovation that came to the workshop. We had a great time all learning from each other during the games and lunch. the overwhelming favourite activity though was by far the sit spot time. People enjoyed learning how to begin wholistic observation.

During lunch everyone took notes of the books that looked interesting. Taking a mini-library was more than worth it! The afternoon was a little more low-key. We had covered a lot of ground in the morning. We focused more on guilds, and relationships. The final section was a practical.

penetang_0512_introPC_25.jpg Throughout the day we had to be mindful of the killdeer family that had made the garden their home. She sat on the eggs most of the afternoon while he stayed close by to try and ward off any potential threats to his eggs.

I just wish I could have seen everyone’s gardens both indoor and outdoor. Yes, one participant had what sounded like an AMAZING indoor garden. Thanks everyone. I can’t wait to do the next one!

Practical permaculture in Penetanguishene

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Come and join Tim and Jennifer at Karma Marketplace to learn about practical permaculture with a focus on perennial food forests.
Permaculture is a design system that looks to nature for guidance and information. It is a dialogue between you and the space you are in.

This day-long workshop will focus all aspects of permaculture with a focus on perennial food forests. Topics covered in the workshop include:
•    the ethics and principles of permaculture
•    how these are applied in daily life
•    nature awareness and observation
•    site analysis and assessment
•    forest structures and dynamics
•    plant functions and usage
•    inter-planting, guilds, and plant selection
•    local top 10 list of PC plants
•    the role animals (of all sizes) play in ecosystems
•    the $100 Food Forest
•    question and answer period

An illustrated hand out will be given out to take home including planting plans and plant lists to take home.

Facilitators:
Jennifer Osborn is an artist, farmer, and Permaculture Designer. Her background includes working extensively with animals and observing nature.She currently runs All Sorts Acre, a permaculture micro-farm with chickens, sheep, and forest gardens in various stages.

Tim Fisher is a composting specialist and co-farmer at All Sorts Acre. The list of things he has composted is impressive when he worked in large scale composting facilities. He now focuses on small scale composting and how to facilitate soil health using both permaculture and biodynamic methods.

Location: Penetanguishene, Ontario 40km north of Barrie
Time: Sunday September 11, 10am -5pm
For more information please contact: The Karma Marketplace

Backyard Chicken Course coming up

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Some of the backyard chickens at All Sorts Acre

If you have ever thought about getting chickens for your yard then you need to take this workshop. It will cover all relevant aspects of keeping backyard chickens as well as a chance to handle, observe, and learn about chickens in their own home. This course goes further than a regular classroom course. Seeing, watching and observing the chickens in their natural habitat shows you far more than reading about it in books, although books are still great to read! There are a few spots left. To find out more about the course please click here.

New Courses coming up

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This year is going to be really exciting here. Not only are we having courses again, but we have incredible guest teachers! All of the guest teachers are people we know and have an incredible respect for. Many of them have been a large part of our learning too.

Some of the upcoming courses we are having this year includes:

  • Tracking
  • Herbal First Aid
  • Rag Rug Making
  • Wet Felting
  • Holistic Nutrition
  • Needle Felting

Check out the course descriptions at our Workshops & Courses page here. If you have any suggestions for a course please let us know. E-mail us and put “workshop idea” in the subject line.