Permaculture Earthworks Workshop, July 13th & 14th

Permaculture Earthworks Workshop, July 13, 14, 2013

Thank you to all the students for making this event such a wonderful experience. Invite yourselves back for a visit to see the results.


This class aims to give students a practical understanding of the water-harvesting earthworks techniques used in permaculture. A theoretical section will be taught in which a variety of approaches will be introduced, including dams, swales, ripping, and more. This section will also cover site assessment and design. Students will have practical hands-on time for site measurement, design, layout and implementation. The topics covered in this course will allow students to assess and design their own sites. 

Course books for the theoretical section will be provided to ensure all students have a copy of the material for future reference. The theoretical section will be taught using lectures some topics with student-directed deductive reasoning used wherever possible. 

July 13 
Day one will cover design theory. Students will also learn how to measure the site and map it for design purposes in a hands-on environment. Time will be devoted to design work with student design teams creating their own plans for the workshop's site.

July 14 
Day two will focus on site layout and implementation. Swales will be cut into the site with a dozer. A subsoiler will also be used for patterned ripping of the soil. As part of the hands-on component, the swales will be groomed and level-sill spillways cut into the swales. The use of various levels will also be demonstrated, with students having an opportunity to use them in practice. 

Equipment needed 
Students should bring a notebook, pens, pencils, a shovel (if possible), work gloves, boots, and rain gear. Sunscreen is also recommended as we will spend prolonged periods outdoors. Meals and accommodations will not be provided during the course. Contact Douglas for a list of area accommodations.

Please note that to provide the best learning environment, we are limiting ticket sales to 20 tickets.

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2nd Annual Ottawa PDC

The Permaculture Institute of Eastern Ontario is pleased to present its second permaculture design course in Ottawa, beginning September 21st.

Who is this course for?

If you want to learn how to design human environments in a way that benefits the Earth rather than degrading it, this course is for you. If you believe that there is a way for humans to repair the damage done to the Earth, and you want to know how to do that, this course is for you. If you want to get out and start building a sustainable future for yourself and others, this course is for you.

What will you learn in this course?

You will learn how to design sustainable systems to meet material needs in any region of the world where there is permanent settlement. We will cover regions from tropical to arid to temperate. And as a side benefit of this knowledge, you will learn how to save a lot of money along the way.


Our team

Bonita Ford has a Permaculture Diploma with l'Université Populaire de Permaculturein France, an M.A. in Holistic Health Education from JFK University in California, and a B.Sc. in Biochemistry from Queen's University in Ontario.  Bonita took an Introduction to Permaculture with Brock Dolman in 2002, and took her first Permaculture Design Course through Urban Permaculture Guild and Oakland Permaculture Institute in California from 2005 to 2006.  Shortly thereafter, she directed and co-facilitated one of the first Urban Permaculture Design Courses in the San Francisco Bay Area.  She did work exchange with permaculture teachers Steve Read, Andy Darlington and Jessie Darlington in France.  In 2011, she was a teaching assistant in a Permaculture Design Course in Haiti, taught by Larry Santoyo and Hunter Heaivilin.  In Haiti, she also created a training program and trained a group of over 40 teachers, community facilitators and agronomists in basic concepts from permaculture and Nonviolent Communication. Bonita has led workshops and groups worldwide for over eight years, including in Port-au-Prince, Budapest, Soweto, San Francisco, Seattle, New Mexico, Vermont, Toronto, Ottawa and Perth. She is a co-founder of Transition Perth and the Permaculture Institute of Eastern Ontario.

Sébastien Bacharach, originally from France, is an Eco-logical Educator, Community Builder and Web Architect. He is the former Education Director of the San Francisco League of Urban Gardeners (SLUG) and co-founder of the San Francisco Permaculture Guild. Sébastien became certified as a permaculture designer in the spring of 2001, at the Permaculture Research Institute, New South Wales, Australia, by internationally renowned PRI Director Geoff Lawton. He trained as a Permaculture Teacher in 2004 at Ocean Song, California. He has applied his knowledge in many different settings, in France and especially in San Francisco, California.

Douglas Barnes has been an educator for 20 years, and part of the permaculture movement for 8 years. He has taken two permaculture design courses, one in Brisbane with Geoff and Danial Lawton in 2004, and the other in Melbourne with Geoff Lawton and permaculture founder Bill Mollison in 2005. Using what he learned in his courses, Douglas has designed a passive solar home in Tweed where he is in the process of setting up a permaculture farm. He has taught permaculture in Canada and Japan, and has consulted on projects in Japan, Australia, Canada, Uganda, and India. In 2006, he established EcoEdge Design Ltd., a permaculture design and consultation company. In 2009, he worked with the Green Tree Foundation in Talupula, AP, India on a local agroforesty project, regreening an arid 7-acre hillscape, turning it into a productive polyculture mango orchard. 

What our students say

When I first learned about permaculture, I thought it had to do with the garden. I was amazed when I attended the permaculture course with Bonita, Sebastien, and Doug at how much permaculture can be applied to everything in your life. This course taught me so much, and completely inspired me in other areas of my life that I didn't think had anything to do with permaculture. I met so many great people, and we've started lots of initiatives within the city using the permaculture principles. This course expands your mind and encourages you to get out there and be part of the solution. I would take this course again in a heart-beat! - Nathalie P.

Taking the Permaculture Design Course was an eye-opening experience. It taught me how communities can design cooperative livings spaces in ways that contributes to the vitality of the planet. - Chris B.

This is one of the best courses I've ever taken. The teachers were great, the course itself was life changing, and some of the relationships I made will probably last a lifetime. - Brittany Boychuk

Schedule

The course runs September 21 (evening), 22, and 23, September 29 and 30, October 13 and 14, October 27, and 28.

Enrolment

$750 CAD, HST included. For more infomation, please see the PIEO site.

Toronto PermaCon

Come on out to the TPP-GTA PermaCon this weekend. I'll be giving a seminar on design strategy and compromise in design and one on earthworks.

Workshop: Make Compost in 18 Days!

Learn to make compost that is ready in just 18 days!

Fee: $10 per person or $12 for 2 (Refreshments and workshop notes provided.)

Time: July 10, 1 pm - 3 pm

Location: 231 Rusholme Rd., Toronto

Please register HERE: workshop@ecoedge.ca.


Please note that space is limited to 30 participants.

Composting Workshop in Toronto, Feb. 15

On Monday, February 15th, 2010, I will be running a composting workshop in Toronto, Ontario. To find out about 18-day composting and vermicomposting (using worms to compost), come out the the 3rd annual La Famille festival. Tickets for the event are only $12 or $30 for a 3-adult family pass. For more infomation see Tovaco Productions.





These guides may help if you cannot attend:
18-Day Compost
Worm Composting

2009 Sustainable Living Symposium

I will be giving a presentation on Designed Landscapes for Food, Fibre & Energy at the Sustainable Living Symposium at 10:30 am at Loyalist College in Belleville, Ontario. Click the banner below for more information.

The event is selling out fast, so click now to ensure entry!

Sustainable Living Symposium