10 day course at The Food Forest, Gawler, South Australia
David Holmgren,The Brookmans & Others
Permaculture
Humans are pushing the Planet toward a catastrophic
environmental tipping point through population growth and consumption.
Is there any way we, as individuals or communities, can take control of
our future and live sustainably?
A model for the sustainable occupation of the
Planet by humans, a design system which goes back to the great truths of
traditional knowledge, to basic scientific principles and to the values
of a truly civilised society was first expounded in Tasmania in the late
70’s by Bill Mollison and David Holmgren. The approach is now taught in
over 100 countries and the hundreds of thousands of graduates of Design
Courses have had significant impact around the World.
Permaculture can be employed on any scale, from
balconies and the family home to large farms and regional communities.
It promises a stable landscape of productive trees, shrubs and animals,
human-scale living and self reliant children with the confidence to design
a sustainable future for themselves.
Based on three ethics: care of the Earth, care
of community and acceptance of personal responsibility for consumption
and population, many technologies and strategies have evolved to make permaculture
one of the most self-evidently logical solutions to the world’s current
and future problems.
Permaculture Design Certificate
This 10 day intensive course will present you
with an opportunity to consider your life in a new light and give
you some of the skills needed to design a sustainable and meaningful place
for your future.
You will learn through lectures, practical activities,
case studies, DVDs, field trips and games.
In addition to our experienced teaching team
you will have access to a wide range of printed and digital resources.
Most importantly you will work with a group of motivated fellow students
with diverse skills and backgrounds.
The format of the course is for busy people,
designed to cause minimum disruption to other parts of your life and also
to allow you to absorb and practice skills from one learning block before
moving on to the next. However the residential aspect is important, to
help you become fully immersed in learning about sustainable living. Sessions
are scheduled in the evenings, but we finish at 5pm on the last day of
each block. There are 3 days which are normal ‘working days’, which may
need some planning to have off.
A key difference between The Food Forest PDC
and most others is that you complete a major design project of your
choice during the course. Many participants are able to produce a complete
design for their garden, farm, home, community garden or business as part
of the qualification. Other students choose to work on a project proposed
by others which particularly attracts their interest.
Whilst many people study permaculture for personal
use, successful completion to the course will qualify you for a Permaculture
Design Certificate taught according to the Permaculture Institute guidelines
and makes you eligible to practice or teach permaculture commercially and
to proceed towards the Diploma in Permaculture Design.
The course can be also recognised as relevant
prior learning towards the completion of requirements for the nationally
accredited Certificate IV in Permaculture which is integrated into the
Australian Qualifications Framework, attracting Youth Allowance, Austudy
etc.
Although details were not yet available at the
time of printing this brochure, FarmReady subsidy may apply if you are
registered as a primary produrer. Ask us for details.
Earlybird discount applies; see booking form.
Topics
The course at The Food Forest will focus on the
southern Australian environment and the ways we can enrich rural and metropolitan
landscapes. It will cover such topics as:
• Principles and design of sustainable systems
• Reading the landscape - land capability assessment
• Passive solar design for houses and structures
• Sustainable energy, ‘waste’ and recycling
• Appropriate human settlements
• Personal and community strategies
• Soil management
• Garden and farm planning
• Orchard and food forest design
• Free range poultry management
• Alternative economic models
• Catchments, water management and aquaculture
• Revegetation, agroforestry, bush food and wildlife
• Value-adding and direct marketing
. Urban permaculture, community gardens
and farmers markets
The Venue
The Food Forest today is the result of the vision
of owners Graham & Annemarie Brookman, and is a remarkable 15 hectare,
certified organic, permaculture farm and learning centre. From its buzzing
biodiversity come over 150 varieties of organically grown fruit and nuts,
wheat and vegetables, honey and carob beans, as well as free range eggs,
nursery plants and timber. (We’ll be harvesting and eating some of the
products!)
The collections of tree crop varieties represent
a unique genetic resource; willingly shared with others wishing to establish
sustainable plantings.
When the property was purchased in 1983, it was
not much more than a bare barley paddock; only a few towering River Red
Gums remained along the river from the time the Kaurna Aboriginal people
camped in their shade and gathered food from the land.
Today, there are thousands of native plants and
endangered wildlife species such as Brush Tailed Bettongs which help to
manage the orchard floor and form part of the complex ecosystem within
a 1.5km rabbit and fox proof fence. The wild zone along the Gawler River,
which had been invaded by exotic species like African boxthorn and olives,
has been restored through the rebuilding of the ecosystem with endemic
species from remnant populations along the river.
The heritage-listed homestead was built within
the first few years of white settlement of South Australia and much of
the history of the farm has been retained. The old stone barn has been
transformed into a Learning Centre for the presentation of courses and
workshops. Visitors can also enjoy the ‘loo with a view’, a Clivus Multrum
composting toilet and reedbed system which transform human by-products
into reeds for thatching, rich compost for fertiliser and bamboo
for furniture and structural work. Environmentally responsible building
technologies are demonstrated in the Studio with it’s curved garden wall,
the Eco-gazebo and Coolroom, all of which are constructed with strawbales.
The Cob Oven shows the ancient craft of building with special mud mixtures.
The extension to the homestead is an exemplar of passive solar design using
a fusion of strawbale, stone and well insulated corrugated iron. Rainwater
is collected for use in the house. Solar panels heat the water and photovoltaic
cells provide the house with electricity; surplus power is fed onto the
grid.
Awards and ABC TV:
2007 Winner SA Premier’s Food Awards: Environmental
Sustainability
2006 Finalist National Banksia Environmental
Awards, Education category.
2005 Winner Nature Foundation SA, Good Business
Environment Award for Environmental Responsibility and Leadership.
Category finalist National Banksia Environmental
Awards in Business Environmental Responsibility and Leadership
2004 Winner Premier’s Food Awards Leadership
in Sustainable Industry
Finalist Year of the Built Environment, Exemplars
Program
2003 Winner Organic Federation of Australia National
Award Best Organic Producer. Runner up for the Best Organic Education Project.
2005, 2001 State finalist National Landcare Awards
The Food Forest featured on ‘Landline’ on April
6th 2008. To view this 10 minute segment visit ‘Landline’ on: http://www.abc.net.au/landline/content/2006/s2208413.htm
Accommodation
The accommodation is in a share, bunk style facility
at The Food Forest. Alternatively you can bring your own van or tent, or
possibly book your private ‘ensuite’ cabin in a park not far from The Food
Forest. Meals are included in the registration and include vegetarian and
omnivorous options.
Come Prepared
If possible, we would like you to have read “Introduction
to Permaculture’ by Bill Mollison and Reny Slay. Other useful reading is
“Permaculture: A Designers’ Manual” by Bill Mollison and “Permaculture:
Principles & Pathways Beyond Sustainability” by David Holmgren. ‘The
Holistic Life’ by Ian Lillington is another recent permaculture text.
Principal Tutors
David Holmgren co-originator of
the concept of permaculture, will be presenting during the first part of
the course. This opportunity to learn with one of the Planet’s purest exponents
and philosophers of permaculture provides you with a chance to update values
and techniques or start your permaculture career at the cutting edge.
In 2003 David published “Permaculture: Principles
& Pathways Beyond Sustainability”, a book which is the first significant
development on the permaculture concept since Bill Mollison’s “Permaculture:
A Designers’ Manual” which was published in 1988. David’s teaching expounds
permaculture for this millenium, freed of the necessity to justify some
of the now publicly accepted environmental concepts which occupied so much
time in the traditional course.
To find out more about David: see www.holmgren.com.au
Annemarie Brookman runs an organic market garden, runs a stall at the Adelaide Showgrounds Farmers Market and a busy family at The Food Forest. She has observed societies , crafts and cuisines in many countries. Her passion for visually beautiful and totally wholesome food and her skills as a designer are expressed in a direct and practical manner. She is skilled in the integration of poultry and vegetable production and is an unashamed lover of chooks. Time management, small scale marketing, functional and sustainable home-building and fitting systems around the needs and development of children are themes which Annemarie enjoys raising. She is qualified in permaculture design & training, art and craft.
Graham Brookman has experienced land use all over the world and his search for ecologically sustainable farming systems led him to the permaculture model devised by Bill Mollison and David Holmgren. Graham has put the model to the test and teaches his findings in an energetic, interactive and practical style. Discovering how to build with straw bales has given Graham free rein with the construction of an amazing series of beautiful and environmentally responsible structures. He has now taught hundreds of others how simple it is to build anything from a garden bench to a house from straw bales. He is a qualified horticulturalist, teacher and permaculture designer and is inaugural chairman of the Adelaide Showgrounds Farmers Market. He is a guest lecturer at The University of Adelaide and is keenly involved in urban planning matters at a local government level.
Guest Tutors and Field Visits
Guest tutors selected for skills in their particular field and their commitment to sustainable living and permaculture will also teach in the course. Some of the best examples of permaculture, in and near Adelaide, will be visited as part of this course.
For Details
Website: www.foodforest.com.au
Annemarie Brookman at The Food Forest:
Postal:PO Box 859, Gawler, SA 5118. Phone/
Fax 08 85226450
Email: foodforest@bigpond.com
Location: Clifford Rd, Hillier (in Adelaide street
directory)
Registration for Permaculture
Design Certificate 2011
Registrations of interest are being accepted
so people can secure their place