Permaculture

If anyone is following this blog I apologize for the dearth of posts during the past week, as of the 19th of September I left "The Bunker", possibly for good, and drove to Oregon to attend a 6 week Permaculture Course at Aprovecho and have been pretty busy with it. It is very exciting.

This just so happens to be the same Permaculture School that a few of the hikers recently released from Iran were from.

Here's a description of the course and a list of whats covered in the curriculum:

"Aprovecho’s Sustainable Living Skills Program is the oldest program of its kind in the Northwest and includes hands on training in appropriate technology, sustainable forestry, natural building, and sustainable agriculture. The 72 hour Permaculture Design curriculum is woven throughout the program, leaving students with a framework for integrating strategies and techniques into cohesive designs for sustainable human settlement. A certificate of Permaculture Design will be presented at the end of the program. This program is also accredited through Humboldt State University as an extended education program.

As a well established yet ever evolving 30 year old site, Aprovecho’s campus is an excellent working classroom for the development of hands-on skills. Various hands on projects from past courses have included constructing a solar shower, installing a greywater system, pond development, and ferro-cement tank construction. Additionally, students will have the opportunity to become proficient in mixing and applying natural plasters and finishes, harvesting trees with hand tools, building bicycle powered machines, understanding and experiencing aquaculture and aquaponics systems, and much more.

This program is structured using Permaculture’s concept of zones: zones of interaction and influence starting with your self and your home, and moving out into the garden, orchard, pasture, production forest, wild lands, and political and financial structures. Over a dozen teachers bring their experience to the table to help students best design and integrate the dynamic components of a sustainable lifestyle."

Week 1

The Context, Self and Home Care

Introduction to Permaculture

Patterns and Design Process

Whole Foods and Nutrition

Home Herbal Remedies

Fermentation, Brewing

Week 2

The Garden and Orchard

Soils, Composting

Bed Preparation, Sowing & Transplanting

Animals in the System

Forest Gardening

Seed Saving

Propagation


Week 3

Home Work

Wood-Fired Cooking

Solar Hot Water

Introduction to Natural Building Principles and Practices

Earthen Plasters and Natural Finishes

Working with Wood

Humanure


Week 4

Larger-Scale Systems

Non-Timber Forest Products (Mushroom Cultivation, Bamboo)

Forest Surveying

Rainwater Catchment and Greywater Systems

Earthworks and Water Harvesting

Tree Falling

Horse Logging


Week 5

The Wilderness and Beyond

Brice Creek Old Growth Hike

Botany and Plant Identification

Watershed Walk

Creek Restoration Project


Week 6

Integration

Invisible Structures

Design for Catastrophe

Urban Systems

Design Project Presentations



And here's some info on Permaculture:

http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=permaculture&aq=f