Bones to Bloom Ecological Design Course 2020
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Susquehanna Permaculture
Nov 4, 2019, 3:15:10 PM11/4/19
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Bones to Bloom
An Ecological Design Course
With Optional Permaculture Design Certification
A class on regenerative ecology for the 21st century landscape with Robyn Mello, Wilson Alvarez, & Benjamin Weiss.
An Ecological Design Course
With Optional Permaculture Design Certification
A class on regenerative ecology for the 21st century landscape with Robyn Mello, Wilson Alvarez, & Benjamin Weiss.
To register:
Email Robyn Mello at con...@edenspore.com to receive the registration form & payment options…
This course will embody the permaculture principle: “design from patterns to details.” Students will begin at the foundation of regenerative design by understanding ecological concepts and principles, learning to deeply observe natural patterns. During the course, we’ll take students on a journey through ever more detailed aspects of ecological design, developing a tool-kit of land-based techniques for building a new paradigm of community and economy. This approach will enable each student to lay a foundation of knowledge and understanding of the core principles shared by permaculture and similar modalities. We will demonstrate these concepts and skill sets in the classroom as well as in wild spaces, backyards, rural farm-scapes, and urban farms.
The class will take place at several locations in south-central and eastern Pennsylvania…
• Urban Edge Farm: susquehannasustainability.com
• Horn Farm Center: hornfarmcenter.org
• Bartram’s Garden: bartramsgarden.org
• Rising Locust Farm: risinglocustfarm.com
• Green Light Plants: greenlightplants.com
• Climber’s Run: lancasterconservancy.org/preserves/climbers-run
Schedule:
March 22nd, 29th, April 5th, 12th, 19th, & 26th, May 3rd, 10th, 17th, 24th, & 31st
(Dates in red are only for students who are doing the permaculture certification).
Arrive by 9:30am, Class 10am-5pm* with 30 minutes for lunch
*10-6pm on PDC Only days
Students must provide their own lunch.
Topics to be covered during the course include:
• Basic concepts of permaculture
• Deep ecology
• Systems analysis
• Species identification
• Reading the landscape
• Social & spiritual ecology
• Building grass-roots social movements
• Environmental activism
• Sensory awareness & observation techniques
• Climate patterns
• Home-scale sustainability
• Ecological entrepreneurship
Optional Permaculture Design Certification: This encompasses three extra classes including a permaculture design practicum. This track covers the essential concepts of the permaculture design system, demonstrated through techniques for sustainable living in densely populated areas. Students will acquire a tool-kit for living in the urban and suburban environment in a way that is both self-reliant and supportive of their community and nature. The curriculum will emphasize skills that contribute to local, community-based resilience and abundance.
What to Expect: This is a rigorous academic course with standards that exceed those of most college-level classes. Students will be expected to complete numerous homework assignments including readings, observation & design exercises, and a final design project. Students should not miss more than 1 day of class, and absolutely must be present for the final design presentations (5/24). Students who complete the course in a satisfactory manner will receive an internationally recognized certification in permaculture design.
Robyn Mello is a musician, gardener, activist, organizer, herbalist, and more. She received her Permaculture Design Certification from Melissa Miles of The Permanent Future Institute in 2014. Much of Robyn’s permaculture education and experience has been self-taught through hands-on volunteering with POP, helping to start a dozen community gardens with a grassroots vacant lot gardening organization she founded called Philly Food Forests, working as Gardens Manager & Nature Educator for Historic Fair Hill in North Philadelphia, organizing the Occupy Vacant Lots campaign with Occupy Philly activists interested in gardening and community organizing, starting a small organic farm in Upper Bucks County while living off-the-grid in a tiny house, and working as an Environmental Justice Researcher with The Delaware Environmental Institute. Robyn spent several years as Orchard Director for The Philadelphia Orchard Project (POP). Robyn also writes and performs original Earth-Worship music with The Radicans, and performs solo music and sells herbal medicines under the name of Edenspore.
Benjamin Weiss is A certified permaculture designer and teacher, activist, herbalist, farmer, musician, and writer from Lancaster, Pennsylvania. Ben studied natural building and permaculture at The Farm Ecovillage Training Center, received a permaculture teacher certification from CRMPI, studied urban agriculture at Growing Power, and has studied herbalism with Sarah Preston of Radiance, shamanic dreaming techniques with Adhi Moonien Two-Owls, and forest garden design with Dave Jacke. Ben was also the administrator and a long-time volunteer for the Lancaster Coalition for Peace & Justice, and has helped to organize many other initiatives and actions related to racial and environmental justice. Ben has facilitated PDCs and many other classes and workshops, has designed and managed four organic farms, and forages professionally. He owns and manages Susquehanna Apothecary and Urban Edge Farm.
Wilson Alvarez is a certified permaculture designer, an inventor, gardener, skilled tracker, bowyer, nature-awareness instructor, and poet from Lancaster, Pennsylvania. He has studied and taught classes and workshops on bio-intensive agriculture, regenerative technology, foraging, hunting, trapping and tracking, and wilderness survival. Wilson has created “Rebel Garden Tools,” a line of incredibly innovative hand tools for small farms, as well as other inventions such as the "Folk Mug," a handle that turns a mason jar into a travel mug, and "The Multi," a multi-tool wallet. He also founded Folklore Ferments, a small company specializing in the brewing of kombucha. Wilson has a Kamana II certification through Jon Young's Wilderness Awareness School, received his PDC online via Permaculture Visions, and studied applied archaeology at Prescott College with Steve Watts. Wilson manages the woodland rehabilitation at the Horn Farm Center.
Guest Teachers:
• Dale Hendricks & Zach Elfers of Green Light Plants
• Frances Rose Subbiondo & Acorn Swiggum of K is for Kitchen
• Phil Forsyth of the Philadelphia Orchard Project
• Douglas Smith, chief planner of Lancaster City
• William Padilla-Brown of MycoSymbiotics
• Meg Lemieur & Bri Barton of the Water Ways Project
• Jon Darby & Allyson Earl of the Horn Farm Center
• Harrison Rhodes of Rising Locust Farm
Tuition:
Ecological Design (ED) full $750 per person
ED Early Bird $650 by 12/31/19
ED Group Rate $3,000 total
Permaculture Cerification (PDC) Full $1,000 per person
PDC Early Bird $900 by 12/31/19
PDC Group Rate $4,250 total
Registration Deposits: To receive the early bird rate, you must pay in full by December 31st, 2018. All other students must pay in full by March 1st, 2020. If there is still space available we may extend registration until the date of the first class. Nonetheless, pre-registered students must pay in full by the date above. A registration deposit of $300 may be submitted in order to hold a place in the class. This deposit, as well as full tuition, is non-refundable except in legitimate emergencies.
Group Rate: Five students who sign up together as a group may each receive the group rate ($3000 total for ecological design course, or $4250 total for permaculture certification) through March 1st, 2020. To receive this group rate all five registration deposits ($300 per student; $1500 total) must be submitted as one payment, and the full tuition mount must be paid by March 1st.
Scholarships: We may have scholarship funding available. Contact us directly to inquire. We are much more inclined to offer partial scholarships than full scholarships, and we expect to see scholarship recipients find ways to fundraise some of their own tuition, and to be full, active participants in the class.
Preparedness for the Class:
Students should come fully prepared to be outdoors for extended periods in varying weather, and to participate in hands-on activities including walks through rough terrain. Not all of the classrooms we’ll be in are ADA compatible but we will happily make any accommodations that we can in order for students with specific needs to participate. Please notify us of any pertinent allergies or physical limitations before the class begins. Roughly 30 minutes will be provided during each class session for lunch, as well as periodic breaks between sessions throughout the day. Students should bring their own food and water. Each student will be asked to sign a “media sharing form” to ensure that everyone who participates is legally allowed to utilize media captured during the class for further educational or promotional purposes. Please notify the instructors if you plan to miss class, and take responsibility for catching up with course content.
*Students will be notified of any other required materials as the course progresses.
The Syllabus: Here is a simplified syllabus. A more detailed syllabus will be given to students on the first day of class or shortly prior…
March 22* at Climber’s Run: Intro to Permaculture (10am-6pm)
• Definition, philosophy, and history of permaculture
• Permculture ethics and principles
• Deep awareness/observation techniques
March 29 at Climber’s Run: Intro to Ecology
• Orientation - getting to know one another and the land we occupy
• Observation skills
• Principles of ecology
• Reading the landscape
• Winter species identification
• Fundamentals of design for wild spaces
April 5 at Horn Farm Center: Intro to Wild Ecosystems
• Local/temperate climate ecology
• Basic primitive skills: tracking, fire-making, finding clean water, building a debris hut
• Elementary land stewardship techniques
• Deer management & reforestation
• Financial, legislative, & organizational support for wild lands
April 12 at Climber’s Run: Self-care, Social Justice, & Environmental Activism as Ecological Design
• Seasonal/cyclical living & eating
• Herbalism Intro
• Community building strategies
• Design of ecological social movements
• Intersectionality of oppression & ecological degradation
• Plans of action for students as individuals and group
April 19* at Climber’s Run: Intro to Permaculture Design Practicum (10am-6pm)
• Analyzing ecological niches
• Mind-mapping
• Permaculture zones, sectors, & vectors
• Intro to permaculture design practicum
April 26 at Rising Locust Farm: Rural/Broad Acre Ecological Farming
• Soils, soil health, and soil building
• Silvopasture: livestock & agroforestry
• Ecological livestock management
• Community governance
• Broad-acre ecological farm design
• Myco-remediation & mushroom farming
May 3 at Green Light Plants Nursery & Homestead: Ecological Micro-Enterprise
• Ecologically minded homesteading
• Forest gardening
• Bio-char
• Plant propagation
• Integrative ecological design
• Local economies & small-scale industry
May 10 at Urban Edge Farm: Ecological Design for Suburban Landscapes
• Business planning using permaculture
• Twelve forms of capital
• Beekeeping Intro
• Water conservation, the hydrologic cycle, riparian ecosystems,
• Water harvesting, designing landscapes for water retention, berms and swales
• Intensive micro-farm design
• Financial, legislative, & organizational support for urban agriculture
May 17 at Bartram’s Garden: Urban Sustainability & Regenerative Design
• Urban agroforestry
• Urban farming
• Soil remediation
• Community-building around regenerative ecological systems
• Non-profit management
May 24 at Millport Conservancy: Wrap-up
May 31* at Millport Conservancy: Permaculture Design Presentations (10am-6pm)
*Optional permaculture design certification classes.
To register:
Email Robyn Mello at con...@edenspore.com to receive the registration form & payment options…
--
A note on contacting me: Due to the overwhelming amount of communications I receive, I generally do not respond to any message that is not directly related to a class, design work, or other business transactions. I also feel that the current standard for "promptness" as an obligation to respond to electronic communications within a matter of hours is inconsistent with my values. So I reserve the right to take a few days to get back to you. Sorry for any inconvenience this may cause.
This course will embody the permaculture principle: “design from patterns to details.” Students will begin at the foundation of regenerative design by understanding ecological concepts and principles, learning to deeply observe natural patterns. During the course, we’ll take students on a journey through ever more detailed aspects of ecological design, developing a tool-kit of land-based techniques for building a new paradigm of community and economy. This approach will enable each student to lay a foundation of knowledge and understanding of the core principles shared by permaculture and similar modalities. We will demonstrate these concepts and skill sets in the classroom as well as in wild spaces, backyards, rural farm-scapes, and urban farms.
The class will take place at several locations in south-central and eastern Pennsylvania…
• Urban Edge Farm: susquehannasustainability.com
• Horn Farm Center: hornfarmcenter.org
• Bartram’s Garden: bartramsgarden.org
• Rising Locust Farm: risinglocustfarm.com
• Green Light Plants: greenlightplants.com
• Climber’s Run: lancasterconservancy.org/preserves/climbers-run
Schedule:
March 22nd, 29th, April 5th, 12th, 19th, & 26th, May 3rd, 10th, 17th, 24th, & 31st
(Dates in red are only for students who are doing the permaculture certification).
Arrive by 9:30am, Class 10am-5pm* with 30 minutes for lunch
*10-6pm on PDC Only days
Students must provide their own lunch.
Topics to be covered during the course include:
• Basic concepts of permaculture
• Deep ecology
• Systems analysis
• Species identification
• Reading the landscape
• Social & spiritual ecology
• Building grass-roots social movements
• Environmental activism
• Sensory awareness & observation techniques
• Climate patterns
• Home-scale sustainability
• Ecological entrepreneurship
Optional Permaculture Design Certification: This encompasses three extra classes including a permaculture design practicum. This track covers the essential concepts of the permaculture design system, demonstrated through techniques for sustainable living in densely populated areas. Students will acquire a tool-kit for living in the urban and suburban environment in a way that is both self-reliant and supportive of their community and nature. The curriculum will emphasize skills that contribute to local, community-based resilience and abundance.
What to Expect: This is a rigorous academic course with standards that exceed those of most college-level classes. Students will be expected to complete numerous homework assignments including readings, observation & design exercises, and a final design project. Students should not miss more than 1 day of class, and absolutely must be present for the final design presentations (5/24). Students who complete the course in a satisfactory manner will receive an internationally recognized certification in permaculture design.
Teachers: This course will be taught by Wilson Alvarez, Robyn Mello, & Benjamin Weiss, along with a crew of guest instructors.
Robyn Mello is a musician, gardener, activist, organizer, herbalist, and more. She received her Permaculture Design Certification from Melissa Miles of The Permanent Future Institute in 2014. Much of Robyn’s permaculture education and experience has been self-taught through hands-on volunteering with POP, helping to start a dozen community gardens with a grassroots vacant lot gardening organization she founded called Philly Food Forests, working as Gardens Manager & Nature Educator for Historic Fair Hill in North Philadelphia, organizing the Occupy Vacant Lots campaign with Occupy Philly activists interested in gardening and community organizing, starting a small organic farm in Upper Bucks County while living off-the-grid in a tiny house, and working as an Environmental Justice Researcher with The Delaware Environmental Institute. Robyn spent several years as Orchard Director for The Philadelphia Orchard Project (POP). Robyn also writes and performs original Earth-Worship music with The Radicans, and performs solo music and sells herbal medicines under the name of Edenspore.
Benjamin Weiss is A certified permaculture designer and teacher, activist, herbalist, farmer, musician, and writer from Lancaster, Pennsylvania. Ben studied natural building and permaculture at The Farm Ecovillage Training Center, received a permaculture teacher certification from CRMPI, studied urban agriculture at Growing Power, and has studied herbalism with Sarah Preston of Radiance, shamanic dreaming techniques with Adhi Moonien Two-Owls, and forest garden design with Dave Jacke. Ben was also the administrator and a long-time volunteer for the Lancaster Coalition for Peace & Justice, and has helped to organize many other initiatives and actions related to racial and environmental justice. Ben has facilitated PDCs and many other classes and workshops, has designed and managed four organic farms, and forages professionally. He owns and manages Susquehanna Apothecary and Urban Edge Farm.
Wilson Alvarez is a certified permaculture designer, an inventor, gardener, skilled tracker, bowyer, nature-awareness instructor, and poet from Lancaster, Pennsylvania. He has studied and taught classes and workshops on bio-intensive agriculture, regenerative technology, foraging, hunting, trapping and tracking, and wilderness survival. Wilson has created “Rebel Garden Tools,” a line of incredibly innovative hand tools for small farms, as well as other inventions such as the "Folk Mug," a handle that turns a mason jar into a travel mug, and "The Multi," a multi-tool wallet. He also founded Folklore Ferments, a small company specializing in the brewing of kombucha. Wilson has a Kamana II certification through Jon Young's Wilderness Awareness School, received his PDC online via Permaculture Visions, and studied applied archaeology at Prescott College with Steve Watts. Wilson manages the woodland rehabilitation at the Horn Farm Center.
Guest Teachers:
• Dale Hendricks & Zach Elfers of Green Light Plants
• Frances Rose Subbiondo & Acorn Swiggum of K is for Kitchen
• Phil Forsyth of the Philadelphia Orchard Project
• Douglas Smith, chief planner of Lancaster City
• William Padilla-Brown of MycoSymbiotics
• Meg Lemieur & Bri Barton of the Water Ways Project
• Jon Darby & Allyson Earl of the Horn Farm Center
• Harrison Rhodes of Rising Locust Farm
Tuition:
Ecological Design (ED) full $750 per person
ED Early Bird $650 by 12/31/19
ED Group Rate $3,000 total
Permaculture Cerification (PDC) Full $1,000 per person
PDC Early Bird $900 by 12/31/19
PDC Group Rate $4,250 total
Registration Deposits: To receive the early bird rate, you must pay in full by December 31st, 2018. All other students must pay in full by March 1st, 2020. If there is still space available we may extend registration until the date of the first class. Nonetheless, pre-registered students must pay in full by the date above. A registration deposit of $300 may be submitted in order to hold a place in the class. This deposit, as well as full tuition, is non-refundable except in legitimate emergencies.
Group Rate: Five students who sign up together as a group may each receive the group rate ($3000 total for ecological design course, or $4250 total for permaculture certification) through March 1st, 2020. To receive this group rate all five registration deposits ($300 per student; $1500 total) must be submitted as one payment, and the full tuition mount must be paid by March 1st.
Scholarships: We may have scholarship funding available. Contact us directly to inquire. We are much more inclined to offer partial scholarships than full scholarships, and we expect to see scholarship recipients find ways to fundraise some of their own tuition, and to be full, active participants in the class.
Preparedness for the Class:
Students should come fully prepared to be outdoors for extended periods in varying weather, and to participate in hands-on activities including walks through rough terrain. Not all of the classrooms we’ll be in are ADA compatible but we will happily make any accommodations that we can in order for students with specific needs to participate. Please notify us of any pertinent allergies or physical limitations before the class begins. Roughly 30 minutes will be provided during each class session for lunch, as well as periodic breaks between sessions throughout the day. Students should bring their own food and water. Each student will be asked to sign a “media sharing form” to ensure that everyone who participates is legally allowed to utilize media captured during the class for further educational or promotional purposes. Please notify the instructors if you plan to miss class, and take responsibility for catching up with course content.
Other things to bring include :
• notebook
• sketch pad
• writing/drawing utensils
• compass
• camera
• any preferred field guides
• pocket knife or multi-tool
• work gloves
• sketch pad
• lap-top/ tablet/smart-phone
• bug spray
• sunscreen
• sturdy shoes/boots
• rain gear
• notebook
• sketch pad
• writing/drawing utensils
• compass
• camera
• any preferred field guides
• pocket knife or multi-tool
• work gloves
• sketch pad
• lap-top/ tablet/smart-phone
• bug spray
• sunscreen
• sturdy shoes/boots
• rain gear
*Students will be notified of any other required materials as the course progresses.
The Syllabus: Here is a simplified syllabus. A more detailed syllabus will be given to students on the first day of class or shortly prior…
March 22* at Climber’s Run: Intro to Permaculture (10am-6pm)
• Definition, philosophy, and history of permaculture
• Permculture ethics and principles
• Deep awareness/observation techniques
March 29 at Climber’s Run: Intro to Ecology
• Orientation - getting to know one another and the land we occupy
• Observation skills
• Principles of ecology
• Reading the landscape
• Winter species identification
• Fundamentals of design for wild spaces
April 5 at Horn Farm Center: Intro to Wild Ecosystems
• Local/temperate climate ecology
• Basic primitive skills: tracking, fire-making, finding clean water, building a debris hut
• Elementary land stewardship techniques
• Deer management & reforestation
• Financial, legislative, & organizational support for wild lands
April 12 at Climber’s Run: Self-care, Social Justice, & Environmental Activism as Ecological Design
• Seasonal/cyclical living & eating
• Herbalism Intro
• Community building strategies
• Design of ecological social movements
• Intersectionality of oppression & ecological degradation
• Plans of action for students as individuals and group
April 19* at Climber’s Run: Intro to Permaculture Design Practicum (10am-6pm)
• Analyzing ecological niches
• Mind-mapping
• Permaculture zones, sectors, & vectors
• Intro to permaculture design practicum
April 26 at Rising Locust Farm: Rural/Broad Acre Ecological Farming
• Soils, soil health, and soil building
• Silvopasture: livestock & agroforestry
• Ecological livestock management
• Community governance
• Broad-acre ecological farm design
• Myco-remediation & mushroom farming
May 3 at Green Light Plants Nursery & Homestead: Ecological Micro-Enterprise
• Ecologically minded homesteading
• Forest gardening
• Bio-char
• Plant propagation
• Integrative ecological design
• Local economies & small-scale industry
May 10 at Urban Edge Farm: Ecological Design for Suburban Landscapes
• Business planning using permaculture
• Twelve forms of capital
• Beekeeping Intro
• Water conservation, the hydrologic cycle, riparian ecosystems,
• Water harvesting, designing landscapes for water retention, berms and swales
• Intensive micro-farm design
• Financial, legislative, & organizational support for urban agriculture
May 17 at Bartram’s Garden: Urban Sustainability & Regenerative Design
• Urban agroforestry
• Urban farming
• Soil remediation
• Community-building around regenerative ecological systems
• Non-profit management
May 24 at Millport Conservancy: Wrap-up
May 31* at Millport Conservancy: Permaculture Design Presentations (10am-6pm)
*Optional permaculture design certification classes.
To register:
Email Robyn Mello at con...@edenspore.com to receive the registration form & payment options…
Benjamin Weiss
Susquehanna Sustainable Enterprises LLC
A note on contacting me: Due to the overwhelming amount of communications I receive, I generally do not respond to any message that is not directly related to a class, design work, or other business transactions. I also feel that the current standard for "promptness" as an obligation to respond to electronic communications within a matter of hours is inconsistent with my values. So I reserve the right to take a few days to get back to you. Sorry for any inconvenience this may cause.
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