Courses and Education

Blue Ridge Permaculture Network potluck and
Dave Jacke Community Presentation on
“Ecosystem Agriculture and Forest Gardens”

Come One – Come all!
Saturday, January 14, 2012
Charlottesville, Virginia (Location to be announced soon)

BRPN Potluck at 6:00 pm, 7:30 Dave Jacke presentation
Bring utensils and a dish to share
Suggested donation $10 for community presentation to support PDC scholarships.

Winter - Spring 2012

Spring 2012 Permaculture Design Course

We are pleased to announce our spring 2012 Permaculture Design Course: Sustainability Strategies for the Blue Ridge, over four weekends near Charlottesville, Virginia.

This Permaculture Design Course lays the foundation for understanding and working with natural systems to design sustainable environments that produce food, shelter, and energy. It also provides participants with models of community development and extension by which they can create networks of support for themselves and empower others to do the same. The course provides tools to help design and develop urban or rural properties or neighborhoods in a sustainable manner, revitalize local communities, and restore ecological balance.

Permaculture promotes land use systems that work with natural rhythms and patterns to create regenerative cultivated ecosystems. Participants will learn how to design and build gardens, homes, and communities that model living ecosystems. By understanding patterns in nature, students will learn how to grow food, manage water catchment and storage, utilize renewable energy and build community.

The ecological design course covers themes such as: ecological systems understanding, organic food production, natural soil improvement, watershed restoration, water conservation and management, edible forest gardening, native medicinal plants, natural habitat restoration, healthy buildings and human settlements, community and consensus building strategies, renewable energy systems, sustainable community development, local economics, and ecological planning and design methods.

This 72-hour certificate course, presented by the Blue Ridge Permaculture Network, will be offered over four weekends with leading permaculture teachers including Emily Axelbaum, Christine Gyovai, Dave Jacke, Hub Knott, Terry Lilley, Dave O’Neill, and guests (teacher bios below). The course will be held near Charlottesville, Virginia, on the following dates:

Dates: Jan. 13-16, Jan. 27-29, Feb. 18-20, and March 3-4, 2012.

The cost for this course will be a sliding scale, including a discount for early registration. If you register by November 15 the sliding scale is $895-$1200. After November 15 the sliding scale is $995-$1200. A few work trade positions are available for partial tuition; inquire soon about work trade guidelines and availability. The work-trade application deadline ends on December 1st, 2010, and limited scholarships may be available, inquire for details. To register please contact Terry Lilley at tygerlilley@gmail.com or 434-296-3963.

Spring 2012 Permaculture Design Course Teacher Bios:

Emily Axelbaum works as Garden Educator at the City Schoolyard Garden at Buford Middle School in Charlottesville, VA. Since graduating from the University of Maryland, College Park she went on to instruct for Outward Bound’s At-Risk Youth Program and complete a program in regenerative design at the Ecosa Institute in Prescott, AZ. She joined City Schoolyard Garden after working for the Student Conservation Association as the RiverSmart Schools In-school Educator in Washington D.C. Emily received her Permaculture Design Certificate from the Occidental Arts and Ecology Center in the fall of 2009, apprenticed for the Blue Ridge Permaculture Network's PDC in the spring of 2010, and apprenticed at the Ecovillage Training Center at The Farm in Summertown, TN in the fall of 2010. Her passion is facilitating students' fascination and connection to nature.

Christine Gyovai is Principal of Dialogue and Design Associates, is a plant lover, and an avid permaculture designer. She is an environmental planner and educator with over twelve years of experience in facilitation and training with a focus on increasing community and environmental sustainability. Christine holds a M.P. in Urban and Environmental Planning from the University of Virginia and a B.S. in Environmental Studies from Burlington College, and is certified in mediation and permaculture design. With authors Ken Haggard and Polly Cooper, she edited and did graphic design for the book Fractal Architecture: Design for Sustainability. A native of West Virginia, Christine was an environmental education teacher and sustainability consultant in California before returning to the Blue Ridge bioregion. She is currently living in the straw bale house that she and her husband Reed designed at the base of the Blue Ridge Mountains with their children, Elijah and Maya.

Dave Jacke is the author of the Two Volume Edition of Edible Forest Gardens and has been a student of ecology and design since the 1970s. He has run his own ecological design firm—Dynamics Ecological Design—since 1984. Dave is an engaging and passionate teacher of ecological design and permaculture, and a meticulous designer. He has consulted on, designed, built, and planted landscapes, homes, farms, and communities in the many parts of the United States, as well as overseas, but mainly in the Northeast. A cofounder of Land Trust at Gap Mountain in Jaffrey, NH, he homesteaded there for a number of years. He holds a B.A. in Environmental Studies from Simon's Rock College (1980) and a M.A. in Landscape Design from the Conway School of Landscape Design (1984).

Hub Knott is co-founder and co/director of Living Earth School, now in its 9th year. He also is owner/director of The Corn Maze in The Plains since it began in 2002. Hub lives in Nelson County, Virginia with his wonderful family (which includes his wife Kate, daughter Violet, a dog, cat, flock of chickens/ducks and currently 2 sheep). His backyard consists of tens of thousands of acres of rich Appalachian Mountains that are a perfect classroom. He loves to wander this land, getting to know the wild plants, the tracks/sign of animals, and discovering the magical nooks of the mountains. He loves to wander the landscape in any part of the country from desert to temperate rainforest, ocean to mountains. He has a passion for gardening, seed saving, and permaculture. Hub has a Bachelors degree from The Evergreen State College in Washington State, where he met his wife Kate. He has been studying natural history and survival skills since 1991 and has had many great teachers along the way including Jon Young and Tom Brown Jr. He is a Certified Wilderness First Responder. Hub loves to help others learn to ask questions, and see things in fresh light. This allows one to study their passions, and find their gifts.

Terry Lilley is a long time ecological gardener and farmer. She got her farming start at New Earth Organic Farm in Virginia Beach, VA. Terry now lives at Shannon Farm Intentional Community in Afton, VA with her partner and 2 children where she grows medicinal and culinary herbs as well as produce to sell at the Nelson County Farmers Market. She works as the organizer for the Blue Ridge Permaculture Institute and received her certification in permaculture design in the Blue Ridge Permaculture Institute's first design course in 2007. She has a bachelor of science in environmental science from Westminster College in PA and has taken a number of medicinal herb classes including a nine month intensive Foundations of Herbalism course. She is currently working on developing and growing her herb farm business.

David O’Neill is the owner and operator of Radical Roots Community Farm and former director of the Edith J. Carrier Arboretum at James Madison University. He has studied permaculture systems in New Zealand and Australia and designed regionally adapted systems and gardens for the Shenandoah Valley. Dave teaches permaculture design and organic gardening classes at Blue Ridge Community College and has experience in landscape design. He is committed to social change through creating a community farm that fosters connections between people the land. Since 2000 the farm’s mission has been to grow high quality, organic vegetables and herbs in a sustainable way. Whether gardening on intensively cultivated, beautiful garden soil, growing permaculture plants in a 3,000 square foot greenhouse, selling produce and plants at the Charlottesville City Market or through a 40 member CSA; Dave is always pushing the edge of productivity.

Fall 2011

HERITAGE HARVEST FESTIVAL

Two Permaculture Workshops will be offered with BRPN's Christine Gyovai at the Heritage Harvest Festival, held at Monticello on Sept. 16-17th, 2011.

Stop by and see the Blue Ridge Permaculture Network table, with permaculture demonstrations, at this year's Heritage Harvest Festival. For more info, see: http://heritageharvestfestival.com

Introduction to Permaculture – Regeneration and Perennial Polycultures with Christine Gyovai
Friday, 9:00 – 11:15 a.m., Woodland Pavilion, Thomas Jefferson Visitor Center
Learn how to create more sustainable homes, neighborhoods, and communities using the principles of permaculture—an ecological design method that uses observation and patterns in nature. This method also employs strategies to improve soil, grow food, create edible forest gardens and perennial polycultures, harvest water, utilize renewable energy and regenerative building techniques. Participants will leave the workshop energized with permaculture tools that can be implemented in their home and community. $15

Lecture: Introduction to Permaculture – Regeneration and Renewal with Christine Gyovai
Saturday, 3:15 – 4:15 p.m., Woodland Pavilion, Thomas Jefferson Visitor Center
Permaculture is a design system for creating sustainable human settlements. By learning from natural ecosystem dynamics we can apply the same patterns to create gardens that function like a forest and home water systems that function like a wetland. From this introduction participants can take home some permaculture principles and put them into action. $10

For more info, see: http://heritageharvestfestival.com

PAST EVENTS

Spring 2010

Sponsored by Local Food Hub and Blue Ridge Permaculture Network.

Professor Barkslip's Fruit School
Date: April 16 & 17, 9am - 5pm
Location: Educational Farm at Maple Hill
Cost: BEFORE MARCH 19: $60/day, $120/weekend. AFTER MARCH 19: $70/day, $140/weekend
Register: info@localfoodhub.org or (434) 286-2176

http://locallectual.com/tenants/local-food-hub

BRPN Potluck and upcoming workshops

Blue Ridge Permaculture Network potluck and seed swap on Friday, Feb. 4th

Weekend Workshop with Dave Jacke:
February 5-6, 2011, 9 AM – 5 PM, with a Saturday evening lecture.
Gardening Like the Forest: Designing Perennial Polycultures

Fall 2010

Stop by and see the Blue Ridge Permaculture Network table, with permaculture demonstrations, at this year's Heritage Harvest Festival, which will take place Saturday, September 11, 2010, 10 a.m. - 4 p.m. on the West Lawn of Monticello and the new Thomas Jefferson Visitor Center in Charlottesville, VA. Thanks to Vicky, Terry, Denise and the BRPN crew for being at the table!For more info, see: http://heritageharvestfestival.com

Winter and Spring 2010

PERMACULTURE COMMUNITY PRESENTATION and POTLUCK in
Harrisonburg, VA - Sat. Feb. 13th, 2010

With special guest Dave Jacke, for a talk on “Ecosystem Agriculture and
Forest Gardens”

Spring 2010 Permaculture Design Course

We are pleased to announce our spring 2010 Permaculture Design Course: Sustainability Strategies for the Blue Ridge, over four weekends in the Shenandoah Valley in Virginia.

This Permaculture Design Course lays the foundation for understanding and working with natural systems to design sustainable environments that produce food, shelter, and energy. It also provides participants with models of community development and extension by which they can create networks of support for themselves and empower others to do the same. The course provides tools to help design and develop urban or rural properties or neighborhoods in a sustainable manner, revitalize local communities, and restore ecological balance.

Permaculture promotes land use systems that work with natural rhythms and patterns to create regenerative cultivated ecosystems. Participants will learn how to design and build gardens, homes, and communities that model living ecosystems. By understanding patterns in nature, students will learn how to grow food, manage water catchment and storage, utilize renewable energy and build community.

The ecological design course covers themes such as: ecological systems understanding, organic food production, natural soil improvement, watershed restoration, water conservation and management, edible forest gardening, native medicinal plants, natural habitat restoration, healthy buildings and human settlements, community and consensus building strategies, renewable energy systems, sustainable community development, local economics, and ecological planning and design methods.

This 72-hour certificate course, presented by the Blue Ridge Permaculture Network, will be offered over four weekends with leading permaculture teachers including Christine Gyovai, Dave Jacke, and Dave O’Neill (teacher bios below). The course will be held in Harrisonburg, Virginia, on the following dates:

Jan. 15-18, Feb. 12-15, March 13-14, and April 10-11.

The cost for this course will be a sliding scale, including a discount for early registration. If you register by November 15 the sliding scale is $895-$1200. After November 15 the sliding scale is $995-$1200. A few work trade positions are available for partial tuition; inquire soon about work trade guidelines and availability. The work-trade application deadline ends on December 1st, 2010, and limited scholarships may be available, inquire for details. To register please contact Terry Lilley at tygerlilley@gmail.com or 434-296-3963. Click here to download the Spring 2010 Registration Form.

Apprentice Teachers for Spring Permaculture Design Course

The Blue Ridge Permaculture Network has selected two Apprentice Teachers Positions for the Spring 2010 Permaculture Design Course. Thanks to all that applied!

Spring 2010 Permaculture Design Course Teacher Bios:

Christine Gyovai is Principal of Dialogue and Design Associates, is a plant lover, and an avid permaculture designer. She is an environmental planner and educator with over twelve years of experience in facilitation and training with a focus on increasing community and environmental sustainability. Christine holds a M.P. in Urban and Environmental Planning from the University of Virginia and a B.S. in Environmental Studies from Burlington College, and is certified in mediation and permaculture design. With authors Ken Haggard and Polly Cooper, she edited and did graphic design for the book Fractal Architecture: Design for Sustainability. A native of West Virginia, Christine was an environmental education teacher and sustainability consultant in California before returning to the Blue Ridge bioregion. She is currently living in the straw bale house that she and her husband Reed designed at the base of the Blue Ridge Mountains with their one year old son, Elijah.

Dave Jacke is the author of the Two Volume Edition of Edible Forest Gardens and has been a student of ecology and design since the 1970s. He has run his own ecological design firm—Dynamics Ecological Design—since 1984. Dave is an engaging and passionate teacher of ecological design and permaculture, and a meticulous designer. He has consulted on, designed, built, and planted landscapes, homes, farms, and communities in the many parts of the United States, as well as overseas, but mainly in the Northeast. A cofounder of Land Trust at Gap Mountain in Jaffrey, NH, he homesteaded there for a number of years. He holds a B.A. in Environmental Studies from Simon's Rock College (1980) and a M.A. in Landscape Design from the Conway School of Landscape Design (1984).

David O’Neill is the owner and operator of Radical Roots Community Farm and former director of the Edith J. Carrier Arboretum at James Madison University. He has studied permaculture systems in New Zealand and Australia and designed regionally adapted systems and gardens for the Shenandoah Valley. Dave teaches permaculture design and organic gardening classes at Blue Ridge Community College and has experience in landscape design. He is committed to social change through creating a community farm that fosters connections between people the land. Since 2000 the farm’s mission has been to grow high quality, organic vegetables and herbs in a sustainable way. Whether gardening on intensively cultivated, beautiful garden soil, growing permaculture plants in a 3,000 square foot greenhouse, selling produce and plants at the Charlottesville City Market or through a 40 member CSA; Dave is always pushing the edge of productivity.

Fall 2009

Blue Ridge Permaculture Network Presents
Introduction to Permaculture
Movie and Discussion (Free!)

Tuesday December 8th at 7pm
Clementine Cafe, Harrisonburg
www.clementinecafe.com

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P3: Permaculture Presentation and Potluck
Planning the Sustainable Vegetable Garden, including Cover Cropping,
with Cindy Conner
Thursday, October 15; 6:00 pm talk; 7:00 pm potluck
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The Blue Ridge Permaculture Network will have a table at the Heritage Harvest Festival at Monticello on Saturday, September 12 - come on outand say hi. Dave O'Neill will give a talk "Permaculture: Design for Abundance: from 3:00 - 4:00 pm. Click here for more information.

Christine Gyovai will give a talk on the Principles of Permaculture at the Green Building Institute Principles of Permaculture, Saturday, September 26, 2009 from 10:00 a.m. – 12:00 noon near Baltimore, Maryland. Click here for more info, and a description of the talk is below.

Spring 2009

Permaculture Design Course: Sustainability Strategies for the Blue Ridge

Community talk with Joel Salatin on Building a Local Food System that Works

Fall 2008

Introduction to Permaculture:  Sustainability Strategies for the Blue Ridge

Rain Barrel Workshop

Spring 2008

Drawing for the Permaculturally Inclined

Plant Propagation

Fall 2007

Permaculture Design Course: Sustainability Strategies for the Blue Ridge

Spring 2007

Permaculture Design Course: Sustainability Strategies for the Blue Ridge