Courses and Education

Winter and Spring 2010

PERMACULTURE COMMUNITY PRESENTATION and POTLUCK in
Harrisonburg, VA

Come One, Come All!

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

Sat. Feb. 13th, 2010
Potluck 6:30 -7:30 (bring a dish and utensils)
Talk from 7:30 – 9:00 pm

Location: Martin Chapel, located in the Seminary building at Eastern Mennonite University in Harrisonburg, VA
Click on the Map link from the website:
http://www.emu.edu/map/sem.html

Pre-registration is encouraged, but not required by emailing Terry Lilley at:
tygerlilley@gmail.com

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.

PAST EVENTS

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
Bring utensils and a dish to share
Suggested donation $5
Ivy Creek Natural Area Education Building
1776 Earlysville Rd, Charlottesville, VA 22901
A map may be found at this website: http://ivycreekfoundation.org/contact.html

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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.

Permaculture is an ecological design method that includes topics such as observation and patterns in nature, and strategies to improve soil, grow food, harvest water, utilize renewable energy and regenerative building techniques, and build sustainable communities. This workshop will focus on fundamental permaculture ethics, principle and strategies to live more sustainably in your home, neighborhood or community. Participants will leave the workshop energized and with ideas that can be implemented in their home or community.

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