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An installation of garden beds on contour for an orchard layout during a field trip to a local land association
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A session in our classroom at The Mill in Shelburne Falls
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Touring The Mill and seeing local artisan's and maker's spaces
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A fermentation class at the Sowing Solutions Community Permaculture Hub in Shelburne Falls
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Retreat Center Lounge Area for Overnight Guests
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Enjoying a delicious picnic lunch at our field trip to Wing and a Prayer Pollinator Nursery and Alice's Kitchen
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Still had a blast together for the program, even when we had to meet online sometimes, a few years back....
✨THE PERMACULTURE DESIGN COURSE:
This Permaculture Design Certification Course is an internationally recognized training for people of all ages who wish to design their own home and community landscapes so that they are abundant, healthy, and diverse. During this course we share extensive resources about ecological design practices to support landscapes and habitats that grow food, medicine, and building products, while returning carbon back to our soils and living systems.  We focus on regenerative design for human habitat, and apply nature’s principles to agriculture.

Our teaching staff is a team of leading professional designers and educators from the northeastern USA. 

The students who attend our program are typically between the ages of 17 and 80+, forming a learning group of diverse perspectives and skills during our course weekends, and beyond.  This permaculture course is an educational event full of information sharing, skill-sharing, hands-on learning, empowerment, and friendship. These skills of permaculture are one effective way that we can all act on behalf of our Earth.

✨ WEEKEND SERIES FORMAT:
The Permaculture Design Certification Course is offered seasonally as a weekend series program with Sowing Solutions Permaculture Design & Education in Western MA, USA.  Choose either the spring, summer, or autumn program option.

Our 2026 FALL DESIGN CERTIFICATION COURSE:
 September through November, one weekend a month
September 18-20, October 9-12 & November 6-9 
(A Total of Three Weekends for the full design course)

Our 2027 SPRING & FALL DESIGN CERTIFICATION COURSES:
April-June OR Sept-Nov (one weekend a month)

✨ DESIGN PRACTICE & TRAINING:
This Permaculture Design Course is a unique opportunity to practice design for a local site in the Village of Shelburne Falls.  You will be guided by a team of professional designers to conduct a design from initial site visit to final presentation. All that we practice in the class for the design project can be mimicked at your home landscape. 

✨ DESIGN CERTIFICATION:
This internationally recognized Permaculture Design Certificate signifies that one has completed a 72 hour design course, a study of the ethics, principles, and design practice of Permaculture. Each graduate will hold applied permaculture experience and will carry a profound toolbox of permaculture techniques, strategies, solutions, resources, and skills.  Our permaculture program offers 100 hours of study and guided practice.

✨ LEARN FROM VISITS TO REGIONAL DEMONSTRATION SITES:
Studying permaculture at homesteads, farms, perennial nurseries, and food forest sites offers you a chance to witness existing and proven permaculture strategies and techniques. You'll learn first hand about: four-season greenhouses, naturally built homes, forest gardens, annual & perennial raised bed vegetable gardens, community decision making, conflict resolution practices, food storage, renewable energy systems, soil improvement, compost strategies, waste recycling, and more! Our permaculture course offers you an opportunity to visit, observe, & evaluate numerous well-established permaculture systems, and learn from them.

✨ OUR COURSE LOCATION:
We are thrilled to be offering our course at the following local and inspiring location:
  • The Permaculture Place at The Mill in downtown Shelburne Falls is a new resource center and spacious community meeting space along the river! The Mill is a historic site that has been renovated for dozens of artisans and makers spaces. This is the location of Sowing Solutions Permaculture Design Certification Courses, and will be the design studio where students conduct their work for clients during the guided permaculture design process.  Shelburne Falls is famous for the Bridge of Flowers and is home to many avid gardeners, artists, farmers, and craftspeople.  There are a number of community and residential sites where our PDC students will have an opportunity to design and install permaculture projects!

✨ LEARNING ENVIRONMENT:
We offer extensive design time and practice, as well as skill shares, with an emphasis on ‘learning by doing’.  In this course you may be: mapping, working with solar light reading tools, sheet mulching, preserving and fermenting food, mixing an earth plaster, designing a forest garden guild, making oxygenated compost tea, preparing herbal medicine, etc. During class time we will integrate the methods of storytelling, slide shows, films, discussions, hands-on design activities, etc. 

✨ COLLEGE CREDIT IS AVAILABLE:
Our course qualifies for 3 or 4 college credits from UMASS Amherst, available to all students who are enrolled in the 5 College Consortium.

✨ TUITION: 
Our Program will be offered at a sliding scale of $1295-$1495.  If you are able to pay a higher tuition fee, the surplus funds will support another student in the course.  BIPOC Scholarships, Work Trade Discounts, and Fundraising Support is available when needed.

✨ ACCOMMODATIONS:
We have reserved a local retreat house with options for private rooms or a shared room for students who wish to stay in the area for the long weekends.  Commuting is also an option. Send us an email to request an information packet for accommodation detail. We often host evenings events and garden tours at this house during the program.

 ✨ MEALS:
Local organic lunches and dinners are prepared for our participants who sign up.
✨Watch this introductory video about our course ​This brief video was made at one of our old locations years ago ~ and it was made by Emmett Brennan, one of our course graduates.  We are proud to say that Emmett is one of the filmmakers and creators of the film 'Inhabit, A Permaculture Perspective’!