Sowing Solutions  Permaculture​ Design Certification Course in Western MA
  • Home
  • About the Permaculture Design Course (PDC)
  • Upcoming Community Events at The Mill
  • Our Teaching Team
  • Permaculture Course Visits to Local Demonstration Sites
  • FAQ's
  • Testimonials
  • Register Now!
    • Scholarships & Work-Trade
  • Contact Us To Request a Detailed Course Information Packet

About This Course

Picture
Picture
Picture
A fermentation class at the Sowing Solutions Community Permaculture Hub in Shelburne Falls
Picture

Watch Our Introductory Course Video: www.youtube.com/watch?v=eIc4O0-A2Qk
This brief video is made by Emmett Brennan, one of our course graduates ~ He is one of the filmmakers who created the film 'Inhabit, A Permaculture Perspective'!!!!  

About This Educational Event:
 The permaculture course is a training for people of all ages who are interested in designing their own home and  community landscapes so that they are abundant, healthy, diverse, and contribute to a beneficial legacy for the future.  During the course we share extensive resources about creating landscapes and habitats that grow medicine, food, building products, etc, and that are also capable of sequestering carbon so that carbon returns back to our soil and our living earth systems where it belongs, rather than in the atmosphere.  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+, and the experience and background of each person contributes a unique perspective to the learning group that we form over the weekends together in class sessions.   This permaculture course is an educational event full of information sharing, skill-sharing, hands-on learning, and empowerment. These skills of permaculture are one effective way that we can act on behalf of this ecosystem and home that we call Earth.

Our Course Dates:
The Permaculture Design Certification Course is offered seasonally as a weekend series program with Sowing Solutions Permaculture Design & Education in Western MA, USA. 


✨Our Spring 2021 Course Dates are as follows: (Attend a total of five weekends over the spring and early summer seasons to complete the certification program. Some weekends are live, interactive, and online via the comfort of your home, other weekends include in-person days at The Permaculture Place at The Mill!)
  • Saturday March 20 (online from home)
  • Sunday March 21 (online from home)
  • Saturday April 17 (online from home)
  • Either 4/18, 4/24, or 4/25 (in person at The Mill)
  • Saturday May 15 (online from home)
  • Either 5/16, 5/22, or 5/23  (in person at The Mill)
  • Saturday June 12 (online from home)
  • Sunday June 13 (online from home)
  • Saturday July 10 (online from home or in person at The Mill))
  • Sunday July 11 (online from home or in person at The Mill)
The Spring 2021 Permaculture Design Course will be a unique opportunity to focus on your home site as the project site for your training in ecological design. Alternatively, you can design for a property near your home. The design work that you conduct at home will be guided by our staff, and will be a mimic of what we practice together during the onsite sessions in the first two Saturdays of the course. 

Learn from Western MA Permaculture Demonstration Sites: Studying permaculture homes, land associations, homesteads, a world-renowned ecovillage, and local farm 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 observe & evaluate numerous well-established permaculture systems, and learn from them.

Course Topics:
* Mapmaking *Site Analysis of Sunlight/ Water/ Access/ Soil/ Microclimate/ Experience of Place/ etc. *Ecological Design Process *Permaculture Ethics and Principles  *Rainwater Harvesting *Soil Improvement Techniques and Strategies *Deep Ecology *Agroforestry Systems *Forest Gardening with Perennial Foods/ Medicines/ Fuel/ Habitat/ etc *Medicine Making *Fungi Inoculation *EcoVillage and Community Life *Seeding and Greenhouse Tasks *Natural Building *Carbon Farming *New Garden Creation *Practical Skills for Permaculture in Your Home *Fermentation and Food Preservation *Nature Connection, etc....

The Certification:
A
 Permaculture Design Certificate signifies that one has completed a 72 hour design course, a study of the ethics, principles, and design practice of Permaculture. It means the holder of the certificate holds applied permaculture experience and a profound toolbox of permaculture techniques, strategies, solutions, resources, and skills.  

Our Course Locations:
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.  In this course you may be: mapping, working with solar light reading tools, sheet mulching, preserving and fermenting food, mixing earth plaster, designing a forest garden guild, making oxygenated compost tea, preparing herbal medicine, tending to a masonry stove or cob oven, etc. During class time we will integrate the methods of storytelling, slide shows, films, discussions, hands-on design activities, etc. During breaks are yoga classes, meditations, dancing, hiking trails, permaculture films, 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 Spring Program for 2021 will be offered at a sliding scale of $1025 - $1390. This is a special offer, discounted by $300 during the covid19 pandemic, so you can choose to pay $1025.  If you are able to pay $1390, the surplus funds will support another student in the course. 
(Typically, the Tuition Cost totals $1325 which is the base amount for our sliding scale of $1325-$1600 to cover tuition and lunches.)

Watch this introductory video about our course ~ This brief video is made by Emmett Brennan, one of our course graduates ~ He is one of the filmmakers who created the film 'Inhabit, A Permaculture Perspective'!!!!
Sowing Solutions Permaculture Design & Education
 PermacultureSeries@gmail.com 
Website by Beyond Sustainability Websites