Join us for one or all of these inspiring events!
Gather skills to design for abundant homes & resilient communities in our weekend series program.
Visit numerous demonstration sites & practice ecological design alongside professional designers.
Apply what you learn in this program to your home landscapes & communities!
For More Info >> www.PermacultureSeries.org
2026 Permaculture Design Certification Course Registration ~ Deposit towards Tuition!
Secure your seat at the upcoming Weekend Series Permaculture Design Certification Course!
2026 Spring Program, Three Weekends in All: March 27-30, April 24-26, and May 29-June 1
At The Permaculture Place, The Mill in Shelburne Falls, MA
~ We will send you the Detailed Information Packet and Accommodation Reservation Info
Saturday April 4th, 10-4: Orchard Care & Pruning Fruit Trees with Alan Surprenant
Learn from expert orchardist and tree care advisor, Alan Surprenant of Brook Farm Orchard!
Join us for a fun day with the trees ~
Location: The Permaculture Place at The Mill
& Brook Farm Orchard in Apple Valley
A class in the morning to learn about root stocks and variety choices, and then an afternoon to learn how to prune your selected orchard trees.
Alan has been growing apples since 1982. He planted his own orchard of 100 fruit trees in 1990. Alan grafted most of the trees himself choosing varieties that lend themselves to organic orcharding practices. He is passionate about
growing healthy fruit and teaching others.
(please contact us for sliding scale options :)
Friday Afternoon, April 24, 2pm: Tour Big River Chestnuts Farm!
Sunday Afternoon September 21st
Big River Chestnut Farm, Sunderland MA
- ~ This is where Jono Neiger, co-founder of Regenerative Design Group and author of the book 'The Permaculture Promise' is developing a commercial agroforestry system based on chestnuts, small fruit, and small livestock. There are ample hands-on learning opportunities at this farm that you can also pursue!
~ Please contact us if you would like to register at a different sliding scale amount :)
Sunday April 26, 2pm: Gardening for Native Pollinator Habitat
Sunday April 26th at 2pm
Location: at The Permaculture Place, Inc, Center and Gift Shop at The Mill in Shelburne Falls
Gardening With Native Plants, Why and How: Providing habitat for pollinators, birds and other essential wildlife
Description:
In this talk, Amy Meltzer will focus on the current biodiversity crisis; the evolutionary history among native plants, insects, birds and fungi, and how these interdependent relationships among diverse species are necessary for their survival. She will show how growing native plants and using ecological landscape practices can simultaneously reverse biodiversity loss, increase resilience in our landscapes, and slow climate change - all while creating a beautiful garden!
Amy Meltzer is an active member of Grow Native Massachusetts, and is on the steering committee of the MA Pollinator Network. She belongs to the Research Team and the Natural Solutions working group of Elders Climate Action. She has been researching and gardening with native plants for over ten years.
Suggested Donation $10 ( Sliding Scale Option)
Saturday May 30, 2pm: Fermentation & Food Preservation for Health!
Saturday May 30th at 2pm
Location: The Permaculture Place at the Mill in Shelburne Falls, MA
Join us for a special afternoon with Grace Ekko Jojo, a wild forager and chef, to learn about her ongoing practices of fermentation. We will make prepare a fermented food and beverage, while we learn all about the health benefits of live cultures.
Thurs. April 16th, 6pm: Nurture Your Nature Connection ~ Mindfulness in Nature
“Nurture Your Nature Presence”
Date: April 16, 2026
Description: Give yourself permission to slow down and cultivate present-
moment awareness of and connection to the natural world. Join meditation
teacher and mindful outdoor guide, JL Donohue, for this talk where you’ll learn the
principles of mindfulness practice and how you can apply them to your time
outside for a more enriching experience in greenspace.
Bio: JL Donohue is a certified meditation teacher and mindful outdoor guide. She
believes in taking a practical approach to being mindfully present, incorporating
contemplative and nature-based moments into daily life to help stay present and
feel grounded.
Sunday April 16, 2pm: Grey Water Usage for Water Conservation
An Intro to Greywater Use & Strategies to Save Water!
Sunday May 29th at 2pm
Location: The Permaculture Place, at The Mill, Non Profit Center & Gift Shop in Shelburne Falls, MA
Details: Meet Nina Gordon-Kirsh, an expert in greywater usage who will share professional experience with this strategy from out along the west coast in California where water is often a scarcity. Learn about the basics of greywater reuse and possible ways to construct these systems. Gather the latest information about efforts to legalize more forms of greywater reuse in MA.
Permaculture Design Certification Course
Details Here: www.PermacultureSeries.org
A Total of Three Weekends
2026 Spring Program: Mar 27-30, Apr 24-26 & May 29-Jun 1
~ OR ~
2026 Summer Program: June 27-29, July 24-27 & August 21-24
Offsite Tour: Visit a Straw Bale House
Tour the home of a family of 5 in Shelburne Falls, where they constructed their natural home out of straw bales, and heat their home with a masonry stove.
Offsite Tour: Visit a Permaculture Homestead and Demonstration Forest Garden
Tour a home landscape created by Jono Neiger of Regenerative Design Group and witness efficient energy systems, fruit production, water catchment, nutrient cycling systems.
Farming for Biodiversity
Designing Pollination Systems to Sustain Native Wildlife
A Presentation by Evan Abramson, Pollination Systems Designer at Landscape Interactions
Local Textiles, Bringing Regenerative, Non-Toxic, and Ethical Textile Production Back to New England
Nur Tiven, founding member of Western Mass Fibershed, tells the story of producing the first local and sustainable wool apparel fabric to come out of Massachusetts in decades, and discusses the need for and inspiring possibilities of rebuilding regional fiber systems and textile economies.
Mushroom Cultivation Demystified! Low Tech and No Waste Methods of Growing Gourmet and Medicinal Fungi
Various strategies to bring valuable mushrooms close to home. We will learn the mushroom life cycle, how they are produced, and how you can grow these delicious treats without waste or a big investment.
Teaming Up with Soil Life, Intro to Soil Biology & Chemistry (in relation to the plants we want to grow!)
Kaat Vander Straeten is a certified permaculture designer and a graduate of Elaine Ingham's Life in the Soil classes. Learn all about the soil food web, bacterial versus fungal soils, how to cook up some good compost and compost tea, what earthworms like to eat, and the real definition of a weed.
Movie Night! A Viewing of: ‘Inhabit, A Permaculture Perspective’ See the best film about the permaculture movement,
created by our very own permaculture design course graduate!
Introduction to Healing with the Five Elements Join us for a guided movement meditation and an informative talk with Tom Matherly of Fox Tracks Healing.
Introduction to Plant Spirit Medicine Join us for a talk with Clare Pearson of Wilder Brook Botanicals, healer and educator, who will guide us in a meditation and share about the healing power of plants. “Plants have Spirit. And Spirit is the strongest medicine.” ~Eliot Cowan
Mushroom Cultivation in Permaculture Systems with The Mushroom Forager!
Learn to create a landscape that produces a bounty of gourmet mushrooms while nourishing soil fertility and boosting vegetable yields.
An Introduction to Orcharding and Grafting Fruit Trees with a Biodynamic Practitioner Alan Surprenant of Brook Farm Orchard