Midwest Permaculture

Winter Training: Feb. 13-20, 2010
Permaculture Certification Course
Focus: Creating Productive Growing Spaces
                                        From Kitchen Gardens to Small Farms

The emphasis of this course:
   1. Using permaculture design to enhance small scale farming and
                         suburban/urban food production
   2. Transforming back yards, city lots, roof tops and community               commons areas into bountiful (& beautiful) gardens
   3. Making a farming business economically profitable, socially                     responsible and environmentally sound.
   4. Minimizing work and reducing fossil fuel requirements for an
                                 energy lean future
   5. Fostering long term financial and food security for ourselves                           and surrounding communities.

Please Note: As always, the full-design course curriculum will be covered to provide students with their permaculture (PDC) certification, but this training will lean towards small scale farming (1- 100 acres) and intensive garden-farming in the cities and suburbs.

Features of this Course:
Meet 8 Different Farmers/Growers With Widely Varied Backgrounds.

Some examples of the Farmers Students Will Meet:

Robyn Streeter (L) and Donna Smith Your Backyard Farmer Portland, Oregon Donna and Robyn are the first we have heard of who run their farming operation from other peoples back yards. They have 53 mini-farms. And they don't rent peoples back yards, they charge the homeowners yearly to have much of this families food grown for them right in their own backyards. Robyn and Donna visit each home once a week, attending to all that is necessary, leaving a full basket of produce on the residents doorstep when the little farm starts producing. Homeowners can also learn how to grow their own food from these innovative and successful farmers.

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Tom Galazen North Wind Organic Farm Bayfield, WI Tom has been raising a wide variety of fruits and vegetables on this farm for almost 30 years. As much a homesteader as a farmer, he built most of the building on the farm and runs the entire farm off the grid. His specialty is a wide variety of fruits which are fitting for his location just a few miles from Lake Superior. Tom gets top-dollar for his produce through a local CSA and by retailing his goods right from the farm.

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Helen Cameron Uncommon Ground Restaurant - Chicago Helen and her husband Michael have been restaurateurs for 18 years. Two years ago they decided to open a second location for their successful restaurant and chose this building because of the large flat roof. Helen wanted to grow at least some of the food and herbs that they served their customers with. In the process, they decided to become organically certified and as it turn out, became the first certified organic 'farm' in the United States.

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Michael Thompson The Chicago Honey Co-op Michael and a few associates are not only raising some of the most exquisite honey available anywhere, but they are teaching under-employed, local residents how care for bees and raise honey, market what they raise and run their own business. Equally amazing is that they are growing a variety of vegetables on this abandoned industrial concrete lot. Click here for a pictorial summary of this multifaceted operation. Pictured: Left - Michael with a harvest of sweet potatoes grown on concrete. Below - The apiary on an abandoned industrial lot.

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Harry Carr Mint Creek Farm - Stelle, Illinois Harry, his wife/partner Gwen and their two children cut their teeth in farming on 35 acres. To bring life back into degraded soils Harry accepted the gift of a half dozen sheep and started rotationally grazing them to work their magic. Twenty years later he has acquired 190 more acres and is raising over 1,000 head annually. Added to this, they are now also raising goats, chickens, turkeys and earning top dollar by retailing most of it to Chicagoland customers.

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Course Summary
Successfully growing and selling wholesome food while also taking care of the land is a challenge for most people who undertake small farming operations. Until recently , relatively few have done so successfully without burning out or going under financially.

When permaculture thinking and design is applied to a food growing operation, wastes become resources, work is minimized, yields increase and the land is restored. The farmer, her neighbors and his community benefit as well.

In this Permaculture Design Certification (PDC) Course, students will learn the fundamentals of permaculture while also meeting many growers who have become financially solvent at small scale farming and urban growing.

To get a good idea of what a PDC course in Stelle is like,
click below for a picture summary of:
One of our previous Stelle Design Course
Please Note: The above link has many pictures and may take a few minutes to download.
Just add cold weather and possibly some snow to the pictures to take into account
the time of year of this course.

Further Details of the Course

Begin The Training Now
This full design course actually begins for each student when they register. With registration comes a welcome email that contains access to 12-hours of recorded webinars, over 2-dozen handouts and the 150-Question Study Guide. Within a week or so students receive the course textbook via US Mail.

Webinars:
All students receive links to 6 previously recorded webinars (12-hours) lead by certifying instructor Wayne Weiseman and hosted by Bill Wilson. These complement the course text and give students an even greater foundational understanding of permaculture in preparation for their on-site training.

Included with this course will be another six-live webinars, all of which will be recorded for students who might need to miss one or more. Here are the dates and times:

Upon registration, students also receive full instructions on how to access the webinar classroom. Click here to learn more about how the webinars work.

Purchase Webinars & Self-Study Features Separately Price Applies Fully Towards a Future Design Certification Course...!!! If one is seriously interested in learning about permaculture but cannot commit to this certification course, the webinars and self-study features of our design courses can be enjoyed now, the student gaining a solid foundation in permaculture. The full price one pays for the webinars and self-study applies fully towards any of our design certification courses for a period of up to three years.   Click Here to Learn More I've LOVED these webinars. Thank you so much for offering the webinar-only option. I plan to take a certification class within the next couple of years, but these webinars allowed me to really bring together the self-study and in-the-dirt projects I've been working on. THANKS!" Leigh W. (5-13-09) Arkansas http://ozarksalive.org/larrapin/

Course Textbook    Included with the price of Registration 'Earth User's Guide to Permaculture' by Rosemary Morrow This gem of a text, shipped to students upon registration, is written by Rosemary Morrow, an Australian, that has taught permaculture around the world for decades. The book is straightforward and loaded with illustrations and substance. It covers theory and also focuses on the practical aspects of how to create and implement a permaculture design. This book is a must read for the serious permaculturist and is a requirement for students of our design certification courses. 150-Question Study Guide To complement the text we have created a study guide with 150-questions that will assist the student in anchoring the information contained in the book. If a student can answer these questions, they can be assured that they have grasped the foundations of the permaculture design certification course.

Additional Reading - This is Important!
To get the most out of this training we highly recommend that students read these 4 books. Bill and Wayne have read hundreds of books on permaculture, growing food and starting a successful business. These are at the top of their list for those intending to grow food from a permaculture perspective. At the training students will receive another two-dozen suggestions for good reading, but these are the most instructive for a solid foundation.
Start this course now. Read these books. Available Everywhere.

You Can Farm: The Entrepreneur's Guide to Start & Succeed in a Farming Enterprise ~ Joel F. Salatin

The One-Straw Revolution: An Introduction to Natural Farming ~ Masanobu Fukuoka

Gaia's Garden, (Second Edition) A Guide To Home-Scale Permaculture ~ Toby Hemenway

How to Grow More Vegetables (and Fruits, Nuts, Berries, Grains, and Other Crops) Than You Ever Thought Possible on Less Land Than You Can Imagine ~ John Jeavons

The On-Site Portion of Course:

Very Full Days
The on-site portion of the course begins on Saturday the 13th at 1:00pm and runs through noon the following Saturday, Feb. 20th. Even though students will have already completed up to 20-hours of certification studies through the webinars, there are still 52+ hours of training ahead. In order to fit the balance of the curriculum into only 8 days along with meeting all of the farmers, the on-site portion of the course starts at 8:30am each morning and runs all the way through 9-10pm. There are long breaks for lunch and dinner... but students need to come prepared for a very full week of learning, designing and fun.

Group and Personal Design projects
For all PDC trainings, students work on one or more designs in small groups. This is a requirement of certification and the project will be supplied by the instructors.

Invitation:  If one of the reasons you as a student might be taking this training is to learn the skills necessary to create a permaculture design for your own home or property, we invite you to bring your information about your site to the training.  For example, bring a sketch of your property in fairly accurate proportions and/or an aerial view map, a plant list of what is on your property now (does not have to be exhaustive – what are the dominant species – place them on the sketch), note the sunny and shady parts of the property and what direction is south, and what your current dreams or visions for the property might be.  There will be some time over the 8-days where individual/personal projects can be explored.  

Meals:
All meals, snacks, coffee, tea and water will be provided as part of the course tuition and will be served beginning with dinner on the first Saturday evening through lunch a week later. Meals will be prepared from mostly organic and locally raised foods and will include vegetarian and meat options.

Free Winter Camping
As part of the price of tuition, free camping space will be made available with toilets and showers nearby in heated spaces. This is a winter course however and one must be a very hearty and capable camper to deal with the cold and possibly stormy weather. We have relatively protective spaces for any campers should that be of any consolation. There are several tent spaces in a closed in porch.

Rooms in Stelle - $150 for the Week
Some of our fellow residents in Stelle are delighted to rent out their guest rooms for this modest fee for the whole week. All are a short walking distance from the classroom. Students can reserve a room when they register for the training directly on our E-Commerce site. Please email Becky (or call 815-256-2215) if you have questions.

What to Pack & Other Details
About 4 weeks before this training begins, students receive more information concerning what to expect, arrival dates and times, what to pack, access to maps, etc.

Certification
Students who complete this design course will receive a 'Certificate of Completion' which permits one to use the copyrighted word 'permaculture' in the promotion of their work or business. Graduates may offer workshops, lectures and design services. Click here for more on certification.

The 2009 Suburban/Urban Permaculture Design Certification Course Graduates

Course Fee & Registration:
The price for this course is $1,295.  (Plus $150 for lodging, if not camping)

Group Registrations - Save another $100
2 or more may register as a group and receive a $100 discount each. We've had friends, family members or couples register together and in the weeks before the course, ended up bringing in several more friends, everyone saving $100 each.

Call Becky for either more information or to set up a group (815-256-2215).

	Registration Process       Sorry... Registration for this Training is Closed             Option 1  We take MasterCard, Visa and Discover.            Option 2 Call Becky to register over the phone at 815-256-2215 with credit card or to mail in a personal check.

Down-Payment / Course Reservation
Our simple e-commerce page is not set-up to handle partial or down-payments. If making a partial payment is an important factor to your ability to participate, please call Becky at 815-256-2215 to work out these arrangements.

Low Risk Cancellation and Refund Policy
If a student cancels their registration 30-days before the on-site portion a course begins they receive a full refund less $250. The student retains access to all of the webinars, keeps the course handouts and text book, and receives a full $195 credit towards any future Midwest Permaculture design certification course, good for up to 3-years..

If a student cancels their registration in the 30-days before the course there will be a full refund less $350 and the student still receives a $195 credit towards our design courses. The credit is good for up to three years.

There are no refunds for cancellations or for withdrawals once the course begins. However, in certain circumstances, we may extend partial credit towards a future design course.

Already A Permaculture Design Course Graduate?
We offer a 33% discount to students who have already graduated from another recognized course (from anywhere in the world) who wish to take a Midwest Permaculture course as a refresher. Please email for details.

Still Have Questions?
You are welcome to email us or call Becky at 815-256-2215.

This was a Great Training Even Though it was Winter!

Random Pictures from this PDC Course February 2010 - Stelle Community in Illinois Text by Bill Wilson - Pictures from Bill and Anna Viertel

The whole class on a sunny day. We had students from Idaho, Minnesota, Michigan, Nova Scotia, Washington DC, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Illinois and our neighboring states of Indiana and Wisconsin.

The classroom

Michelle and Jesse

Mark and Kelly

Anna and Heidi

Gabriel and Ross - Laura in back

Charity

Gerlinde & Ross

Chatting with Larry Korn (on Masanobu Fukuoka and One Straw Revolution) over the internet. He joined us from Oregon where he was teaching another course.

Walking the Stelle orchard

Solar food dryer

PV solar panels for the chicken coop (We need extra light in winter to encourage egg production.)

Did we mention that it was flat in our part of Illinois? These are the organic pastures of Mint Creek Farm.

Stelle Pond and Community Windmill

Me Examining the Cattails

Native Honey Locust (Domesticated varieties have no needles)

Some students chose to walk back from Mint Creek Farm

Community Center Dinning Room

Vegetable and Worm Farmer, George Blackman

Michael Thompson of the Chicago Honey Co-op Six other farmers visited either in person or over the internet.

Wayne Weiseman's Grafting Demonstration

Frank, Sharron and Laura in Foreground

Teachers and Students Brainstorming a Student's Personal Project Wayne and Michelle in Foreground Mark, Gerlinde and Laura Observing

Wayne working with Sharron on her personal design project

The Students Divided into 3 Groups and Created a Permaculture Design for the Community Gardens, Pond and Orchard Areas Owned and Managed by our Non-Profit, Center for Sustainable Community

The Final Design Presentations Anna - Seth - Sarah - Michele - Ross

Michele and Ross

Center for Sustainable Community's Board and Members

Drawing of Part 1 of Design (Click on Picture to View a Larger Size) Click here for the Written Narrative

Drawing of Part 2 of Design (Click on Picture to View a Larger Size) Click here for Written Narrative

Drawing of Part 3 of Design (Click on Picture to View a Larger Size) Click here for Written Narrative