Pictures from February 2011 PDC Course – Stelle, Illinois
Pictures and text by Bill Wilson

Students arrive on a chilly day but receive a warm welcome
to our community of Stelle.

The classroom was bright and comfortable. Wayne teaching.

Becky talking on permaculture principles.

Students ‘sampling’ some of Milton Dixon’s home brewed wine & beer.

Milton… proud of his work.
(He should be — it was delicious…!!!)

Wayne building his homemade biochar rocket stove.

It will smoke for the first few minutes but once it starts to
really pull with the updraft, the stove can clearly begin to sound like a rocket
and the burn is very clean with no smoke.

Milton showed students how use the A-frame.

I made another form of rocket stove from simple bricks.

Most students rented a warm room in one of our neighbor’s homes,
but Scott was determined to do some winter camping.
He lasted the entire week… and it got down to zero degrees on one night.

Meals are always delicious and Becky was able to source many items
from local growers. If food was purchased, it was organic.

We took a site tour to Spence Farm. a 45 minute drive from Stelle.

After an overview talk of their sustainable operation, we took a walk.

Kris and Marty get an early start in their hoop house.
The soil was actually warm from the sunny date we had earlier.

Wayne sharing of some of his experience with green houses.

Kris and Marty found a ready market for their pork at specialty restaurants.
This breed can be raised by grazing them on grass all summer long.

Here are the young ones enjoying a meal of hay.

Plant starts in their basement.

Kris (second from left) with four of our students. Kris and Marty
were incredibly generous with their time and information.
This stop was considered a highlight of the training.

These grow beds use a very small amount of electricity
to keep the soil of young plants warm.

In the final days, the design projects begin.

Students worked in teams of three.

Dan is a graduate student and teaching intern of ours who helped
during the training in exchange for the experience of
observing the teaching process and doing some teaching as well.

Graduation morning

End of Course

We’d love to have you join us for our Winter 2012 PDC Course
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