permaculture

[YankeePerm@aol.com]

I have seen some email on this list and had some private email that indicates
that some basic materials, such as the non-competition ethic, ability to deal
with multiple ecosystems, etc., are not covered in many courses.

In the 16-1/2 years since I took a course with Bill, we have had many student
feedback sessions and ample opportunity to judge course effectiveness on the
basis of design project results.

I am going to give the full outline of our 20-26 week online course below, to
show the topics covered.  Ethics are covered in print, in the required
reading, and again and again during the course.  We require two sessions of
student teaching practice and report back during the online course and at
least one in the live course, two if we can squeeze a second into the busy
three-week schedule.  All our certificate students are required to
participate in a design project and, rarely, we do not issue a certificate if
we feel the work in not up to beginning standards--ours as these are the only
ones I know about.  Moreover, in our publications we have made major efforts,
successfully, to plug many of the information holes in the published
permaculture literature.  This is very important--information needs to be
pulled together and made accessible and clear.  This is our contribution to
the massive body of work available from Mollison et al that got us started.
 Finally, we have been working on a seemingly neglected area of
permaculature, principles of transformation.  It is no good to have a design
if you don't know how to get there from where you are.  Staging is important
and needs to be stressed--but what are the principles of staging
(transformation)?  We are a few years from publishing on this--turns out to
be much more involved than stating the 8 priniciples of design.

Our online course outline is below.  It is offered in lieu of further
discussion on my part as I have already indicated I am other wise occupied
for a while.  

For Mother Earth, Dan Hemenway, Yankee Permaculture Publications (since
1982), Elfin Permaculture workshops, lectures, Permaculture Design Courses,
consulting and permaculture designs (since 1981), and now correspondence
courses via email.  Next starts in Oct. 1997. Internships available.
Copyright, 1997, Dan & Cynthia Hemenway, P.O. Box 52, Sparr FL 32192 USA
 YankeePerm@aol.com  

We don't have time to rush.

`e24
ELFIN PERMACULTURE
P.O. Box 2052, Ocala FL 34478-2052 USA
Last Updated: 1/11/97
EMAIL PERMACULTURE DESIGN COURSE

        Reading assignments shown here may be superseded by specific 
assignment
sheets issued before and during the course.  This schedule is simply to
enable you to do some advanced reading. Items marked with an asterisk are
included in required reading list.

        In sending email about the course content, please put the course week 
and
topic in the subject field plus the specific them of  your comments.  For
example, if you have a comment about our emphasis on teaching rather than
consulting in our courses, you could address it as follows in the Subject
Field:

Week 1: Style, schedule, intent ..., Consulting by Design Course Graduates

In that way, we can file your comments exactly where they belong.

Your comments to the course are automatically copyrighted by US copyright law
and probably by the laws of other countries. (There has been strong movement
toward uniformity of these laws in recent decades.)  We would like to be able
to share your comments with students in subsequent courses.  To do this, we
need either a) a blanket statement that we canuse your comments in this way
or b) a statement on specific comments that you will allow to be used in this
way.  WE WILL NOT ASK FOR A WAIVER OF COPYRIGHT unless we wish to publish
your comments in some other way.  If you do not voluntarily waive copyright,
we assume that you do not want your comments shared beyond the course.  

It is possible that we will wish to publish your design, or portions of it,
as a resource from our special order list.   In that case, we will approach
you for permission.  


WEEK 1 Introduction/Bad News
# Introductions--Send your personal statement to everyone.
# Style, schedule, intent, and content of course
# Overview of permaculture
        Bad News - 
                Water
                Soil
                Air
                Climate
                Forests
        Good News - 
                Permaculture

# Feedback and questions

Reading for Week 1:
        *"The Fate of Our Forests, A Time to Choose" by Dan Hemenway, TIPSY 
#4. 
        *"Permaculture Design: A Warning, a Vision, a Gift" by Dan Hemenway, 
TIPSY
#3.
        *"Solar Age or Ice Age?" by Don Weaver, TIPSY #4. 
        *"A Green World Instead of the Green House" by James Duke, TIPSY #3. 
        *"Climate & Ozone: The Stratospheric Link" by John Gribbin, TIPS I, 
3. 
        *"Politics and Genetic Resources," by Cary Fowler, TIPSY #3. 
        *Permaculture Design Course Pamphlet  I  by Bill Mollison
        *Permaculture Design Course Handbook  (pg. 1)   *The Man Who Planted 
Hope and
Grew Happiness   (A mythical account.) by Jean Giono.
        State of the World  (Current & past editions), WorldWatch Inst. [
        Global 2000 Report
        Robin  (Volumes IV-XI)
        Survival of Civilization, by John Hamaker & Don Weaver
        "Farm Debt" by Wes Jackson TIPSY #4.
        Rights to Our Genetic Resources  by Sahabat Alam Malaysia.

WEEK 2 Basic Principles
# Feedback and questions

# Entropy
# Principles of natural design
# Mollison's design principles (Handbook, pp. 1-3)
# Succession

Reading for Week 2:
        *"Living Lovingly on the Earth" by Dan Hemenway, TIPSY #2  (pg. 9 ff.)
        Entropy   by Jeremy Rifkin (Viking Press)
        *Permaculture Designer's Handbook  by Bill Mollison (Chapters 1 and 2)
        *"Forests: Green Gifts from Gaia" by Bill Mollison. TIPSY #3 (pg. 22 
ff.)
        *"Traditional Practices of Farmers," Sahabat Alam Malaysia, TIPS I, 1.
        *Introduction to Permaculture  by Bill Mollison (Chapt. 1-3).


WEEK 3 Permaculture Design Basics
#       Feedback and questions

# Permaculture design (Handbook,  pp. 2-3)
+ Design examples (instructor's option)

Reading for Week 3:
        *Permaculture Design Course Pamphlet  VIII  
        *Permaculture Designers' Manual  (Chapter 3)
        Ocean Arks and City Farms

Week 4: Idealized Landscapes
#       Feedback and questions

#       Humid landscapes
         Keyline
        Arid landscapes
        Other landscapes
        YPC Pamphlet #10, Erosion: Principles & Management   by John Farghar
        YPC Pamphlet #11, Arid Lands Water Harvesting  by John Farghar

# Feedback and questions

Reading for Week 4
        *Permaculture Design Course Handbook  (pp. 5-8)
        *Water for Every Farm by  P.A. Yeomans
        *Permaculture Design Course Pamphlets II, III, IV, V, and VI
        *Permaculture Designers' Manual  (Chapters 10-12)

Week 5 Patterning/Edges/The Permaculture Design Report

# Feedback and questions

# Edges, edge effects, edge harmonics
# Client Interviews
# Overview: The permaculture design report

Reading for Week 5:
        *Permaculture Design Course Pamphlets VII and IX
        *Permaculture Designers' Manual  (Chapter 4)
        *Patterning (PDC Handbook,  pg. 4

Week 6: Feedback, Catch-up, Review, Field Work
# Feedback and questions

# Principles of transformation, presentation by instructor of a study in
progress.
# Principles of transformation, discussion by class
# Field work and report.  You should have completed your client interview and
a preliminary field visit of your design site.  A progress report will be
assigned.

Week 7 Work on your design.
#  Pursue student questions or themes special to this course.
#  Students do more field work and research for their design report.
 Summarize what you have done on your design so far less than 500 words,
including questions, problems to be solved, etc.

Reading for Week 7:
        *"The Plitics of Diversity" by Vandana Shiva
        *  How to Live - Free at Last   by Pat ffyske Howden

YOU HAVE NOW COMPLETED THE FIRST SEGMENT OF THE COURSE.

THIS HAS BEEN AN INTRODUCTION TO NATURAL DESIGN PRINCIPLES AND
CONSIDERATIONS. IN THE NEXT SEGMENT OF THE COURSE WE WILL LOOK AT TECHNIQUES,
STRATEGIES, AND THEMES that may be included in a Permaculture Design. A major
purpose of the following segment of the course is to exemplify the
applicability of the design principles.  Another purpose is to make you aware
that bodies of information exist which you can study in detail when
appropriate for a given design.

Week 8  ENERGY
# Feedback and questions        

# Conservation and edge: Solar and conservation vocabulary and concepts.
# Biomass 
# Wind power, wind breaks, natural cooling, & water power

Reading for Week 8:
(The field of energy has a good many useful books.  We list just a few
resources here.)
        *Energy Paper #1, by Bill Mollison (YPC Paper 13 - North America 
edition)
        *Energy Paper #2, by Bill Mollison (YPC Paper 14)
        Permaculture I  (pg. 41 ff. - Windbreaks)
        Methane Generation from Human, Animal and Agricultural Wastes  (NAS)
        Energy for Rural Development & Supplement (NAS)
        The Methods of Jean Pain (Difficult to read)
        The Solar Greenhouse Book (McCullagh)
        The Passive Soar Energy Book (Mazria)
        *Low Cost Passive Solar Greenhouses  by National Center for 
Appropriate
Technology
        *Permaculture Designers' Manual  (Chapter 5)

Week 9  NUTRIENT CYCLES-A-SOILS
# Feedback and questions

# Soils   (Handbook,  pp. 6-7)
# Soil treatments
# Soil shaping
# Shaping time as a dimension of soil
# Hybrid systems - Fukuoka
# Keyline cultivation

Reading for Week 9:
        *TIPS I, 3.  Special soils issue. Very important.
        *Water for Every Farm and the Keyline Method
        How to Grow More Food Than You Thought Possible... by John Jeavons
        The One Straw Revolution  by Masanobu Fukuoka
        Any of Ruth Stout's books from Rodale
        *Designers Manual  (Chapters 5 & 6)
        Worms Eat My Garbage, by Mary Applehof
        "Information for Using Gesteinsmehl" translated by Christian Campe, 
TIPS I,
1.
        Guidelines for Development Agents on Soil Conservation in Ethiopia,
 Ethiopian Soil Conservation    Research Project.
        *Erosion: Principles and Management,  Yankee PC Paper 10, by John 
Fargher.
        Gardening Articles, Yankee PC Paper 16, reprints, Dan Hemenway
        Articles about Soil,  Yankee PC Paper 30, reprints, Dan Hemenway
        *Circle Gardens, by Richard Webb & Dan Hemenway. Yankee PC Paper 20.
        *Introduction to Permaculture,  Chapt. 5.

WEEK 10: NUTRIENT CYCLES - B- Microclimate/Composting Toilets/Seed
Saving/Biological Pest Control
# Feedback and questions

# Microclimate; Phenology
# Perennial gardening, self-sowing, tree crops, food parks
# Composting toilets
# Livestock
# Seed saving, food storage
# Biological pest control

Reading for Week 10:
        *PDC Handbook (pp. 14-16)
        The Onions, by Mollison (Yankee PC Paper 1)
        *"The Massachusetts Fruition Program," by Judy Heiman and "Proposed 
Criteria
for Evaluating Plants Suitable for Fruition Projects" by Dan Hemenway, both
in TIPSY #1.
        *"A Fruition Guide to Design, TIPSY #2.
        *"A Plea for Phenology," by James Duke, TIPS I, 1.
        *Composting Human Wastes,  by Dan Hemenway & David Stephens, Yankee 
PC Paper
17.
        *"Diversity among Plants," by Dan Hemenway, TIPSY #1.
        "Genetic Design for Permaculture Systems," by Eric van Lennep, TIPSY 
#2.
        "Collecting Tree & Shrub Seed," by Michael Pilarski, TIPSY #2.
        "Indecks Cards: An Effective Alternative to Computers for Permaculture
Species Selection," by Earle Barnhart, TIPSY #2.
        "Collecting Tree and Shrub Seed - Part II" by Michael Pilarski, TIPSY 
#3.
        Seed to Seed  by Susan Ashworth (Seed Savers Exchange). (See also SSE
reference volumes on available varieties of garden seed, fruit and nut
plants, etc.)
        For reference: Cornucopia: A  Source Book of Edible Plants  by Stephen
Facciola.
        *Rights to Our Genetic Resources  by Sahabat Alam Malaysia.
        *"Humanity at the Crossroads of Biotechnology" by Asia-Pacific 
People's
Network, TIPS I, 2.
        *"Standards vs. Hybrids," by Rob Johnston, TIPS I, 2.
        "Annuals and Perennials in the Permaculture Scenario," by James Duke, 
TIPS
I, 2.
        Horticultural Management of Solar Greenhouses, by Klin
        For reference: Dictionary of Cultivated Plants & Their Regions of 
Diversity
        For reference: Plant Propagation, by Hartmann & Kester
        The Future is Abundant  (TILTH, out of print)
        "One Man's Search for Biological Control of Poison Ivy," by James 
Duke.
TIPSY #3.
        *"An Integrated Pest Control System for a Rice Paddy," by Lonna 
Nachtigal &
Dan Hemenway, TIPS I, 1.

WEEK 11: NUTRIENT CYCLES C-Cultivated Systems/Forests
# Feedback and questions

# Cultivated systems including edible landscapes.
# Tropical reforestation/agroforestry

Reading for Week 11:
        * Forests (Handbook, pp. 11-12)
        * PDC Pamphlet VII & X
        *"Forests: Green Gifts from Gaia" by Bill Mollison, TIPSY #3.
        *Designing and Maintaining Your Edible Landscape Naturally, by Robert 
Kourik
        *Designers Manual  (Chapter 6)
        Tree Crops, by J. Russell Smith
        The Book of Bamboo, by Farrelly
        Plants for Use in Permaculture in the Tropics  by Frank Martin, 
Yankee PC
Paper 31.
        See other articles in TIPS and TIPSY including materials on oaks, 
chestnut
blight, and specific tree crops, particularly in TIPSY 3.

WEEK 12: Design for Catastrophe
# Feedback and questions
# Discuss individual design projects.

Reading for Week 12:
        * Design for catastrophe  (Handbook,  pp. 8-9)
        Design Client Survey (Paper 21)
        *Permaculture for Fire Control   by Bill Mollison, PDC Pamphlet V.

WEEK 13:  Teaching Permaculture
# Feedback and questions

# Teaching permaculture, discuss experiences.

WEEK 14         DISCUSS DESIGN PROJECT PROGRESS.  Submit a report of up to 
1,000
words indicating your progress, problems, questions, and plans.  The design
aspect of this course is now getting into high gear.  

WEEK 15: WATER
# Feedback and questions

# Water 
        - Aquaculture, Mariculture, etc.
        - Discuss design project water treatments.

Reading for Week 15: - 
        * Impoundments (Handbook,  pp. 12-14)
        *PDC Pamphlet XI
        *Water for Every Farm
        *Permaculture Designers' Manual (Chapter 13)
        Ponds--Planning, Design, Construction  (SCS)
        Rain Catchment and Water Supply in Rural Africa
        More Water for Arid Lands  (NAS)
        The Freshwater Aquaculture Book  by Bill McLarney.
        *TIPSY #4 (Wet environments issue)
        *Useful Plants of Wetlands   by Bill Mollison, Yankee PC Paper #6.
        "The Farmed Wetland Alternative: Crawfish and Bald Cypress" by Michael
Miltner, TIPS I, 1.
        "T. O. Warren on Mayhaws," TIPS I,3.
        *"Chinampa Agriculture in the Valley of Mexico: Coevolution of 
Technology
and Ecology," by Bill McLarney.  TIPS I, 3.


WEEK 16: Buildings
# Feedback and questions

# Student presentations on building experience
# Students present design questions and problems

Reading for Week 16: 
.       *Buildings (Handbook, pp 9-10)
        All of the Ken Kern books
        Cordwood construction books by Rob Roy and Jack Henstridge
        *Permaculture Technique,  by Bill Mollison, PDC Pamphlet IX .
        *Outlines for Permaculture Village Development, by Bill Mollison
        *Introduction to Permaculture   by Bill Mollison, Chapt. 4.

You have now completed the second segment of the course.  By now, you should
have a clear idea of what constitutes a Permaculture Design and be well along
on your own design project for the course.

Week 17: Review/Design Work
This week is set aside for reviewing any areas where students still feel weak
and for discussing design issues in the student design projects.

Reading for Week 17:
        *PDC Pamphlets VIII and IX

WEEK 18:  Invisible Structures
# Feedback and questions

# Urban Permaculture
#  Bioregionalism
#  Alternative Economics
 (Deadline to register for a course  certificate. If you do not have a form,
please ask for one.  If you miss this deadline, you do not get a
certificate.)

Reading for Week 18:
        Robin  (Early issues.)
        The Integral Urban House
         *Bioregional Organization,  by Bill Mollison, Yankee PC Paper 8
        *Introduction to Permaculture, Chapt. 8.
        *Permaculture Designers' Manual  Chapt 14.
        *Permaculture for Urban Areas & Urban-Rural Linkages  by Bill 
Mollison, PDC
Pamphlet XII.
        *The Permaculture Community  by Bill Mollison, PDC Pamphlet XIII.
        *The Permaculture Alternative  by Bill Mollison, PDC Pamphlet XIV.
        *Permaculture for Millionaires,  by Bill Mollison, PDC Pamphlet XV.
        *TIPSY #1 and TIPSY #2, Urban Permaculture Sections.
        *"Ethics, Environment and Economics -- A Bioregional Perspective" by 
Dan
Hemenway, TIPS I, 1.
        *Kudzu Utilization Concept Paper,  by Dan Hemenway, Yankee PC Paper 
34.
        YPC Pamphlet #15:  Outlines for Permaculture Village Development  by 
Bill
Mollison.

WEEK 19: Students Deliver Their Permaculture Design Report
# Feedback and questions

# Design reports

Reading for Week 19:
        *Designing for Permaculture  by Bill Mollison, PDC Pamphlet VIII.
        
WEEK 20: What Next? Evaluation.
# Final questions

# Role of Permaculture Trainees
# Students individually discuss commitments, networking, plans, etc.
# Evaluation  A completed course evaluation is a requirement for certification
.  Please add comments on areas not covered by the evaluation as well.
 Monitors are welcome to submit evaluations.  Evaluations are important
stimulii to the evolution of the Elfin Permaculture Design Course.
# Teaching permaculture-- Q & A

Course ends

Basic References to Use in the Months and Years Following the Course
        TRIP-The Resources of International Permaculture,  Dan & Cynthia 
Hemenway,
Eds. (A directory of thousands of groups working on issues related to aspects
of permaculture. Paper or disk.)
        The Permaculture Resource Directory,  by Richard Webb. A comprehensive
listing of reference material for teaching and practicing permaculture. For
additional books, check the book review sections of TIPSYs and TIPS for
descriptions of hundreds more useful publications.
        Yankee Permaculture Paper #27, Special Order List, offers dozens of 
designs,
reports, translations, offprints, etc., on a special order basis.
        Elfin Permaculture Press List, Yankee PC Paper #23. Lists hundreds of
publications of interest to, and potentially interested in, Permaculture.
 Available on disk and as special order print out.  TRIP is a better primary
source, though this list includes many publications not on TRIP.
        Permaculture journals and newsletters in various countries carry
announcements of courses and sometimes offer lists of national or regional
graduates.  See TRIP for a list of these publications.
        Elfin Permaculture Supplier List (PSL), hundreds of suppliers of 
seeds,
plants, tools, shelter, water, alternative energy, energy conservation, and
other products for living lightly and deliberately.  Availabe on disk and as
special order print out.