permaculture

[lbarnes <lbarnes@primeline.com>]

PERMACULTURE DESIGN COURSE

METHOW VALLEY, NORTH-CENTRAL WASHINGTON
NORTH CASCADES

JULY 6-20, 1999

A two-week course on sustainable design.
Held in the beautiful North Cascades

INSTRUCTORS:
Michael Pilarski, Ted Butchardt, Suzanne Martin, Simon Henderson, Jerry 
Johnson, Ed Welch, George Wooten & others.

This course will emphacise:
sustainable forestry, agroforestry,
medicinal herbs, lesser-known crops, and native plants.

A two-week residential course
at Herb'n Relief Farm on the Methow River.

Sponsored by
Friends of the Trees Society

Course site & Facilities: 

The course will be held at Herb 'n Relief Farm, Peter & Ali Vogt's 
70-acre property outside of Twisp, Washington. The farm includes river 
frontage on the Methow River at an elevation of 1,650'. Facilities 
include several buildings including a large, beautiful lodge where we
can 
hold classes. We will also set up an outdoor teaching area. We are 
outside quite a bit anyway with hands-on activities and field trips. 
Shower facilities are available. For those hot days, we have a pond and 
the river to cool off in. A sweat lodge will be available.  

Course fee: $850

About the Course: The main purpose of the course is to impart 
permaculture principles and methodologies which can be applied anywhere 
in the world. Through lecture, discussion, observation, field trips and 
hands-on activities, permaculture design students will develop the 
practical skills and knowledge to design and implement sustainable 
systems that are in harmony with the natural world. Course participants 
will work in design teams to produce a permaculture design for the 
70-acre Vogt property. We will cover dozens of crops which can provide 
family needs or cash income. Medicinal herbs will be a major focus. 
Although this course's focus is on the interior Northwest, participants 
from other bioregions are also welcome. Permaculture principles, design 
methodology and many of our techniques are applicable around the world. 

Permaculture is an integrated systems approach 
to designing sustainable homes, farms and communities.

IINSTRUCTORS:

Michael Pilarski has lived and worked in eastern Washington and north 
Idaho since 1972. He has extensive experience in organic farming, seed 
collecting, plant propagation, horticulture, wildcrafting medicinal 
herbs, teaching, and international networking.  I have taught seventeen 
permaculture design courses thus far including in  the cold northern 
climates of British Columbia, Nova Scotia and Wisconsin; the temperate 
climates of Puget Sound, Oregon and California; and the subtropical 
climates of Hawai`i, Nepal and Belize. I am excited to be offering the 
first permaculture design course held in the Interior Northwest in six 
years. 
        In 1986, I hosted and graduated from a Permaculture Design
Course taught 
by Bill Mollison near Cle Elum in eastern Washington. Mollison is the 
founder of permaculture and one of the world's leading authorities on 
sustainable settlement in arid and semi-arid lands. This was the first 
design course taught by Bill which focused specifically on "Drylands 
Permaculture". We will use & adapt Mollison's Drylands Permaculture 
Design Course curriculum.

Suzanne Martin is the co-founder of Kikta Design, a permaculture design 
and consultation firm in Kitsap County. 

Ted Butchardt is founder of Greenfire Permaculture. He is an architect 
who has specialized in straw bale structures (the leading builder and 
teacher of straw bale building in Washington State. He has co-taught a 
number of permaculture courses. Ted will join us for several days to 
present on straw bale, cob and local building materials, including some 
hands-on. He'll also do a session on large-scale climate patterns and 
microclimates. 
. 
Simon Henderson has studied traditional agriculture systems in many
parts 
of the world (great slide shows) and was permaculture instructor at the 
Bear Tribe near Spokane for many years. One of the veteran permaculture 
instructors in the Pacific Northwest and currently a bamboo specialist.

Jerry Johnson manages his family property for cattle, grain and wildlife 
habitat in the channeled scablands southeast of Spokane. He is a 
permaculture course graduate and teaches classes in the Spokane area.

Ed Welch is a long-time Methow organic farmer growing vegetables and 
medicinal herbs who also has an organic alcohol distillery. He is 
familiar with many esoteric farming methods and is a local pioneer in 
culturing and applying beneficial soil microorgaisms. 

George Wooten is a local botanist with a broad knowledge of native
plants 
and essential oils. 

Other guest presenters to be announced. Course participants will also 
bring a wide range of knowledge and experience. 

Course topics:
* Permaculture principles
* Permaculture methodology
* Organic gardening
* Organic agriculture
* Agroforestry systems
* Straw bale building
* Natural building
* Ecosystem restoration
* Livestock raising
* Urban permaculture
* Appropriate energy
* Village development
* Intentional  communities
* Observation skills
* Site analysis & design
* Water harvesting
* Irrigation
* Arid land strategies
* Edible landscaping
* Tree crops
* Windbreaks
* Medicinal herbs
* Wildcrafting
* Seed collecting
* Erosion control
* Aquaculture/ponds
* Sustainable forestry
* Integrated pest management
* Networking & research
* Formal & informal economies
           and much, much more . . .

Methow Ecosystems:  The Methow river riparian zone is dominated by 
cottonwoods. Semi-arid low-elevation sites only recieve 12-15" annual 
precipitation and support shrub steppe with sagebrush (Artemisia 
tridentata), bitterbrush (Purshia tridentata) and rabbitbrush 
(Chrysothamnus nauseosus) as well as bunchgrass ecosystems. Aspen
groves, 
ponderosa pine and Douglas-fir forests occupy the zones above. Higher 
still in the mountains are wetter subalpine forests and meadows and then 
timberline, krummholz, and alpine tundra. We will make field trips to 
many of these local ecosystems up to as high as 7,440' Slate Peak in the 
North Cascades. (if the snow melts in time). Methow ecosystems are 
similar to plant communities found throughout the interior Northwest. 
Mongolia, the Altai Mountains and parts of central Asia and Far East 
Russia have analogous climates and many flora affinities. Eventually we 
should have some farmer to farmer exchanges with this region and joint 
permaculture courses. 

Accomodations: There may be a few indoor accomodations but most 
participants from outside the valley will have to set up their own tent 
or utilize one of the several tipis on site. Participants can bring
their 
own tents, vans or live-in rigs. Local participants can commute from 
their homes if they wish.  

Food: Three tasty wholesome meals a day will be provided with an
emphasis 
on local, organic food. Be sure to note any health needs or dietary 
preferences on your registration. 

COURSE TUITION: 
Tuition for the course is $850. This includes instruction, meals, 
lodging, curriculum materials, and use of facilities. Several partial 
scholarships are available with preference given to Third World or
Native 
Americans. A $250 dollar deposit is required with registration. $100 of 
the deposit is non-refundable. Single day attendance is possible at $75 
per day. Participants will be sent an information packet upon 
registration. 

About Permaculture
* The term "permaculture" was coined in 1978 by Australians Bill
Mollison 
and David Holmgren as a contraction of "permanent agriculture". It can 
also be defined as "permanent culture". 
* Permaculture is about self-reliance, growing food, and building  
energy-efficient structures from local materials.
* Permaculture establishes multiple-story, agroforestry systems using 
tree crops, shrubs, vines and herbaceous plants in symbiotic assemblages 
which are highly productive. 

Certification: Course graduates will be certified as Permaculture Design 
Trainees, and after two years experience will be eligible for Applied 
Permaculture Design diplomas. Graduates are entitled to use the term 
"Permaculture" in pursuit of livelihood, and for educational purposes. 

Friends of the Trees Society
PO Box 4469, 
Bellingham, Washington 98227
Tel: (360) 724-0503. (after 5/24/99 call (509) 997-9200
Email: trees@telcomplus.net