Permaculture for Plant People

This course will walk you through the process of designing and stewarding diverse polyculture gardens growing food, medicine and a thriving garden ecosystem. We are excited to share practical applications of permaculture design including cultivation, making herbal remedies, and fermentation. It includes an introduction to propagation, harvesting, processing, storing techniques and herbal remedy making. You will learn how to cultivate the living soil to grow nutrient rich plants. We will introduce specific plants, their needs and how they weave into the garden ecosystem. We are covering broad strokes on herbal energetics and actions and how they work to support our health and wellbeing.

Participants who create and share a design project will receive a certificate of completion for this course. Each participant gains access to a drive full of resources. All classes are recorded and available for you to watch and rewatch for seasons to come.

REGISTRATION AND TUITION

Cost: $800 - $1200. We provide a sliding scale tuition format. YOU choose the best amount within the range provided that works for your budget. We have found that this format supports accessibility to these offerings.

Please register through the link below paying at the least a $300 non-refundable deposit to hold your place in this course. Second payments will be requested mid-February through email with a paypal link. Final payments will be due by the first day of class, we will email details about this after you register. Please reach out with any questions about payments.

SCHOLARSHIPS

We offer scholarships for this course for our BIPOC community. These full scholarships require no payment in exchange for taking the course. If you would like to apply for this please submit a letter of intention attached in an email addressed to Caroline Riley at mommacaroline AT gmail DOT com.

Class Meets

Monday & Wednesday afternoons 12-3pm on Zoom

In person sessions 10:30am-3pm in South Austin and South East Austin depending on the date.

*The final in person day is on SUNDAY 4/7*

More in person days on available Fridays during Community Herbalism Days.

Session 1. Zoom 3/4/2024

The Permaculture Garden

~Permaculture Ethics and Principles

~The Polyculture Garden

~Community herbalism and garden activism

Session 2. Zoom 3/6/2024

Design Methods for Plant People

~Get oriented with flows and sectors - sun, water, wildlife, people

~Zones of Use

~Create your vision and goal/context for your project

Session 3. Whole Life Learning Center  3/9/24

-Seed to remedy: Sit spot, Plant walk, Harvest, process and dry herbs, Tincture making, Oxymel,Tea

Session 4. Zoom 3/6/2024

The Living Soil

~ no-till, succession, as above so below

~ Small Scale Earthworks to utilize water

~ Growing healthy soil takes time - a soil succession story

~ Composting and medicinal plants through succession of your soil

Session 5. Zoom 3/13/1024

Companion Planting

~ Zone 1 - growing veggies and herbs

~ Mycology in the living soil and for edibles/medicinals

~ Site specific growing conditions for Central Texas and beyond

Session 6. Whole Life Learning Center 3/16/2024

Composting & Propagation - soap making, Home mushroom cultivation, potting soil, seed starting, divisions from the garden, mushroom block to take home

Session 7. Zoom 3/18/2024

Seed To Remedy

~ Herbal tastes, energetics and actions

Session 8. Zoom 3/20/2024

~ Farm to Table, from the garden to the kitchen, fermentation

~ Local resources and simple home solutions

~ Animals in design

Session 9. Cosmos Ranch 3/23/24

Fermentation & Cooking- herbal syrups, pickled radishes, cheese making, sourdough & sauerkraut

Session 10. Zoom 3/25/2024

~ Design Basics - creating an easy functional scale design to get the job done.

~ Scaled designs to help us see the bigger picture and support our budgets and time

~ How to build different types of gardens

~ Earthworks & Ponds

Session 11. Zoom 3/27/2024

~Perennial food forest gardens

~Polyculture to grow edibles and medicinals

Session 12. Cosmos Ranch 3/30/24

-Planting Day - salve making, planting perennial and annual food and medicine plants, a polyculture garden

Session 13. Zoom 4/1/2024

~Propagation stations for small scale needs

~Seeds, seed saving, cuttings, division and grafting

Session 14. Zoom 4/3/2024

~Design shares and celebrations

Session 15. Whole Life Learning Center - Sunday 4/7/24

~ A time to harvest and enjoy the fruits of our labor together - Press and share tincture, Press Oxymel, enjoy foods and medicines together, Certificate of Completion, Be the Fulcrum ~ Break ground - An Invitation, A Celebration!