Note: For 2021, our focus will be on producing and providing the Gardening Essentials course. We look forward to offering more Permaculture Design courses in the future.
Understanding and including climate early in the design process is one of the most important ways in which you can design a habitat to be more comfortable, resilient and productive.
It’s commonly understood that plants do better in growing conditions that mimic the climate from which they originate. It’s equally important to consider your local climate when choosing housing, energy systems, water systems, types of windbreaks, roads and pathways, thinking about the animals you might include, trees, fire and flood prevention, and managing your soil. This is one of the most common mistakes people make with their properties, not designing for climatic factors almost at the start.
In this module, we’ll cover the major climates of planet earth (tropical, drylands, temperate) which will prepare you for understanding and successfully designing in any local climatic variation in which you might find yourself. We’ll cover the P.A. Yeoman’s Scale of Permanance, a fantastic system for prioritising “what to do first” on a property. During the afternoon, we’ll visit a nearby two acre property and get some “on the ground” design practice. We’ll finish the day with a presentation by Nari Williams of her excellent design project from 2019.
Tutors
TBA
Reading the Landscape and Designing for Water →
Quotes
“Today’s climate and water module was the best one yet. Teaching climate with a hair dryer and understanding water flow across the soil with a muffin tin was simple, hilarious and I’ll never forget it. I’m also really enjoying the group – I’m getting inspired by this creative, practical team!”
“After Neville’s session, I have a much better understanding of what makes weather and different climate happen. I am left a bit terrified though about how incredibly complex climate change is and what is facing us as a species in the future. We all discussed that at the end of the day, and now I know I need to do my part to get carbon back into the soil. “