A Day in the Country

We know Whakamarama is a bit out of the way, so we’ve lined up six activities and discussions to entice you to make the drive. Come to one or all.  Bring your lunch, and learn about:

9:15 am         Permaculture Design: What is it, what’s the latest, where to learn it and how to get a design for your place. 

10:00 am      Fruit Tree Pruning: An easy to understand introduction to pruning fruit trees.  The whiteboard theory session will be followed by a pruning demonstration. You”ll go home ready to prune your own peach /almond /nectarine trees. See also our April pruning workshop on apples and plums.

11:30  Pain Free Gardening:  Look forward to years of pain-free gardening by learning about everyday movement patterns: sitting, standing, using a shovel. Your tutor Gisella Warmenhoven is a trained landscaper, a practitioner of Feldenkrais and Alexander Technique. 

12:30pm    Lunch Bring your own, make a cuppa and we’ll all sit on the cottage deck and enjoy the gardens, view and conversation.

1:00pm    Alternate Energy Options: Introduction into alternate energy options: solar PV, solar thermal, wind and micro hydro. Permaculture designer Neville Dunton will direct a discussion on things to consider before you make the leap, inexpensive changes you could make before you invest and best value options without any hype. 

2:00         Essence of Forest Garden Design: Multi-layered, woodland-type gardening styles can grow lots more food and protect soils, when correctly designed and planted. We’ll share with you the critical concepts and calculations for designing a successful BOP forest garden. Catherine Dunton-McLeod. 

2:45           Fun Intro to Permaculture Design: Tutor Catherine Dunton-McLeod will round up the day with a zany but instructive group exercise from the year long permaculture design course.