[Sdpg] Geoff Lawton Earthworks, Watershed Design, and Food Forests Intensive

[Living Mandala]

Dear Friends,

We are excited to announce an Advanced Permaculture Intensive with Geoff Lawton: Earthworks, Watershed Design, & Food Forests, directly following the Northern California Permaculture Convergence, Oct 16-19, 2012. This course is a rare opportunity to from an experienced veteran in the field on an beautiful broad-acre permaculture demonstration site in the heart of California’s rolling landscape.

More Information below.

Together on Earth,

-The Living Mandala Team

_____________________

Geoff Lawton Advanced Permaculture Intensive
Earthworks, Watershed Design, & Food Forests

Oct 16 - 19, 2012
GreenFriends Farm - Castro Valley, California

For More Information & To Register Click Here.



Course Overview

Earthworks construction, reforestation initiatives, or food production projects can be a rewarding investment in your property and for your family, community, and bioregion. Improving the functionality, restoring ecosystem health, enhancing aesthetic appeal, and increasing the value of your landscape are all realistic and achievable potential outcomes. However, it can be intimidating to undertake large projects like ordering heavy machinery onto your property, or designing and installing a large food forest orchard. Getting it wrong can be discouraging and very expensive. This course will give you the knowledge, practical experience, and confidence to get the design and implementation plan of your earthworks and follow-up strategies right the first time around.

Course Description

In 4 days, you will learn the basic theory and practice of Permaculture Earthworks, Watershed Design, Food Forest & Agroforestry including site design, survey, and analysis; directing earthmoving machines to establish dams, swales, terraces, ponds etc; watershed design and restoration techniques; and designing and implementing reforestation, agroforestry, and food forest projects accordingly. This course will blend theory with hands-on practical application in the context of a real life project and landscape of GreenFriends Farm. Many of the existing broad acre permaculture projects and strategies being implemented on-site were influenced and initiated by Geoff Lawton 3 years ago, and have since taken flight. This course will be a wonderful opportunity to learn from Geoff as we survey and assess the conditions, goals, and success of these initiatives, and determine the best strategies moving forward.

Day Topics

Though the course is a progression and we highly recommend taking the entire course if possible, it is possible to sign up for individual or multiple days. Though the schedule is not exact, over a period of 4 very full, informative days... we intend to cover the following.
Day 1 (Tues, Oct 16): Broad-acre Earthworks & Watershed Design
Day 2 (Wed, Oct 17):  Earthworks Design & Implementation
Day 3 (Thurs, Oct 18):  Watershed Restoration - Upstream Strategies
Day 4:  (Fri. Oct 19): Food Forests & Agro-Forestry
Affordable Sliding Scale Tuition

With the intentions to make this course as available to as many people as possible, we are offering this course for much less expansive than most of Geoff’s international courses of comparable size and content. Though the course is a progression and we highly recommend taking the entire course if possible, it is possible to sign-up for individual or select days as well. For Pricing Details Click Here

Special Discounts for NorCal Permaculture Convergence Participants!

We are offering a special discount for those who attend any part of the Northern California Permaculture Convergence, happening the weekend before this course from Oct 12-14, at GreenFriends Farm. Geoff Lawton will be one of the keynote speakers at the Convergence, along with a host of other speakers and workshops as well.

About the NorCal Permaculture Convergence

The Northern California Permaculture Convergence is an annual event which brings together permaculture designers, sustainability enthusiasts, and communities in Northern California, the West Coast, and beyond for a weekend of intensive focus on a common goal: to design sustainable habitats, in accordance with nature, for humans, plants, animals, our greater bioregion, and the Earth at large. Practitioners across a wide-spectrum of skill-sets exchange ideas through concurrent workshops and discussions ranging from organic agriculture and wildcrafting to natural building and appropriate technologies; from environmental remediation and disaster preparedness to community dynamics and global justice. In addition to a plethora of workshops and amazing speakers on a diversity of topics, there will also dedicated areas for skill sharing, collaborative discussions, children's activities, educational displays, and specialist vendors. Participants will have opportunities to socialize, network, and connect with others in this field through meals and the activities listed above. For more information Click Here.

Site Details - GreenFriends Farm

The beautiful 180 acre grounds of the GreenFriends Farm are becoming a demonstration & educational hub of leading permaculture, holistic management, and regenerative design practices. GreenFriends Farm began as a challenge to plant a thousand fruit trees on the overgrazed land of a former cattle ranch west of Oakland, California. Now, half way to meeting that number, it has become an educational center for cutting edge agriculture, a destination for enjoying nature, and a vibrant spot for volunteers of all ages and backgrounds. The site is also home to the M.A. Center  - the U.S. headquarters of international humanitarian & India Spiritual leader - Amma. www.embracingtheworld.org.

Broadacre Permaculture Demonstration - Site Projects Include:
500 plus tree orchard and food forest
Dynamic watershed restoration
Broad-acre land contouring & water infiltration
Keyline patterning & ploughing
Native reforestation & agroforestry
Holistically managed grazing
Soil food web management
Solar energy
Community garden & orchards
Sustainability & spirituality programs
Contact

For questions and more information regarding the course 
e-mail: education at livingmandala.com or 
call: 707-634-1461

For More Information & Registration Click Here

Living Mandala
Organizing Education, Events & Initiatives for Personal & Planetary Transformation
www.LivingMandala.com
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