Just before Christmas I learned about this FREE University level course that the Oregon State University is offering. I asked around and a few people that have taken the course told me it was well worth the effort. They say that it's a solid introduction to design and the overall concepts of permaculture. The benefit of having a large community and guidance right at their finger tips made all the difference.
The Details
The Course begins April 23rd but you can register any time. Its a self paced course requiring about two to four hours of your time per week. There is a chat group so that you can communicate and work with other students and get support. You can sign up from anywhere in the world. They'll get you to fill out your time zone during the sign up process.
Sign Up Link
Here is the link to the Oregon State University course sign up page. The course is called: Learn Permaculture Design On-line for Free
They also have free links to a textbook some diagrams and a podcast on this page.
Why I Am Taking The Course
I have no affiliation with this course or the school, I just got so excited when I learned about it that I wanted to share. I've been struggling to fully apply permaculture to our homestead. The books that I picked up are so darn advanced! We grow a lot of our own food but would like to do better with creating a food forest that cares for itself along with growing many more perennial foods.
Maybe I'll see you online!
You can follow me @walkerland
photo credit: pixabay CCO Creative commons: congerdesign
Wonder if you have to be, an american or would you think it would be open to Canadians as well. Worth checking into. Thanks for the TIP
I've taken that course. It's worth your time.
(giant if coming up)
IF... you have no idea or just the very slightest idea what permaculture is.
The course is an INTRO to Permaculture. It's the very very minimal and basic stuff that you can gather even from a light reading like Gaia's Garden or Graham Burnett's Beginners Guide, let alone the Earth Care Manual.
Don't get me wrong. Andrew is a great presenter, the material is bite-sized, the exercises will make you think about your property (but you probably already thought a lot more about it and already did the zones and sectors design and the general planing, etc)...
You can save yourself the "suspense" and get the whole material for the course from here: http://library.open.oregonstate.edu/permaculture/
And those are the videos that are presented in the course (it's a whole playlist):
At the end, you'll get a badge:
Congrats, you've just passed! Good luck!
Thanks for the detailed feedback. I will take a peek at the videos. maybe I won't even need the course! I've been struggling with Gaia's Garden for a while, I have sticky notes, all over that book. I liked the idea of community and being able to have discussions, I though that aspect of the course might help connect the missing pieces in my brain.
I did not find the forums helpful, as there are THOUSANDS of strangers just crammed in a room for a few weeks. It's impossible to get to know someone closely, although that depends on the time they're willing to spend posting.
The first time I've read Gaia's Garden was on a train ride for a few hours, next time was in an afternoon at a beach bar of all places... I guess each person processes information differently, but that book reads like a breeze. I've struggled with the PDM and Permaculture One, now those are some heavy reading!
Also, what's with the sticky notes? How do you actually use them, it's an honest question?
Thanks for the feedback.
It is a great book, I completely agree. I have read through it several times. It all makes sense until I step outside and look around. That said, A lot of great things are happening regardless of my low level understanding of permaculture :)
Someone sent me a package of heart shaped sticky notes and I ended up writing my notes and comments on them because they were handy. I much prefer notebooks.
Hey @bobydimitrov I really like Andrews videos and I would love to go through this playlist, yet I could not find any playlist-link in your comment. Would you be so nice to repost a lnik here?
Huh, weird, Steemit truncated the full link... must be the embed code! Let's try this way!
THiS is a great FIND! I wonder how many other colleges, universities or secondary schools are doing this too!
I'll check it out! Might be great for home schoolers too...thx!
It's great to grow your own food, my house is very small but still my mother has many grown food, specially tomatoes and scallions, it taste way better than buying them on the market. Thank you for sharing this !
Wow! What a sweet find today here on Steemit. This is such a great share <3 thank-you! I am going to check this out. I have been atempting to grow more and more. And, just like you, i have been learning pernaculture ad-hoc putting many principales in place. Never taking any formal training but sitting on the outskirts looking in!! There are GREAT groups in Calgary which is near where I am living. I was attempting a homesteading life, but life has its way and I am back living in town in an appartnent for now. This course would be so much fun to jump in on. And, its free!!!! Super exciting <3 thank-you for sharing this 🌺🌱
You're welcome! I'm really looking forward to it. The dates are tricky for me, that's when gardening and all the farm work really picks up but I am sure I can allocate a few hours a week!
WOW thank you. Definitely going to have to check this out.
Thank you for posting this. This is exactly the sort of think I need!
glad to hear it's still going on! i signed up for it late last spring and didn't get around to finishing it :(
Thanks for the heads up on that! I’m absolutely doing that!
Sounds great. I did an online PDC with Geoff Lawton three years ago. It cost me about 2000 USD I think, but was in my opinion worth every penny. If you can get something even remotely similar for free, I say go for it! After all, there's nothing to stop you going on and doing an actual PDC later.
That is so cool! Thanks for sharing!!