Three words come to mind when I think about the experience of participating in the Whole Systems Design Permaculture Design Course: full, filling, and fulfilling. It was an intensely packed 10 days of learning, and the long hours were thoroughly nourishing. Exhausting at times, but totally rewarding all the same. There was so much to think about and discuss that it was hard to pull away and find some decent sleep at night. At the closure of the course, I came away deeply satisfied, more confident than ever before in the journey towards establishing a home for myself that’s in alignment with my vision.

Permaculture Design Course Recap

I’m not going to hash out every single detail of the 10 day course, as that would be too much to bear (and frankly, a bit boring for you). Instead I’ll talk about some of the highlights of the event, of which there were many.

Ten Days of Diversity

As I was preparing to travel to Vermont, I realized the sheer size of the course when I noticed all the addresses of the participants in a mass email. Over 35 names were on that list! To be honest, I was feeling a bit dubious at that point of such a huge class size and how much individual time we would all receive. Within only a day or two of the actual course, my fears of an overwhelming course size were quelled. It was actually nice to be surrounded by a crowd of enthusiastic folks from such diverse backgrounds and locations. Because there were so many people, it was possible to have a new conversation with someone at each meal. And day to day, we frequently broke out into groups, which were highly varied. Most importantly, there were four more or less full-time instructors available for the entire duration. Each instructor brought his/her specialty and personality to the table.

Each day, we began with a different skillshare hosted by each instructor. Some examples included tree identification, grafting, scything, pattern recognition, dry stack stone building, how to make a base map, etc. Most mornings, there were at least two (if not three) to choose from. It was often difficult for me to choose which to attend. Breakfast soon followed, and then morning sessions, lunch, more afternoon stuff, dinner, and usually a final evening presentation. That means each day was at least 7 a.m. to 9 p.m. That suited my overachiever-leaning self, but those long days definitely caught up with me once the PDC ended.

Two Inspiring Learning Sites

Morning and afternoon sessions bounced between full group and small group material. There were any number of skill rotations, in which we would break up into three groups, and rotate between different stations to learn about mushroom inoculation, food forests, silvoculture, using an a-frame to find contour lines, medicinal herbs, etc. Walking tours were often as a full group. For example, during one of the first mornings we walked the Rochester site to look at the swales that had been created and planted, and later in the week we went to the original Moretown site to tour Ben and Erica’s stunning 10 acre homestead site.

Let me point out that this too was a very unique aspect of the Whole Systems Design PDC — the ability to see and experience two unique sites was very valuable. The 175 acre Rochester site was a good example of land early in the development phase that had only recently been acquired. Swales were still easy to discern in the landscape, trees were young, and ponds were still quite new. At Moretown, the land was much more evolved and mature and full of beautiful infrastructure after a decade of landshaping, planting, and building.

Getting Back to Principles

I appreciated the focus of the instructors on the framework of permaculture, including the principles themselves and especially the scale of permanence. Instead of focusing too much on any one technique or strategy as the solution (for example, digging swales, or raised beds, etc.), the instructors constantly asked us to think about what the current site conditions are and the ultimate intention. I found this really helpful because it’s easy to get stuck in the “I really want a pond” mindset (for example) and mentally thinking about the solution before the problem itself has been fully explored and drilled into.

This was one of the most valuable aspects of the PDC for me personally: getting even more comfortable with the framework and principles of permaculture, and getting adapted to using those tools as a lens for looking at land and making design choices. After all, permaculture is a design tool and there is a certain sequence to follow for the most successful design. Ben, Mark, Eric, and Cornelius were all fantastic at articulating and communicating these principles.

Other PDC Highlights

Other highlights for me… regular breaks during the day to be able to do brief physical activities (throwing a frisbee, swinging on rings in the barn, ping pong), really fun nighttime social scene with regular bonfires, getting a nice break day in the middle of the course and having a chance to go to a local swimming hole and get local ice cream in a town down the road…

It’s hard to convey each of the specific strategies and tools that inspired me, but a few included: living black locust hedge (could be an awesome way to establish rotational grazing paddocks without the need for electronet fencing, also makes seasonal harvest of locust blossoms much easier), water management with tiered ponds on a hillside, easy to apply foliar feeds for young tree plantings, sweet multi-function barn design, new mapping and drafting skills, swales pitched slightly off-contour to help direct water…

If you have the opportunity to participate in a PDC, I heartily recommend the top-notch course put on by the Whole Systems Design crew. Check out their website for future course dates.

Finally, here are some photo highlights from my 10 days in Vermont.

p.s. I’ll have another post or two coming up to show off some specific things that really inspired me, including the beautiful barn you see below, and the very sweet Whole Systems studio.

 

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