(scroll down past New Plymouth Workshops for Wellington Workshop dates)
NEW PLYMOUTH 2024 COURSES
PERMACULTURE SOILS AND COMPOSTING DAY COURSE – 13 April 2024
INTRODUCTION TO PERMACULTURE WEEKEND COURSE – 25-26 May 2024
PERMACULTURE SUSTAINABLE BACKYARDS DAY COURSE – 22 June 2024
FOOD FOREST PLANNING & PLANTING WEEKEND COURSE – 20-21 July 2024
PERMACULTURE GROW YOUR OWN GROCERIES DAY COURSE – 7 September 2024
INTRODUCTION TO PERMACULTURE WEEKEND COURSE – 28-29 September 2024
PERMACULTURE YEAR ROUND FRUIT AND VEGES DAY COURSE – 23 November 2024
FOOD FOREST PLANNING & PLANTING WEEKEND COURSE – 30 Nov – 1 Dec 2024
WELLINGTON COURSES 2024
SUSTAINABLE BACKYARDS DAY COURSE – 23 March 2024
PERMACULTURE – THE BOTHER OF BUGS DAY COURSE – 11 May 2024
PERMACULTURE GROW YOUR OWN GROCERIES DAY COURSE – 7 September 2024
INTRODUCTION TO PERMACULTURE WEEKEND COURSE – 19-20 October 2024
PERMACULTURE SUSTAINABLE BACKYARDS DAY COURSE – 2 November 2024
PERMACULTURE SOILS AND COMPOSTING DAY COURSE – 16 November 2024
FOOD FOREST PLANNING & PLANTING WEEKEND COURSE – 30 Nov – 1 Dec 2024
Weekend Courses – Cost $200 per person or $300 for two people learning together. Two full days – 9am-5pm
Day Courses – Cost $100 per person. Full day 9.00am – 5.00pm
Phone/Txt: 0211252035
Email: derinatur@hotmail.com
All courses need to be paid for in advance. 2 weeks notice of non-attendance for 100% refund, 1 week notice for 50% refund. Thereafter, no refund.
PERMACULTURE WEEKEND AND DAY COURSES
Introduction to permaculture weekend course
Food Forests – planning and planting weekend course
Permaculture gardening day course 1 – Composting and soils
Permaculture gardening day course 2 – Grow your own groceries
Permaculture gardening day course 3 – Sustainable backyards
Permaculture gardening day course 4 – Year round fruit and veges
See below for full details on each of the courses:
Permaculture is an holistic, practical and creative approach to landscape design, meeting the needs of people, animals and the wider community. It integrates appropriate technology, recycling, sustainable agriculture and gardening, architecture and community building, creating diversity, stability and resilient natural ecosystems.
INTRODUCTION TO PERMACULTURE WEEKEND COURSE
Learn all about permaculture design which is designing your garden space so that you spend less time working to maintain the garden, and more time harvesting and enjoying your garden.
INTRODUCTION TO PERMACULTURE
Ethics and Principles
- Earth care, People care and Fair share are the ethics – how can we fit these into our design
- The 12 permaculture principles are the basis of how we design, covering areas such as cycling waste, producing food, creating biodiversity, using nature to help us design.
Element analysis
- Each plant, tree, structure, animal, bird, in the garden design should be analysed for its inputs and outputs and what it brings to the design to see where it should be placed
Multiple functions of elements
- Each element of the design should be positioned to perform a range of functions, not just one, and each function should be supported by many elements
Relative Location of design elements
- Placing elements of design in the final garden plan so that it functions well and is in the right place in the plan.
Zones
- Zones are usually listed 1-5, with zone 1 being the closest to the house. The zone in which a piece of land falls is a measure of how much human attention it receives
Sector analysis
- Look at the external energies that come onto your site, such as Winter and Summer sun, winds, views, water sources, frost. We have to identify all of the sectors before we can start our planning
Low maintenance structures
- Finding solutions to cut down on unnecessary time in the garden, so that it is easy to maintain without additional weeding and maintenance, and may include hard landscaping and planting
Water in the landscape
- Greywater and how to use effectively in the landscape. How to use water sources on property and create additional ones. What to grow in and around water
Putting together elements of a design
- Bringing all of the learning together to understand how to create a permaculture garden design for your property.
– 2 day weekend course – Cost $200 per person or $300 for two people learning together.
– Places are limited to 12. Cost includes morning and afternoon tea.
– Practical and theory sessions based at Korito Education – New Plymouth or Blueberry Fields, Upper Hutt.
FOOD FOREST – PLANNING AND PLANTING WEEKEND COURSE
Learn how food forests work – how they can be designed, planned and maintained, and the sort of plants that can be put into them to make the food forest look after itself after a few years and give you very little work for a lot of return in food nutrition. The course covers the following:
A Food Forest – what is it and why do I need it?
- A layered food systems with plants at different heights – canopy layer, shrub layer and perennial/ground cover layer – a way to grow perennial food with little maintenance.
Products of a food forest
- Fruits, vegetables, salad crops, herbs, nuts, seeds, spices, firewood, mushrooms on logs, medicine, honey, sap, poles, canes, tying materials, basketry.
Key features – 7 layers of a food forest
- Vertical Layers, Medium to large canopy, small trees, bush fruit and nitrogen fixers, climbers, root crops, ground cover
Planting for fertility
- Planting species that will nurse your productive plants and feed them potassium and nitrogen.
Site analysis
- Sun angles, sectors, shelter, water and soil
Ground preparation, planning and maintenance
- Start as you would plan out an orchard, but timing is important, as is weed control and fertilizing
Plant propagation
- Learn to propagate the trees, shrubs, roots, groundcovers you will need to grow your food forest
Timing of planting and designing the layers
- Learn when to plant the different layers that you have designed
Identifying site specific plants
- Find the microclimates on your property and identify what can be planted there
Using design tools
- Use a range of tools to help you realise your design
Designing your food forest on paper
- Strategies to help you get your food forest design down on paper
Practicals
- Propagation, pruning (season specific), soil building, creating a food forest from scratch in an hour!
– 2 day weekend course – Cost $200 per person or $300 for two people learning together.
– Places are limited to 12. Cost includes morning and afternoon tea.
– Practical and theory sessions based at Korito Education in New Plymouth or Blueberry Fields, Upper Hutt.
PERMACULTURE GARDENING DAY COURSE 1
SOILS AND COMPOSTING
A one-day course comprising theory and practical sessions to give you an excellent base for growing nutrient dense food by building and feeding soil and recycling all waste in your garden.
Soil and Soil Biology
- What makes up our soil – minerals, air, water and organic matter
- Soil types, soil profiles and pH
- Soil organisms – how they help our plants to grow through uptake of nutrients and nitrogen fixation creating nutrient dense food
- Practical – Basic soil testing with your own home garden soil
Composting
- Composting systems for low maintenance – bins, tumblers, standalone
- Benefits and do’s and don’ts of compost making
- Compost ingredients – carbon, nitrogen, activators and additives
- Lasagne layering and C:N ratios
- Practical – a tour around various hot and cold composting systems and view outputs
Liquid Fertilisers
- Soil and foliar feeding
- What they do and why we use them
- Do’s and don’ts of liquid fertiliser use
- Off the shelf liquid fertiliser and soil biology activators
- Learn to make and maintain liquid fertilisers from plants and weeds that you can grow for a never-ending supply of plant food
- Practical – making liquid fertiliser from plants and weeds and putting onto the garden
Bokashi
- How to use a bokashi bucket
- Using bokashi bran
- What food can be put into a bokashi system
- Why your bokashi is not working
- How to effectively and simply use the outputs from your bokashi system
- Practical – demonstration of how to use a bokashi system properly and use the outputs
Worm Farming
- Types of worms that can be used
- Correct operation and placement of worm farm
- Different types of worm farms – off the shelf versus diy
- Building a bath wormfarm
- Worm farm foods – good and bad
- Use and storage of outputs – vermicast and vermijuice
- Practical – Build a worm farm from various materials.
– 1 day course – Cost $100 per person
– Places are limited to 12. Cost includes morning and afternoon tea.
– Practical and theory sessions based at Korito Education in New Plymouth or Blueberry Fields, Upper Hutt.
PERMACULTURE GARDENING DAY COURSE 2
GROW YOUR OWN GROCERIES
A one-day course comprising theory and practical sessions to give you the tools to grow nutrient dense food by teaching you how to build beds, feed soil, sow seeds, transplant plants, deal with weeds and mulch.
Starting a Vegetable Garden
- How much vegetable garden do I need to plant for the family
- Where do I put the garden and what am I going to plant
- Building soils and putting in shelter
- No dig systems and plastic house
- What do I need to buy to start and maintain my garden – tools
- Practical – walk & talk around vege garden looking at tools, watering systems, netting/protection
Seed Sowing
- Successful seed sowing do’s and don’ts for perfect results every time, seed treatments, hardening off, and transplanting to garden beds.
- Differences between open pollinated and F1 seed
- Seed treatments to speed up germination or break seed dormancy
- Seed sowing methods– direct sowing versus sowing into seed trays
- Seed sowing materials and when to transplant and harden off
- Practical – seed sowing and ‘mini greenhouse’ making
Building Pallet Beds
- Pull apart pallets efficiently and effectively
- Building durable, free, long lasting garden beds
- Fill with carbon and nitrogen materials to plant into
- Practical – entire session on pulling apart pallets and making and filling pallet beds
Weed Uses and Solutions
- Identifying annual, biennial and perennial weeds and their uses in the garden.
- Positives and negatives of weeds
- What time of the year or during their growth to deal with weeds
- Weeding tools
- Mechanical, heat, biological, cultural and chemical controls
- Practical – building a weed biodigester to turn noxious weeds into garden fertiliser
Mulching
- What is mulch
- Why we need it – what does it achieve?
- Materials you can use and thickness of mulch
- Green manures and cover crops
- Practical – walk and talk around different mulch systems
– 1 day course – Cost $100 per person
– Places are limited to 12. Cost includes morning and afternoon tea.
– Practical and theory sessions based at Korito Education in New Plymouth or Blueberry Fields, Upper Hutt.
PERMACULTURE GARDENING DAY COURSE 3
SUSTAINABLE BACKYARDS
A one-day course comprising theory and practical sessions to expand your garden into growing through the seasons and incorporating chooks and bees, as well as getting food production into every small space.
Keeping Backyard Chooks
- Products and behaviours of chooks
- Common egg and meat birds
- Where to buy chooks
- Food for chooks
- Housing – fixed or moveable?
- Pest and diseases and remedies
- Pros and cons of keeping chooks
- Rules and regulations
- Practical – recognizing chook health and using pest and disease remedies
Backyard Bee Keeping
- Is beekeeping for you?
- Equipment – hives, suits, gloves, hive tool, smoker
- Buying bee starter packs (nucs) or collecting a swarm
- Rules and regulations
- Approximate costs
- Pros and cons
- Practical – talking through the equipment, beeswax wraps demo, honey tasting, bee products
Small Space Gardening
- Small space systems – which one for you?
- Container, gutter gardening and vertical growing
- Keyhole beds and herb spiral
- Fruit fans and espalier
- Columns and spire apples and fig pots
- Semi shady planting
- Practical – building a small space structure
Growing Through the Seasons
- Cloches and frost protection
- Shade and bird netting
- Covered raised garden beds
- Cold frames and hot beds
- Tunnel/plastic/glass houses
- Wind netting and berry house and bird protection
- Practical – building covered raised garden beds
– 1 day course – Cost $100 per person
– Places are limited to 12. Cost includes morning and afternoon tea.
– Practical and theory sessions based at Korito Education in New Plymouth or Blueberry Fields, Upper Hutt.
PERMACULTURE GARDENING DAY COURSE 4
YEAR ROUND FRUIT AND VEGES
A one-day course comprising theory and practical sessions to protect your garden with edible/non-edible shelter & espaliers, and planning for year-round fruit, vegetables, microgreens and herbs for your garden.
Espalier Fruit Trees
- Fruit tree training systems for pip fruit – espalier and candelabra
- Creating an espaliered fence and finishing off an espalier
- Spires, columns, and cordons
- Arches, stepovers and fruit fans
- Practical – how to erect an espalier structure or how to prune espalier trees/bushes/vines
Herb Spiral
- How to design a herb spiral and what scale to use
- Ingredients needed to build
- Orientation and positioning
- Laying out the herb spiral
- Filling and planting and herb layout
- Practical – designing and laying out a herb spiral with bricks
Shelter and Fedges
- Solid fences and walls versus windbreak netting
- How a windbreak works and how to design a windbreak
- Windbreak spacing and protection area
- Native shelter trees and spacing of trees
- Fedges (food hedges)
- Practical – planning out a shelterbelt from scratch
Growing Food All Year Round (succession planting)
- Brassicas, beans and peas
- Rootcrops and alliums
- Cut and come again greens
- Direct sow and sowing in containers
- Non succession continual cropping
- Practical – direct sowing and transplanting of crops with tips and tricks
Microgreens
- What are microgreens – what varieties grow best at different times of the year
- Equipment – materials and upcycling containers
- Process and timing of crops and harvesting
- Practical – growing microgreens and tasting
– 1 day course – Cost $100 per person
– Places are limited to 12. Cost includes morning and afternoon tea.
– Practical and theory sessions based at Korito Education in New Plymouth or Blueberry Fields, Upper Hutt.
PERMACULTURE GARDENING DAY COURSE 5
THE BOTHER OF BUGS
A comprehensive one-day course comprising theory and practical sessions to protect your garden against pests and diseases, remedy your soils for lack of nutrients and make up your own sprays from plants in your garden, or household ingredients.
Pests in the garden
- How to identify common garden pests
- The damage they cause to our fruit and vegetables
- Knowing the plants that they attack
- Low-cost multiple control methods that you can make at home
- Cabbage white butterfly, slugs and snails, aphids, woolly aphids, coddling moth, and whitefly
Practical – making and putting up traps and netting, build a bug hilton
Diseases in the garden
- How to know if I have these diseases in my garden
- How to treat diseases that cause damage with plants and pantry items
- What plants are affected by these diseases
- Blackspot, peach leaf curl, botrytis, powdery mildew, tomato and potato blight, garlic rust
Practical – identifying diseases in the garden, crop rotation, sprays and companion planting
Disorders in the garden
- How external factors such as wind, frost, rain, hail, sun and drought affect your plants and how to identify the effects of these, and easy solutions to correct them
- Identifying nutrient deficiencies in your soil by looking at plant leaves. Common deficiencies are nitrogen, potassium, magnesium, and boron
- How to identify the difference between diseases and problems caused by excess watering and nutrients
- Recognising whether your neighbour has been spraying over the fence!
Practical – remedying nutrient disorders in soil and for specific plants, wind protection
Spray recipes from the garden
- Identifying plants to grow in the garden for making sprays
- Making and testing a range of sprays made out of plants and household ingredients
- Making a ‘last resort’ spray to deal to huge infestations
- Identify and use the correct spraying equipment
Practical – Making sprays for the garden and applying
– 1 day course – Cost $100 per person
– Places are limited to 12. Cost includes morning and afternoon tea.
– Practical and theory sessions based at Korito Education in New Plymouth or Blueberry Fields, Upper Hutt.