CIRCLE PERMACULTURE
  • Past courses
    • Monte da Orada, Portugal, October 2018
    • Sunseed, Spain, SEP, 2018
    • Sweden August 2018
    • Monte da Orada, Portugal, JUNE/ JULY 2018
    • Sunseed, Spain, MAY, 2018
    • Castro Marim, Portugal, Oct/ Nov 2017
    • Sunseed, Spain, Sep, 2017
    • Sweden July-August 2017
    • Almeria, Spain April 30, 2017
    • Castro Marim, Portugal, March/ April 2017
    • Almeria, Spain November, 2016
    • Sweden July-August 2016
    • Almeria, Spain May 2016
    • Ibiza, September, 2015
    • Ibiza PDC Sept/ Oct 2014
    • Sweden PDC Oct 2014
    • Mysore PDC Feb 2014
    • Bodhgaya, Nov, 2013
  • PermaBlog

PDC Sunseed, May, 2017

16/5/2017

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We came, we saw, we kicked some serious permaculture love out! This was one of those courses where you just jump on the rollercoaster of permaculture goodness and let it take you for the ride! Our third course at Sunseed was an absolute blast: the spring put a spring in our step, the desert was incredibly green, and Sunseed was Sunseed, full of vibrant people doing wonderfully creative and intelligent things. It seemed to rub off - Wally and I wrote and arranged prolifically in our spare time, finishing 4 songs over the fortnight.

It’s hard to know where to start - perhaps something personal? It’s a funny thing, but there is a strong Hong Kong connection within Circle Permaculture. I was raised there, and only left in the last decade. Wally was born there. Hong kong is an interesting place, not least for the growing environmental movement. Unsurprising really - it is a global centre for the legal and illegal trade of endangered species - everything from manta gills to shark fins, ivory to rhino horn. I often wonder if Hong Kong has more environmental organisations per square kilometre than anywhere else in the world. There are local and international organisations dealing with everything from the protection of country park trails to plastic pollution in the South China Sea, to the endangered species trade to air pollution. It was of some interest therefore that we received a student from Hong Kong in the middle of the desert in Spain. Made me miss the people of Hong Kong quite a lot - they are responding to dramatic challenges, sociologically, politically and environmentally. By some measures, Hong Kong is now the 9th most polluted city on the planet. Our dear student, Joyce, had worked with the Jane Goodall Institute and worked with a local organisation to promote a vegetarian diet - Hong Kong represent! Then we found out there was a neighbour in the village also born in Hong Kong - uncanny!

I digress


We had a passionate talk on the second night by the activist David Dene, who is campaigning relentlessly for water rights in the area. This tied in powerfully with the early conversations about permaculture ethics, as BIll Mollison wrote: "We are fast approaching the point where we need refuge for all global life forms, as well as regional, national and state parks for indigenous forms of plants and animals." Dave’s work and collaboration with neighbours has seen the issue of aquifer exploitation in the local area taken to the UN and the EU. The village life that continues here is under direct threat - the last oasis of Europe is genuinely at risk of drying up within the next decade. It is the home of a wide variety of species - the river needs rights!

Dave produced a video - Every Drop Counts - late last year. Please watch and share https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p1GKniiA-QA

As with all our courses, we follow the codified structure laid out by Bill Mollison’s encyclopaedic work, Permaculture, A Designer’s Manual. Local environments and people on site can create some interesting accents. We were lucky to receive some interesting talks, including one  on the work of Janine Benyrus on biomimicry, a key concept in permaculture design. Check out her excellent Ted Talk. We seek in permaculture to use nature as a guide - possibly the best known example of this is biomimicking natural forest systems to create anthropocentric forest gardens. 

The climate of the area is cold semi-arid, receiving less than 300mm of rain a year. A short time ago almost a years worth of rain fell in one day - catching water on site is a key strategy for the future survival of this village, especially in the face of the ecocidal agricultural activities a short distance away. When the rain falls here it can be devastating to the community, causing landslides and blocking the spring - water needs to be managed very carefully. 

For now at least, there is a stunningly beautiful river. We were lucky to have a couple of classes there, as well as in the 'meditation garden' of tall white poplars, in a nearby cave and of course in the fabulous new dome Sunseed has invested in for spreading ecological education. We loved it! Circular learning environments are right up our alley, so the dome provided an excellent environment for interaction. 

We like to get to know our 'bible', the illuminating work of BIll Mollison, A Designer's Manual. Almost everyone had a go at picking something to read from it over the fortnight, but this is perhaps the one that resonated with a lot of people:

"In the USA , it is estimated that 16 million acres were devoted to the lawn by 1978.... at that time lawns were considered to be the single largest 'crop' system in the USA, requiring 573 kilocalories per square metre to maintain-more than the production of corn or vegetables. The yields of this agriculture create a massive public disposal problem, consisting as they are of poisoned grass waste, rich in Dieldrin, DDT, biocides and nitrogen.

Millions of litres of petrol are used in lawn and turf maintenance. By 1978 lawns used 15-20% of the annual fertiliser production of the USA; equal to that used on the total food production of India... 44% of domestic [water] consumption in California is used for lawns....

Let us now say that every society that grows extensive lawns could produce all its food on the same area, using the same resources, and that world famine could be totally relieved.... Thus we can look at lawns like double garages and guard dogs, as a badge of wilful waste, conspicuous consumption, and lack of care for earth or its people."

I digress. But this whole book is quotable.

The community spirit of Sunseed provided an excellent nurturing environment for learning. We had several great practical experiences to show people how permaculture in practice can really work. Consider housing - it is possible to build a house with minimal financial commitments on a small area of land. As homes have become ever more expensive, particularly in urban and suburban areas, it is important to share with people that there is a clear alternative. It can also be awesomely fun building! To drive this home, we rolled around a bit in the mud and slapped up a cob wall. Ok, ok, the teacher got a little carried away. Permaculture has a lot to do with empowerment - with an emphasis on eco-building we like to remind people that it is absolutely possibly to build beautiful homes on very low budgets, and break out of the debt structures that people often find themselves blindly led into. We like to break up our courses with fun practicals. In all we had the opportunity to introduce students to eco-building, fermentation (yield extension), hot composting, vermicomposting, measuring contour, mapping and a fabulous wild foraging exercise for a lunchtime salad, with wonderful Liselotte, the Sustainable Living Coordinator - the best things in life are free! Have you ever had a borage flower melt in your mouth? Liselotte finished our PDC course a year ago and stayed on. As always it was absolutely wonderful to see her in action, spreading her positivism and enthusiasm for earth care! 

Another PDC graduate was on hand too - Jon, the gardens coordinator introduced the class to mapping, which was a lot of fun. In fact, observation is the key in permaculture, and between A-Frame building (for contour measurement), mapping, and a third observational exercise, the group got to know the area they were set to work on pretty well! Jon will be with us in August in Portugal at the Cherry Pond Quinta for the first PDC there. We're really excited that he's moving towards education, and that we can play a role in assisting him teach others about permaculture.

Perhaps one of the most interesting talks given was by Armelle, Facilitation Coordinator, an
artist and cognitive scientist with a PhD in the dynamics of change. She broke down into small pieces the three dimensional structure of Sunseed brilliantly. With a small white board and a pen, sitting under the trees she captivated the group for almost 2 hours with an explanation of the how the community works, sociocracy, legal issues and the economic challenges faced. It's always important to remember that many well-meaning individuals/ groups/ associations/ organisations inside and out of the world of permaculture fail due to neglect of these issues. 

The design challenge on this PDC was a tricky one. Sunseed has an abandoned terrace, and they have built a dome on it. It is intended to be the educational heart for all future courses. The terrace measures about 750m2. The challenge was to design out the area so that it would be a self maintained perennial system supporting education for the future. What incredible results we had - exciting, implementable plans for the site! The teams worked really hard on their first permaculture projects, and for us as teachers it is immensely rewarding to see great presentations.

But a residential 2 week intensive PDC is not complete if it doesn't include 2 essential elements. The first being food. Sunseed consistently served up excellent vegetarian feasts - thank you to all the folks who spent time preparing delicious food over the fortnight! Second, time for celebration is really important - there was always room for spontaneous jamming sessions, hikes and time by the river.  We had an excellent jam night with Timbe at the end of the first week at Pita Escuela, an organisation dedicated to raising the profile of the magical agave plant. Timbe produces amazing products, including didgeridoos made from the magnificent stem of the flower of the plant, produced after 25 years of life, and just before it dies. The course was topped off with an epic 'no-talent' show that failed to live up to its name. Everything from songs, to stand-up, to shadow puppets, classical guitar performances, space-drum hulahoop combos... It was a truly memorable evening.

Connections were made, peoples lives changed for the better. Some inhibitions were shed. Dots were connected. No one who took this course will ever forget their two weeks at Sunseed. The words of the late Gil Scott-Heron come to me:

"The world!
Planet Earth; third from the Sun of a gun, 360 degrees.
And as the new worlds emerge
stay alert. Stay aware.
Watch the Eagle! Watch the Bear!
Earthquaking, foundation shaking,
bias breaking, new day making change.
Accumulating, liberating, educating, stimulating change!
Tomorrow was born yesterday.
From inside the rib or people cage
the era of our first blood stage was blotted or erased
or TV screened and defaced.
Remember there's a revolution going in in the world.
One blood of the early morning
revolves to the one idea of our tomorrow.
Homeboy, hold on!
Now more than ever all the family must come together.
Ideas of freedom and harmony, great civilizations
yesterday brought today will bring tomorrow.
We must be about
earthquaking, liberating, investigating
and new day making change in 
the world."

We look forward to returning in early September - we love you Sunseed!!
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PDC Quinta da Fornalha - 26 Mar - 9 Apr, 2017

18/4/2017

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This blog has been long in the making - it was some 4 years ago that I cycled past this farm in Castro Marim, Portugal and met the inspirational Rosa Dias, who has worked tirelessly and passionately over the last decade to save her family farm, Quinta da Fornalha. The 'Fornalha’ in the name refers to the lime kiln on the site. 


That trip was serendipitous for another reason - I was en route to Vale da Lama to meet Rosemary Morrow, and attend a course on how to structure PDC’s. On that trip I had the fortune to meet the wonderful Wally Toughill, and we have formed a strong teaching partnership since early 2016. Unbelievably, we attended the same primary school in Hong Kong (though he is somewhat younger)!


Quinta da Fornalha is very beautiful, featuring orchards of figs, carob, olive and oranges, as well as a lovely lake and several annual vegetable gardens. Products sold from the farm are certified organic, and they have pioneered a variety of products including carob spreads and fig chutneys. Attached is a small B&B. Animals abound, from the chickens and ducks that roam freely spreading their fertility (“I need to fence in the chickens and let the vegetables go free, not the other way around,” Rosa quips, referring to the chicken tractor concept) to the amphibians, reptile and bird life, to the abundant insect life all the way to the microfauna that is so essential for the survival of an ecological farm. Inside the farm house, a converted stable, there is a formidable library about all things sustainable, including a 1984 Portuguese translation of Permaculture One. 
 
Carob is a particularly interesting product that is making a comeback. With the rise of tourism across the Mediterranean, this once great pod fell out of favour. Ironically associated with poverty in some parts, the Cypriots considered the Carob to be ‘black gold’ such was its value. In fact, the word ‘carat’ used to weigh gold, derives from the carob seed. Organisations like Casita Verde (where we held courses in 2014 and 2015) in Ibiza are helping to make carob cool once more.


As always, we followed the 72-hour course structure as codified in 1984 by Bill Mollison. The content on this course was particularly rich, and punctuated with fun practicals and site tours, including a hot compost, tree planting, contour measurement and fermentation. In fact, the group made one of the finest sauerkrauts I’ve ever had. All our courses are supported with our mobile library featuring core texts from Bill Mollison, David Holmgren, Masanobu Fukuoka, Brad Lancaster and the work of Elaine Ingham to name a few.


One of the classes that really thrilled everyone was the social, economic and legal structures required to organise a farm of this scale (32ha, fig main crop). Rosa’s talk on the reality of farm life ensured that this PDC was based in the real world. Often people come to PDC’s to learn what to do with a piece of land that they have bought or intend to buy. As we like to frequently remind people, being self-sufficient does not mean being totally cut-off. Or as Bill Mollison wrote: 


A basic question that can be asked in two ways is
    “What can I get from this land, or person?” or
    “What does this person, or land, have to give if I cooperate with them?”
Of these two approaches, the former leads to war and waste, the latter to peace and plenty. [A Designers’ Manual, Bill Mollison, 1.2 Ethics]


Rosa could not stress enough the importance of reaching out to community, partnering and influencing local government, working with traditional farmers to show them how to shift out of industrial agriculture, and reading law as it pertains to your land in your country. Her knowledge after years of study and practice is encyclopaedic. Indeed, the people working at the quinta often commented that they were like family. The triple bottom line is important - but never forget that there is always a bottom line necessary to get the wheels turning. 


As well as this, she recalled how prior to the economic crisis her peers mocked her for her adventures into ecological farming. She built into the farm resilience by spreading her income across multiple platforms - food production and processing, eco-tourism, salt harvesting, government subsidies and one or two other revenue streams. When the economic crisis last decade took hold, though things were not easy, their farm survived, and she was able to manage old loans to the bank that had threatened the very existence of the farm. It has been a long process, but one she has learned a lot from - so much so that she now mentors farmers across Portugal.


A blog on the course would not be complete were we not to mention the wonderful Maria Joao, who prepared everything we ate during the course. The food was excellent - hearty soups, tasty mains and consistently delightful in-between snacks of cakes and savoury bakes. But Maria Joao became particularly relevant as we used her forthcoming house move as the basis for the final design project - in effect, she became the client. The challenge for the participants was to design in groups a small scale intensive system that would take into account all of Maria-Joao’s needs and provide her with comfort, mitigating the blistering hot Algarve summers and cold wet winters, the strong coastal winds and other energies that will pass through her site. 


There was a poignancy in the group as well, with some very personal shares of loss mingled with the frequent reminders of rebirth - there were 3 mothers with their children on the course. I found this common reminder of motherhood very special, for it was the passing of my mum some years ago that led me down the road of permaculture. On the course one participant announced she was pregnant! Another mother and daughter combo worked on their final design together. And finally we had baby Bodhi, who enjoyed frequent lake visits and excursions through the farm whilst his dear mum smashed her way through the challenging 2 week curriculum. We often receive requests from mothers with young children to attend our courses and are rarely able to accommodate them, an issue worthy of a blog itself on inclusion - on this course alone we had 3 such requests.


So a number of firsts on this course - our first PDC at Quinta da Fornalha, our first time being able to accommodate a mother and child on a course and our first time awarding Permaculture Association UK endorsed certificates.


The PDC at Quinta da Fornalha was avery special experience indeed, and one that nearly didn’t happen. We scraped by on attendance - in total we had 6 students - our smallest PDC to date. But 6 started, and 6 finished: a resilient lot. We are very thankful for everyone that attended the Circle Permaculture PDC at Quinta da Fornalha and wish them the very best in their future endeavours in earth care!


We plan to repeat this course in early October 2017 - see you there!


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Sweden PDC August 2016, Ekbacka Gård

27/8/2016

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As I sat on the wooden deck, and the juice of the apple taken from the tree in view dripped in between my ring finger and pinky, I reflected on what a beautiful experience the two weeks at Ekbacka Gård had been. A course that started – literally – with a double rainbow after light rain, and ended with a marriage proposal at midnight on the final evening. 

A magical two weeks of sharing, learning, laughing, and permaculturing! Engaging classes melted into fun practicals under the Swedish summer sun - we fermented cabbage, felted and made balms, hot composted (using roadkill (badger) to 'trigger' the process), built cold frames, and of course, continuously obtained a yield as the 29 varieties of tomotoes on site ripened in the poly tunnel.

Oh the food!! It was just so good. Fresh farm salads every lunch, wonderful diversity, fabulous dips, smoothies, cakes, treats... The quality was incredible. There's really not much point in writing more - the pictures speak volumes. The list of greens in the salads was seemingly endless. 

Midway through the course, on the evening of the day off, our dear hosts Katrin and Bo treated us to a sweat lodge, and held it to it's traditional authenticity as closely as possible - another excellent experience. 

We also had a few wonderful classes from guest speakers on food forestry (there is a newly implemented forest garden just a short walk away from the site) and inclusiveness in permaculture.

Many mornings people were up early practicing yoga or wandering the grounds. Evenings provided time to catch up on some classic permaculture Ted Talks and videos and one or two meditation sessions and of course frequent jams.

The small group formed strong bonds and worked hard to complete excellent final designs. One student remarked after the course that it had been the best educational experience of their life. But this blogger is also an organiser - best read about the experience of Josie, one of the course participants, through her blog here.

Thank you to everyone who took part, for freely sharing so much and for making this a truly memorable PDC. What a fortnight! - to be repeated.


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PDC Sunseed, May, 2016

23/5/2016

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Picture
Permaculture (permanent agriculture) is the conscious design and maintenance of agriculturally productive ecosystems which have the diversity, stability, and resilience of natural ecosystems. It is the harmonious integration of landscape and people providing their food, energy, shelter and other material and non-material needs in a sustainable way. Without permanent agriculture there is no possibility of a stable social order ~ Bill Mollison, Permaculture: A Designer's Manual

Wow! Sunseed! What can we say? An awesome experience for all those who took part in the PDC at this wonderful site near Almeria dedicated to environmental education and appropriate technology experimentation. So many firsts! Our first time partnering with Sunseed, and our first time teaching with wonderful Wallay Toughill! May we teach many more PDC's together!


15 people from all over the world converged at Sunseed Desert Technologies to learn the art of 'protracted and thoughtful observation' that is permaculture!

Sunseed is an evolving show-piece, which this year celebrates 30 years of existence. It features eco-construction, organic gardens, compost toilets, upcycling, numerous cottage industries (of particular note is the production of ecological soaps, cleaning products and toothpaste), and a black water system which incorporates constructed wetlands. It is also a centre for community action, heavily focused on the looming water shortages brought about by unsustainable agriculture nearby. You can sign to protect the beautiful river and learn more about the problem here: www.change.org and here www.thepetitionsite

Aside from the codified 72-hour course following Bill Mollison's Permaculture: A Designer's Manual, we were treated to technical presentations on grey water and a masonry/ rocket stoves. As well as this, we were delighted by an edible/ medicinal plant tour and a breakdown on how the 'invisible structures' (legal/ organisational/ financial etc) work to make Sunseed the jewel that it is.

When there are this many musicians and performers around, you know the creativity is just going to flow and flow and flow! And it did! To celebrate the leaving of one of the coordinators of Sunseed, we had The Epics, an awesome night of song and wood fired pizza. Interwoven throughout the course were pockets of music including two organized jam nights hosted with Pita Escuela, an associated organisation working with sustainable agave products (their most notable builds include a stunning surfboard, telecaster electric guitar, and numerous didgeridoos). Finally, as with all our PDC's, the final night saw an outpouring of creative performances in the traditional 'No-talent Show'. 

The course provided just enough practical time to break up the information-packed classes. Fun practicals involved food fermentation, A-frames to measure contour and the building of a grey-water system. 

The chefs consistently impressed with vegetarian (almost vegan) delights over the fortnight. But for those needing little pick-me-ups in between classes, there was always the delicious salt bush to munch on.

We wish to thank all the graduates of this course for making it such a memorable experience and wish them all the very best for the future, in whatever way they choose to embrace the permaculture ethics of earth care, people care and fair share. 

We look forward to repeating this course, and are very grateful to our hosts at Sunseed and the students who made this course so memorable.
​

May the mulch be with you!

The only limit on the number of uses of a resource possible within a system is in the limit of the information and the imagination of the designer. ~ Bill Mollison


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