Our 5-day Permaculture Living Course is a fun, hands-on course all about empowering you to live your version of the good life. Happier, healthier, more connected and kinder to earth.
“Everyone in the world needs this course. It’s practical and feel good and provides knowledge and tools to help you create the life you want.” – 2023 PLC participant
What to expect from the Permaculture Living Course?
Over five days, you’ll get your hands busy preserving harvests, making herbal medicines and preparing a compost pile. You’ll learn how to grow your own food, restore habitat for native wildlife and use alternative technologies in your home.
Whether you’re completely new to permaculture or have been implementing some permaculture principles in your life already, this is a great course to meet you where you’re at.
“Despite having used some permaculture principles already, I have learned so much, and intend to make further changes within the scope of my home and life.” – 2023 PLC participant
There’ll be time to connect and make friends too. We’ll cook morning tea together, chat about the obstacles and challenges we face, and find solutions to overcome them together. We’ll cross-pollinate ideas and bring our own unique perspectives to the group. Diversity is wonderful!
Each day, you’ll go home not only with new knowledge, but products you made, seeds, cuttings, and more. Your teachers will provide written materials on the topics covered, as well as additional reading or viewing suggestions. You’ll leave feeling confident to make the changes in your life that you want to make.
“It’s helped me realise don’t let perfection be the energy of good.”
– 2024 PLC participant
Topics covered in the Permaculture Living Course
The PLC is a kind of ‘best of’ of Perth City Farms adult education program.
You will gain skills in:
- Applying permaculture zones, ethics and principles to your home, garden and life
- Designing a productive food garden
- Plant propagation including cuttings and seed saving
- Sowing, tending and harvesting food plants
- Gardening for urban wildlife
- Making great soil including composting, green manure and weed tea
- Waterwise small space gardening including wicking pots and ollas
- Solar oven cooking
- Using animals in your garden: chickens, ducks and worms
- Fermenting vegetables
- Foraging for wild foods and identifying and cooking safe weeds
- Maintaining tools
- Using medicinal herbs including making herbal balm & oxymel
- Slowing down your life, spending less money and enjoying life more
- Supporting and developing more local and ethical economic systems
Why take a Permaculture Living Course?
As one of last year’s participants says:
“It will continue to add to my growth as a person – setting me on a path of living and thinking more ethically and sustainably – more permacultury!” – 2024 PLC participant
If you want to live a life that’s kinder to the earth, others and yourself, the Permaculture Living Course is a great way to boost your knowledge and confidence to do so.
Here’s why we think you’ll love it:
- Practical and hands-on learning
- Inspiration you can start implementing at home straight away
- Passionate teachers who live and breathe what they teach
- The chance to connect with likeminded folk
- Course content that’s specific to Perth urban settings
Our course was developed here at the Farm and is tailored to our local area and conditions. It covers a multitude of topics over five days. The five days are spread out over three weeks to give you time to absorb and apply your learning.
“This course is a great way to meet likeminded people and learn more about City Farm. An excellent intro to permaculture principles and the ways they intersect with all the different aspects of lifestyle. It’s a great way to get inspired, proactive and gain a holistic understanding.” – 2023 PLC participant
What’s the difference between a Permaculture Living Course and a Permaculture Design Course?
Many people have heard of the 10-day Permaculture Design Course, aka PDC, which is internationally recognized as the entry qualification to Permaculture. In the last few years we’ve seen more Permaculture Living Courses appear in Australia.
While the longer PDC focuses on design skills and developing a property plan, the Permaculture Living Course is based around obtaining new practical skills in all areas of your life. This could include learning how to grow and preserve your own food, make your own body care products, harvest water, use alternative technologies in your home and build a resilient community.
Meet Your Permaculture Teachers
Perth City Farm’s Permaculture Living Course was developed by Rod Hughes and Martina Hoeppner. Both have dedicated their lives to permaculture education and come with different sub-specialties and skillsets.
Last year’s participants loved Rod and Martina’s teaching and we’re pretty confident you will too.
“I loved how Rod and Martina made every area of learning interesting, even the subject areas I thought I wasn’t going to be interested in.” – 2023 PLC participant
Rod used to be our Farm Manager at Perth City Farm and now lives and teaches at Fair Harvest Permaculture in Margaret River. He is an excellent teacher of many subjects from growing food and restoring natural areas to sharpening tools and demonstrating alternative technologies. He also bakes the best morning tea focaccia.
Martina is the owner and director of Permaculture Educators Alliance and Perth City Farm’s Education Lead. She can teach all subjects on Permaculture Design and Living Courses, but particularly enjoys teaching food preserving, herbal medicines, alternative economy and community building.
Keen to join us at a Permaculture Living Course?
Our next Permaculture Living Course will be in spring 2025. Sign up to our newsletter to be the first to hear when tickets are released.