We’ve held a 5-day Permaculture Living Course in October last year and it was a full success. Many people have heard of the 10-day Permaculture Design Course, which is internationally recognized as the entry qualification to Permaculture. In the last years we have seen more Permaculture Living Courses appear in Australia. While the longer PDC focuses on design and developing a property plan, the Permaculture Living Course is based around obtaining new practical skills in all areas of your life. At Perth City Farm, we see ourselves as teaching ‘kinder living skills’, which enable us to lead a more sustainable life. The Permaculture Living Course is therefore the logical opportunity for us to teach many of those skills in one course.
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 inaugural course had 21 participants. They learned to preserve harvests, make herbal medicines, grow vegetables, make good compost, restore habitat for native wildlife, and use alternative technologies. They also made friends, cooked morning teas together, discussed the obstacles preventing them from leading more sustainable lives, and together found solutions to overcome them.
Each day, students went home not only with new knowledge, but products they made, seeds, cuttings, and more. Rod and Martina provided written materials on the topics covered, as well as additional reading or viewing suggestions.
Perth City Farm’s Permaculture Living Course was developed by Rod Hughes and Martina Hoeppner. Both are have dedicated their life to permaculture education and come with different sub-specialties and skillsets.
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.
Some of the feedback we received read like this:
“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.”
“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.”
“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.”
“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.”
The course ran on Fridays and Saturdays. This part-time format helped digest material for better retention and fits into busy lives more easily.
Rod and Martina are looking forward to a new group of participants for our 2024 course. Dates and tickets are available now.