A New Life Emerging.... Yes!

Spring is coming.

We are still locked in the grips of a very cold March. Icy, little mud, not too much sunshine, and cold nights. The cold nights are good for maple sugaring but the cold days aren't helping the sap flow. Lots of people are having a good year though. My neighbor put these old school sap buckets on our trees. Yummy, sweet sap. I find it so amazing, the gifts given by these majestic trees. Drawing from the earth, sharing her sweetness. I love the sound of the sap dripping in the buckets, tip, tip, tip... I can hear it across the field.

We walked our land for hours yesterday. Look at all that snow, darn it. We found some lone moose tracks and followed them out onto the road. You can tell so much about an animal by following the tracks for a good distance. How fast they were walking, what they nibbled on, how many times they went this way or that. I wondered when the tracks were made? They weren't fresh and the snow has been melting a little every day. I think this beauty must be big, but I don't have a lot of experience with moose, so can't say for sure. The actual foot print was 7" plus around and the scat was big and there was a lot of it!

I have finally done it!

I just sent off my check for an amazing Permaculture Design Certification course co-sponsored by Prospect Rock Permaculture and Burlington Permaculture. I think taking the 30 Day Vegan Journey has really changed some fundamental things about the way I choose to live my life... One of them is giving myself the gift of just "doing it" and doing it for Me. This new way of letting my heart emerge is contagious. I am taking this course, not one weekend a month over a period of seven months, not a few weekends here and there, but for two whole weeks in Vermont! I will be staying on a sustainable farm! I am beyond excited, and the teachers are amazing!

I can't believe I am doing this. I wake up every morning so incredibly excited, it is like I am traveling to India or something. I have so many things to get ready, the seedlings need to get planted, the garden all done, the greenhouse completely set up, the animals situated, the babies off the heat lamps, all of the work done before June 18th... all of it. I feel like a kid on the last day of school about to embark on a wonderful summer adventure!

My New Life is Emerging, one of my own creation, for Me, for Us, designed by my heart, and fueled by a new bravery to just say Yes, what am I waiting for?

Yes!

Burlington Permaculture and Prospect Rock Permaculture are pleased to offer our fourth-annual early summer Permaculture Design Certification course. This year our course will be even further immersed in ecology and practice: held at Willow Crossing Farm- a regenerative organic family farm and now decade-old permaculture project on the beautiful Lamoille River and Vermont’s Long Trail.
The two week residential intensive course goes above and beyond the internationally recognized standard curriculum with focus on Social Justice, Food Security, Farm Design, Transition, Environmental and Outdoor Education, Natural Building, Horticulture Therapy, Community/ Commercial Scale Production and Propagation, Appropriate Farm Machinery and Tools, and visits to the vibrant farms, homesteads, nurseries, and ethical businesses that contribute to the resilient agricultural economy of northern Vermont.

Almost 100% of the food served during the course will come from the host site and immediately local farms visited during the course. With abundant opportunities to see, practice, and implement permaculture solutions at varying scales, thorough grounding in the process of design and first-hand study of ecology, and led by some of the most experienced designers, farmers, and educators in Vermont and the Northeast- this course affords opportunities for development and engagement in personal and community resilience like no other.

Hands-on Design and Co-Creation of Vibrant, Wholly Nourishing Human Landscapes:

Together, we’ll engage in whole-systems ecological design and implementation of permaculture solutions for a multi-use community garden specifically focused on the needs of food-insecure Vermonters. Learn alongside students, architects, activists, community planners, homesteaders, farmers, business owners, and others while engaging in real world design problems, and being immersed the wild and cultivated beauty of a permaculture site. Each student will also be guided in generating and presenting a design for a site of their own choosing.

Our approach explores the way human beings- as individuals and communities- can participate in the creation of ethical, socially just, and ecologically regenerative perennial support systems. We apply the sciences of Ecology, Anthropology, Ethnobiology, and Evolution to agriculture, the built environment, and social and economic organization (‘invisible structures’) by integrating plants, animals, buildings, people, communities, economies, and the landscapes that surround us through careful analysis and thoughtful design. We also practice permaculture ethics, principles, techniques, and skills by collaborating on real-world projects with an eye towards repairing, restoring, and regenerating human ecosystems.

We welcome graduates of other permaculture design courses to refresh their certification, gain new perspective and experience, build their networks, and advance their practice with the Advanced Permaculture Design and Teacher/ Facilitator Training opportunities available at this site and through this course.

Permaculture is a design science focused on the intersection of social and ecological health. We explore the relationships between the built environment, food security, energy, water, and natural communities, in order to retrofit this infrastructure to respond to the confluent crises of the 21st century with localized resilience, abundance, and ecological regeneration. Build your skills and capacity by taking part!

Our dynamic natural site in the midst of an agriculturally vibrant area affords ample opportunities to study and observe wild ecology, fruit, nut, vegetable, and medicinal herb production, natural/ alternative beekeeping poultry care, natural building, alternative energy, community-scale resilience, etc. In addition to all farm sourced food, immersion in wild ecology, radical sustainability, and the site offers us the opportunity to swim, hike, paddle, and camp in the beauty and inspiration of the early Vermont summer.

All farm sourced, local organic meals, travel to field trips, canoe and kayak use, and camping accommodation is included in the course cost of $1200. There are other lodging options available at additional cost. There are limited opportunities for professional development grants, work trade, scholarships, and other financial aid. Discounted registration for groups, couples, referrals, and travel to the course by boat, bike, foot, or other non motorized means, is available for early registrations. This course has historically filled quickly, please contact us to reserve your space as soon as possible.

As always, permaculture designers, activists, and alumni are welcome visit to present, review students designs, network, or just join us for a (very) local organic meal! Many sessions will be open and free to interested public.

Instructors and guests include: Keith Morris, Mark Krawczyk, Alissa White, Lisa DePiano, Andrew Faust, Skotty Kellogg, Starhawk, the Beehive Collective, and more!

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