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Seeds of Change Farm is located in the lush Rio Grande Valley in Northern New Mexico, midway between Santa Fe and Taos. Every year, the farm grows out hundreds of heirloom varieties of vegetable, flowers and herbs for their trials. Its several acres of land are teeming with biodiversity and beauty. In the past few years, Seeds of Change Farm made a commitment to becoming more sustainable in its farming practices by incorporating permaculture design principles in all aspects of its work. The transition to a more sustainable farm is taking place and class participants are able to see the progress and participate in its evolution.
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About half of class time is spent outdoors, learning permaculture techniques hands-on: from sheet mulching, to soil sculpting for rainwater harvesting, harvesting seeds, natural building methods and more.
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Learning in the field includes learning to read patterns - how to tell plant family, how to track movement of runoff on the land, how to evaluate the health of the entire ecosystem.
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Scrumptious lunches are prepared with farm fresh produce

Practical Permaculture for Sustainable Farming and Gardening

This is a series of three five-days workshops held at Seeds of Change Farm in Northern New Mexico. Field-based classes will offer plenty of opportunities for learning outdoors. Each workshop can be taken in series or separately. Completion of the entire series leads to permaculture certification.



Workshop One: Intro to Sustainable Design Principles

THIS CLASS IS FULL
Saturday, May 17 - Wednesday, May 21

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With Toby Hemenway, author of first major North American book on permaculture, Gaia’s Garden: A Guide to Home-Scale Permaculture, and Scott Pittman.

  • Sustainable Systems Design for Farms, Gardens and Communities;
  • Pattern Literacy & Pattern Thinking for Sustainability;
  • Permaculture Methodology for Productive Landscape Design - site, sector & zone

Hands-on exercises in observation, reading the landscape, soil preparation (mulching, compost use, inoculation with beneficial organisms), spring planting (vegetables, annual and perennial flowers, herbs), farm biodiversity, planting for pollinators and more.  register here



Workshop Two: Natural and Constructed Ecosystems

Saturday, July 12 - Wednesday, July 16

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with Brad Lancaster author of Rainwater Harvesting in Drylands & Beyond & Scott Pittman

  • Forest and Trees; Their Role in the Landscape
  • Food Forests and Gardens for Self-Sufficiency
  • Rainwater Harvesting and Reuse
  • Water Management on the Landscape

Hands-on exercises in understanding of role and management of weeds, introduction to native pollinators & honey bees to farms, orchards and home gardens; soil management in drylands on broadscale, tracking water on the landscape, learning to design rainwater harvesting systems. register here


Workshop Three: Sustainable Home and Community

Saturday, August 23 - Wednesday, August 27 with SCOTT PITTMAN & guests

  • Natural Building Methods & Design Approaches
  • Use of Alternative Energies
  • Appropriate Technologies for Waste Management, Heating etc
  • Design for Communities and Ecovillages

Hands-on exercises in food processing & storage, seed saving, building with natural materials, learning to work with farm animals for soil & farm management register here

Fees:

Fee for each individual workshop is $450; for any two workshops $825; for all three workshops $1175, paid upfront. The $100 non-refundable deposit is required to hold your space in any of the workshops; $300 deposit for all three classes. The class is limited to 20 attendants. There will be no drop-in registration for this program.

Certification:

Registering for and attending all three workshops leads to certification in Permaculture Design by the Permaculture Institute. 

Logistics:

Out of town students can stay in a hotel nearby; camp sites next door are available; read more details about camping & other logistics (bottom of the page). Lunch is provided on all class days.

if you have additional questions, please contact
Registration Portal