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Courses in Sunny Far North Queensland


Rosella Waters

At FreeRange Permaculture we are focussed on bringing a variety of world-class courses and workshops in a range of sustainable practices, to the Far North.

Our Permaculture demonstration site is Rosella Waters, located near the thriving international tourist city of Cairns. The 2.38Ha property is situated in Walkamin, on the edge of what is locally known as the “jump-up”, the aftermath of an ancient lava flow. At an elevation of close to 600 meters above sea level and with over 1000mm of rainfall per year, it has a unique climate within our wet tropics region. The property is fronted by 194 meters of the Barron River, which flows year round and is the major river in the region.

In November 2008 we held our first 2 week residential Permaculture Design Course (PDC) at Rosella Waters. The course was a great success with 26 people coming from as close as Cairns to as far away as California. A big thank you to both Geoff Lawton and Darren Doherty for sharing their expertise and knowledge and to all the participants for making the event so memorable and rewarding for everyone involved. Needless to say lives were changed, and one young man from Utah booked a plane ticket to Jordan to work on the PRI Jordan project before the course had even finished!

The PDC was followed by a 3-Day Keyline Design Course, taught by Darren Doherty, and held on a 300 acre Hereford cattle property in the beautiful Atherton Tablelands. More accurately described as a “Broad acre Permaculture Design Course”, farmers facing the rising costs of inputs and declining soil fertility, were presented with everything from Permaculture to Keyline Design, Holistic Management, Carbon Farming, Bio-Char making and more! By the second day, one farmer told us: “Last night we went home and threw out our old farm plan, we’re ready to start again”.

Inspired by the positive changes to people’s lives we are proud to announce that in 2009, we are doing it all again and more! The courses we have scheduled thus far are as follows:

Permaculture Design Course (PDC) (15th March – 28th March 2009)

Taught by Darren Doherty, this 2 week residential course at Rosella Waters is the full 72 hr international curriculum course as set out in the Designers Manual.

Special Fundraiser: After recent events on the Gaza strip, the influx of refugees fleeing to the very arid Dead Sea Valley is growing at an alarming rate. Geoff and Nadia Lawton and others are desperately working to establish the Jordan Valley Permaculture Project as soon as possible to train refugees and impoverished locals to set up sustainable food, water and shelter systems essential to their survival. FreeRange Permaculture will donate AU$50 per student from the course fee to support the PRI Jordan Valley Permaculture Project.

Keyline Design Course (29th March – 31st March 2009)

Taught by Darren Doherty, this 3-day workshop is a true Carbon Farmers Course, covering Keyline design, carbon sequestration, soil creation, Holistic Management and so much more…

Compost & Compost Tea Workshop ( 1st & 2nd April 2009)

Taught by Paul Taylor, this 2 day workshop is a practical course in compost making, compost teas & their application to the field whilst Keyline ploughing and explanation of the Soil Foodweb system of vital soil management as developed by Dr. Elaine Ingham.


Field Comparison

WOMENS ONLY Permaculture Design Course (PDC) (October 2009 – Dates to be confirmed)

We are very excited to announce that Rosemary Morrow will be leading the first ever WOMENS ONLY PDC in Far North Queensland to be held at Rosella Waters. Rosemary is an inspiration, and by holding a PDC for women only, we hope to inspire a new generation of female Permaculturists. It promises to be a truly special event. We are currently taking inquiries for this course.

If you would like to inquire about any of the above courses please contact us via our website or call Kym on +61 (07) 4086 8019 or Mobile: +61 (0) 407 243 298.

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