Professional development for permaculture consultants is one of the biggest opportunities moving forward — expanding permaculture into a business/energy transfer system. (Most permies I run into get scared when money is mentioned, so lets call it energy transfer.)
Geoff and Nadia Lawton have given me a monumental opportunity to integrate professional development into PRI’s education line up and for that I’m very grateful. Since most of the world’s population live in an urban setting, there is thus the most demand for retrofitting human habitats. As such, I will be running a 5-day Permaculture Urban Landscape Design Course.
I ran a 2-day intensive course with the PRI’s January 2011 Interns to gauge their thoughts and their personal responses. The course, while short, gave them a new lease on permaculture life and a direction for building a career in professional permaculture and business.
In the 5-day course starting, 13th June 2011, is going to be intense! You’re going to become part of a permaculture design firm — a member of a team that will function as a professional design firm. We will be engaged by a real life client with an urban garden, with real life outcomes of producing an urban permaculture design presentation in a professional manner. The design created will be used by students of the next course.
Also you will become apart of a permaculture construction company. For three days you will be involved in the estimation, costing, installation and project management of a real life garden — dealing with contractors, suppliers and trades to turn a one dimensional plan into a living system.
My goal is that you will walk away with a greater understanding of what is possible in starting your own business in permaculture. This course also applies to anyone wanting to start their own business in any other permaculture niche and wants to know what steps are involved.
Permaculture business is not hard. If you have an idea, that’s all you need. The rest will fall into place. These are some of the things that will be discussed in breaks during the 3-day construction: Business start up and what’s involved? And what your next steps are?
You’re going to walk away from this course with real outcomes: A design project in full colour with your name on it, to be used by you to show potential future clients, and photos and records of the construction experience to keep in your portfolio.
Shareware Doc’s that can take away with you:
- Copy of two design projects, 1 urban, 1 broadacre, to use as a reference for own design projects.
- Copy of consultation contract with costing. (Applicable to Australia only, but with a guide for international students).
- Copy of construction contracts with costing. (Applicable to Australia only, but with a guide for international students).
- Copy of Excel spreadsheet for project estimation. Applicable world wide.
- Example copy of terms of trade. (Applicable to Australia only, but with a guide for international students).
- Copy of design contracts from past jobs. (Applicable to Australia only, but with a guide for international students).
- On completion students will have the basics of starting and running a perma-scape design & consultation business.
Note: This course is not about designing per se. It’s aimed at gaining the skills of a professional who can combine resources to produce effective design projects and create a business in permaculture.
Sometimes I have seen comments on the PRI website about prices charged for courses being too high and some not being able to afford to come along. If you’re planning to start your own design & consultancy business then the cost of a course is an expense that can be claimed in that year’s business tax as a deduction. This course and courses like it within permaculture are investments in your future. If this course costs $1100 and you’re a permaculture design consultant, you will need to work out what time frame it’s going to take to get that investment back. For myself, for example, if I do two consultations per week (no design work, just a three hour onsite consult @ $220 including tax), i’ll have it paid back in 2.5 weeks. If I do one urban design job it would be paid back within 1 design. (1 design being worth $1250 including tax.)
My vision for professional development is to see permaculture design business outweigh landscape business in the Yellow Pages. Believe me, there are landscapers out there doing this type of work with no understanding of the complexity of soil biology, permaculture design, integration of animal systems and everything else that is involved — and yet they are as busy as ever!
This is an opportunity to turn that energy transfer around to permaculture businesses that can produce outcomes for clients, build relationships and create sound designs that will feed our urban world and close the input loop.
For good measure, I put a video at top covering some of what I’ve been up to in the past month. Ever since Craig Mackintosh shattered my dream of becoming a writer or journalist, I set forth and employed a film production company from Melbourne to help me tell the story (so Craig wouldn’t have to spend a week proofing my articles!). The video covers a broad acre project, but it’s what you can expect when you’re out there in the real world of permaculture design & consultancy.
Hi there
I’m studying hydrology at Melbourne Uni and was just wondering a couple of things. You said that the season had been a really good one, so why isn’t the dam full? Does that indicate that there isn’t much runoff on those very sandy soils? In which case, are those swales ever going to fill? When they do fill, won’t you increase the leaching below the swale?
Also, how do you propose cell grazing in between the swales, or are you planning to let the cattle walk all over them. Fiddling around with tape in between those mounds would be pretty time consuming (my dad is a farmer). It would only make sense to me if it was used as a calving paddock for shelter, maybe with fodder trees as a drought reserve?
I also don’t understand why you thickly mulched the covercrop. Isn’t the idea of the covercrop to do that job? Seems like a lot of labour and materials for not much gain
Cheers, Mark Lawson
Great video Nick! It was awesome watching the grader putting those swales in so quickly and cost effectively. All the best with your a Permaculture Urban Landscape Design Course it looks like it will be a very useful course.
Hi Nick,
nice article and a great video.
The course sounds interesting. You state that you could earn back the course fee in a number of weeks through consulting.
My question is, are there people out there who are looking for this kind of consultancy work? Could one realistically do a walk and talk three times a week?
Cheers
I just got scared when you called money “energy transfer.”
Hi Nick,
If this design is not cost effective for the whole property, what is it demonstrating. When will the cattle be re-introduced and what will you use to fence them out from the swales?
Is there a reason why you moved on from Keyline ploughing to swales in 3 months? As I undertand it the full effectiveness of
Keyline ploughing takes multiple passes and several years to accomplish. If the ploughing has accomplished what it is capable of then what additional benefits do swales offer?
no reply from the author to questions from two technical experts. technical designs need to be rigorous and justifiable. or else “permaculture” becomes a waste of effort
Thanks for your comments. Sorry for the late reply I’ve been out working on my own property at Tarago on the NSW southern tablelands – Jacmarall Farm
Mark: The season has been really good in Gippsland. In context, this property sits in a rain shadow of the alpine national park. Theres been floods 30min west and light showers around the Nambrok locality and thats what the locals are calling a good season. Dec 40mm, Jan 32mm, a week after we left in Feb they had 38mm.
The reason the dam is not full is that we drained it to work on increasing its water holding capacity and to Key in a new section of wall to the attached swale.
No sandy soils near this farm. Nambrok sits on a 30km ridge that divides the sandy coastal plains and the fertile dairy & irrigation country. to the north around Maffra. The soil is composed of heavy compacted clay with reefs of fine gravels and next to no water holding capacity at the moment.
Swales are water harvesting and tree planing systems. Our aim is to ‘yes’ in the event of a large rain fall event to move water from gullies to ridges and disperse evenly across the landscape have them fill and flow to the next swale.. Trees on the swales have been chosen for there ability to drop a lot of leaf matter into the swale. Increasing the breakdown of organic matter and spreading fertility across the landscape.
Swales mounds are never to me compacted. As I mentioned, this is stage 2 of a 6 stage project. So fencing will come later on. We have designed the system so cattle go in one gate at the top and pass via the cell grazing and end up at the bottom and move to the next paddock. No herding, mustering. Simply open a single wire and they automatically run into the next paddock.
I can’t comment on what your father dose with his systems. Gone are the days of straight fences, running ute’s across pasture chasing cows. Its about functional, regenerative design.
Fodder trees and browsing systems will be incorporated on the smaller swales and with in small cells in the grazing system at a later stage.
Soil carbon loss through oxidization, wind drying the soil and blowing the dust to the neighbors. For $40 a bale and 20 bales used its a very cheap insurance policy. As soon as that straw hits the soil its hold the moisture in. The seed has a microclimate in which to germinate. Soil born organisms have a chance to feed on the decomposing straw and the list goes on. The cover crop will grow through, and I believe it already has from an email received last week on the sites progress and it powering. Thanks Mark I hope that answered your questions.
G’Day Joel. Thanks for the kind works mate. I’ll hope to be up to see you when Im up at Zaytuna farm next.
Hi Joshua,
OK, Earning back the courses fees. 100% correct. But thats up to you! I don’t know you at all Joshua so I’m not going to make any assumptions. If your focused, driven, and a self starter, a firm belief in what you do, that will reflect on what resources gather around you.
I finished my PDC in December 2009. I have been working full time on Permaculture design and construction and now Geoff and Nadia offer me to teach at the world famous PRI. What are the chances of that happening? Very good, because I made it known to people what I was doing! Posts on the PRI website, Writing for magazines about Permaculture not sitting at home waiting for the phone to ring in hope!
Also working on setting up community gardens on the Gold Coast SBCG .
To give you an idea I have $32,000.00 of design work on in the next 2 months, Consultations at various locations around Vic, NSW, QLD and new projects coming up with the ACT Gov in Canberra, working tree planting projects and so on. Talks at community groups and with other groups like Natural Sequence Farming (Shoalhaven chapter). I butter my toast the same way you do every morning. This is what these courses are about. Getting Permaculturalist to realize that there is going to be Millions of starving people in the world soon and were sitting back saying will there be any work! Rest my case! Thanks Joshua, I hope to see you at the Course.
Are JBOB, What would one of my posts be with out a comment from you. Keep them coming brother.
Hi Evan,
Good question mate. Gippsland/East Gippsland has some Very, Very conservative farmers. If it can be brought from the rural suppliers then it can’t work. The family we are working for are very private people and very well know figures in government in Australia. For them to take on a 3000ac retro fit would be out of the question. Not $ wise, but to take small steps in implementation to see how the land reacts and for them to learn how best to manage it. Softy, softy catch a monkey approach will get the neighbors on board and pass the word around that natural regenerative agriculture will work in the long run.
I would like the cattle back in there asap but only under management guidelines of HM (Holistic Management) timed grazing. But again its an approach that can’t be undertaken right at this time. Again small steps.
We are using compost tea to increase soil microbiology.
OK, the Keyline works. This paddock/ farm has been so flogged over the last 30 years that and initial deep rip to 200mm just to get some air, light and moisture back in the ground. Now with the swales in place we will continue with our Plowing once a year, now with compost tea injected at the same time.
The benefit of the swales will be for fertility and tree planting systems as I wrote above. These will be habitat for everything dead and alive to return to the soil and build fertility. The project is more complex than a 7 min video. We will be holding a field day in October 2011 for any interested persons.
Thank you all for your questions.
Hi nick, can you flick me your email so I can drop you a line? Grifen
Hi Nick,
Your description of the course gives a good indication that it will suit anyone who is passionate or highly interested in permaculture in the urban setting. I just want to confirm that this is essentially the prerequisite & that one isn’t wasting one’s time doing it if they haven’t completed the PDC or some other course previously?.
Given that I live in inner west Sydney & have been interested in an urban based permaculture/organic gardening opportunity for some time, I just wish to clarify this.
cheers
Sorry Warrick, I’m not sure I understand what your saying. The Pre Rec is for holders of a recognised PDC (Permaculture Design Cert). Its not a Gardening course nor a how to designing course. Its Professional development for Permaculture based around Urban Permaculture Design.
Note: This course is not about designing per se. It’s aimed at gaining the skills of a professional who can combine resources to produce effective design projects and create a business in permaculture.
I hope that has answered your Question from what I could understand of it.
Sorry Nick, Didn’t read descriptions carefully enough. That’s answered my question.
Great work Nick. Seems to be gathering some momentum and getting people interested. We should have been doing this years ago!! Love it. Marnie