A sigh of relief, excitement, and equally sadness expels my tired being. Twenty-one of us have successfully completed the fourth Permaculture Design Course held here at Distant Relatives over the past two weeks, with flying colours and flying graduation caps mid-air as I write. The myriad of information, inspiration, incentive and sensical beauty has left me happily dumbfounded.
Permaculture is a concept that was first thought up by two guys in the 70’s integrating the ideas of being able to create and design sustainable living systems, caring of people and the earth, and learning from nature itself whilst having minimal impact on the planet. The instructors Joseph Nyuntoni from the Permaculture Research Institute of Kenya and Casparo Brown fed the keen students with a wealth of experience and knowledge second to none. Some topics that resonated with me the most included how to survey land, picking up patterns & simply observing the finer details, natural pest management, how to regenerate soil, bee keeping and aquaculture. I have so many ideas of how to implement all these great systems into my future and it’s left me feeling super positive.
“This course is a form of rehab. A meeting of mind, hearts and souls.”
DR was born a permaculturist, and with such a great space to work with- we have lots of work to do! Myself and two of my colleagues were lucky enough to attend the course, giving us huge scope for the site and future projects. The guys at Barefoot Soulutions, Sven and Ivan, facilitated the course this year and are taking over the site here at DR to become the demonstration site for their permaculture design consultancy company. This is a beautiful partnership that should change DR forever; the current dry, baron slopes will be turned into a food forest, a fully fledged mini-nursery booming with a variety indigenous species, a thriving greenhouse germinating delectable herbs and fruits and vegetables… I’m salivating at the thought. The future is bright.
We had a field trip to Haller Park, which was a highlight for sure. It is a thriving, living, physical display of what permaculture can really do! Haller Park is a man-made forest that was built on the degraded landscape of a former limestone quarry. One man began implementing permaculture practises and 40 years on there is now a chasm of eco-systemic life in all forms from algae’s and mosses to crocodiles and hippos.
The course was intense, soooooo many scribbles and notes and verbal rabblings to retain & learn & retain & learn. Intensity was heightened by all the fun we had outside of the course too; Musafir yoga & sundowners, a killer gig the first Friday night – The Petebox performed, an insane beatboxer phenomenon that I’ll talk about next time – live jam sessions, tequila fuelled Pizza Nights, plus Sven & Ivan became DJ’s by night with another guy from the course, spinning super-awesome-dancey beats to the early hours at our Halloween party.
RIP Bill Mollison
To summarise, everyone came with a different idea, a different ambition, and a different need for doing the course, which led to an incredibly inspirational time soaking in bajaillions of fun facts and thoughts. Everyone left with the same value, the same motivation and the same fundamental love for this wonderful madness we live in. Thanks Barefoot Soulutions, Casparo Brown, Joseph Ntunyoni and PRI Kenya for making this happen. I’ve met some very special souls which are now aptly prepared to live their lives through Permaculture spectacles and spreading the word(love) wherever that may be.
Plant more trees!
Love Claudia Waller & the Distant Relatives
A sigh of relief, excitement, and equally sadness expels my tired being. Twenty-one of us have successfully completed the fourth Permaculture Design Course held here at Distant Relatives over the past two weeks, with flying colours and flying graduation caps mid-air as I write. The myriad of information, inspiration, incentive and sensical beauty has left me happily dumbfounded.
Permaculture is a concept that was first thought up by two guys in the 70’s integrating the ideas of being able to create and design sustainable living systems, caring of people and the earth, and learning from nature itself whilst having minimal impact on the planet. The instructors Joseph Nyuntoni from the Permaculture Research Institute of Kenya and Casparo Brown fed the keen students with a wealth of experience and knowledge second to none. Some topics that resonated with me the most included how to survey land, picking up patterns & simply observing the finer details, natural pest management, how to regenerate soil, bee keeping and aquaculture. I have so many ideas of how to implement all these great systems into my future and it’s left me feeling super positive.
We had a field trip to Haller Park, which was a highlight for sure. It is a thriving, living, physical display of what permaculture can really do! Haller Park is a man-made forest that was built on the degraded landscape of a former limestone quarry. One man began implementing permaculture practises and 40 years on there is now a chasm of eco-systemic life in all forms from algae’s and mosses to crocodiles and hippos.
The course was intense, soooooo many scribbles and notes and verbal rabblings to retain & learn & retain & learn. Intensity was heightened by all the fun we had outside of the course too; Musafir yoga & sundowners, a killer gig the first Friday night – The Petebox performed, an insane beatboxer phenomenon that I’ll talk about next time – live jam sessions, tequila fuelled Pizza Nights, plus Sven & Ivan became DJ’s by night with another guy from the course, spinning super-awesome-dancey beats to the early hours at our Halloween party.
