Inland Northwest Permaculture Guild

2015 Permaculture Design Course

with a special emphasis on Earth Restoration

A two-week, residential intensive course. Register now.

May 23 (Saturday) 10:00 am
to June 7 (Sunday) 12:00 noon

At the Heartsong Retreat Center, Tumtum, Washington

½ hour northwest of Spokane

Instructed by Michael Pilarski
& guest speakers

Permaculture design can be applied to any property large or small … urban or rural.

The course will have a special emphasis on Earth Repair and Ecological Restoration.

Learn permaculture from the region’s most experienced permaculture teacher.

LEARN ABOUT:

100's of useful plants/crops,

100's of ideas for income generation,

100's of techniques for earth care & earth repair

100's of ways to improve our social & economic systems.

Design presentation at 2012 Spokane PDC

For more information contact:

Michael Pilarski
Inland Northwest Permaculture Guild
PO Box 165, Hot Springs, MT 59845
friendsofthetrees@yahoo.com

Course Fees:

Downpayment: $250.
Early bird course fee before April 15: $850. After April 15: $950.
Early bird couple rate: $750 each. After April 15: $850.
Single Days: $80.

Pay On-line: The links below open the on-line payment system. After adding an item to your shopping cart, check the shopping cart box to the upper right of the screen.

Downpayment: $250.

Early bird course fee before April 15: $850. After April 15: $950.

Early bird couple rate: $750 each. After April 15: $850.

Single Days: $80.

The course fee covers instruction, meals, curriculum materials and permaculture design certificate.

A limited number of partial work-trades are available. Inquire for particulars.

Two scholarships will be awarded. 2015 Spokane PDC Scholarship Application

To register send a $250 down payment or the full payment. Use Paypal on the INPG website
or mail a check (make checks out to Inland Northwest Permaculture Guild).

INPG, PO Box 165, Hot Springs, MT 59845

Refund policy. $100 is non-refundable. The rest will be refunded if cancellation is prior to two weeks before start date. Cancellations within two weeks of starting date results in $250 being non-refundable.

CERTIFICATION: Upon completion of the course, participants receive a Certificate of Permaculture Design issued by the Permaculture Institute of North America as well as the Permaculture Institute USA. Course graduates are expected to attend all sessions or complete homework assignments to make up missed sessions.

HEARTSONG RETREAT CENTER is a community-owned property with the goal of being a permaculture site and educational center. We will be doing site design and hands-on projects to move Heartsong towards this goal. The 2014 Inland Northwest Permaculture Convergence was held at Heartsong and it worked out great. There is a large lodge with a kitchen and dining area downstairs and a large meeting room upstairs. There are gardens, forest, riparian zone, and fields for our outdoor activities.  We will set up a large sky lodge outside for activities.  There is a sauna next to a small pond and it is a short walk to a swimming lake.

ACCOMODATIONS: There are some indoor accomodations for which there will be an extra charge.  Some locals will commute.  Most people will tent camp. RVs or live in vans are welcome. No extra fee for camping or RVs.

MEALS: We will be hiring a cook. The menu will include vegetarian and non-vegetarian options. Everyone is requested to lend a hand in the kitchen on a rotating basis. We invite all the participants to bring food they have gathered, grown or processed themselves.  This food carries the special energy of the grower. ‘Mana’ is the word they use for it in Hawai`i. It translates to something like power or life-force. We will wildcraft for salad vegetables and maybe a few roots. We will purchase food from local farmers inasmuch as possible. After that we will buy bulk foods from the organic distribution network. Not only do we want to walk our talk, we want to eat our talk.

MICHAEL PILARSKI is one of the Northwest’s most well-known permaculture teachers and networkers.  He has lived and farmed in the region since 1972 and has hands-on experience with over 1000 species of plants. He founded Friends of the Trees Society in 1978 and has written extensively on agriculture, permaculture, agroforestry, forestry, ethnobotany and wildcrafting. Since 1988 he has taught 36 permaculture design courses in the US and abroad including 7 in eastern Washington and 3 in Montana.

GUEST SPEAKERS include: Chrys Ostrander on small livestock, Gabe Gaul on mushrooms/fungi in permaculture, Phil Small on soil science, Gloria Flora on biochar, Marc Flora on forest gardening, Bob Merrill and David Kirchhof on building materials and technologies, and Margaret Ruhl and Elf of Bruce-Ruhl Design on urban design, rooftop gardening and farming urban yards. Stay tuned to the INPG website for further developments. Course participants will also bring a wide range of knowledge and experience to share.  We are all students. We are all teachers.

This intensive course will include lectures, power points, slide shows, hands-on, field trips, plant walks, design teams, research, presentations, small groups and evening activities. There is a half-day off in the middle of the course.

[Top photo: Skeeter leading the 2012 pdc in Spokane]

The Inland Northwest Permaculture Guild's
2014 Convergence:
"Back to the Roots"

at the Beautiful Heartsong Retreat Center
was a resounding success!

More than 150 dedicated permaculturists attended 40-plus workshops, shared beautifully prepared meals, sang around the fire and went home enriched by the amazing skill-sharing and comraderie. We strengthened our network; we proved we could pull off a largely do-it-yourself, donation-based convergence; we established a lasting tie with Heartsong. We are gratified that we were able to gather so many participants from our small Inland Northwest region (our total number of attendees equaled 38% of the total number who attended the national convergence just two weeks prior).

We could not have enjoyed such a success without the many contributions of the folks who came-- whether in the form of cash donations, donated food, volunteer labor or positive vibes. The organizers helped create the space but it was the people who came to the convergence who created the experience. A very big Thank You to each of you.

Four days of Fun, Interconnection and Love of the Earth!
Thursday through Sunday, Sept. 11, 12, 13, and 14, 2014.

Read all about it >>>

Download a version of our Heartsong Convergence Poster to print and put up in your neighborhood!