Michael Cahill

I was just wondering if there is some sort of international or national regulatory body that oversees permaculture education.

Who decides what gets taught in a PDC or who gets to teach it, or how it is taught, and who can issue certificates?

I know that there are some general guidelines as far as curriculum and length of training that have carried over from when Mollison first instituted the PDC, but is there anything formal now?

saw dust has a high carbon to nitrogen level (C:N) meaning that in sawdust the amount of carbon is significantly higher than the amount of nitrogen.

decomposition is carried out by microorganisms and they need nitrogen to complete the process so if you use something like sawdust which has a high C:N ratio then the microorganisms will take the nitrogen from the soil or in your case your compost in order for them to decompose the sawdust.

you have to have a source of nitrogen for the microorganisms to decompose the sawdust or else you will probably only have luck with beans or other legumes.

i recommend composting the sawdust first and using urine or another source of nitrogen to really get it going.

in the future try using something that has a lower C:N ratio if you want to plant directly into it