Cliff M. Davis

Spiral Ridge Permaculture is offering it's annual spring Permaculture Design Course, May 18-31 in Summertown, TN.
Group Discounts!  3 signing up together and you each save $150.  If 4 sign up, we will give you a 5th spot completely free!
Also offered September 23-October 6.  Save $200 if you sign up for the fall course by April 23.
Why choose Spiral Ridge for your PDC?
This course has a strong focus on small farm and homestead design.
You will learn design for all climates, but get to experience it in a temperate/semi-subtropical region.
All instructors are living AND practicing in the south.
Lead instructors, Cliff Davis and Jennifer Albanese have been practicing permaculture for 16 years and have been developing their homestead for the last 8.  Cliff has taught over 55 workshops and courses and has attended over 25 professional development courses in everything from food forests, earthworks, holistic management, Darren Doherty's Regrarian platform and more.  He teaches the longest running annual earthworks course in the states.
Come stay at Cliff & Jen's off-grid homestead and immerse yourself in daily permaculture living.  They have been regenerating a logged piece of land on a ridgetop into a productive ecosystem.
Over 10 guest instructors!  We have compost/compost tea specialists, herbalists, edible landscapers, organic farmers, professional natural builders, professional permaculture consultants/designers, homesteaders, business owners, mushroom specialists and more.
Awesome food, southern hospitality and maybe even a little banjo pickin' at our nightly campfire!
14 awesome days filled with outdoor classroom learning, discussions, hands-on skill building, projects, community building and fun.
Spiral Ridge instructors follow a design process with the students from day one, for an in-depth design project that is presented at the end of the 14 days.  We do not just spend 1 day on the design project.  We give you a process that you can do step by step with your own projects in the future and we spend a lot of time in class on this process.
Smaller class size for lots of one on one attention with instructors and opportunity to discuss your personal projects.
Fully catered, high quality meals.  We can feed most anybody!  Omnivore meals, with Vegetarian, Vegan and Gluten Free options, if you ask.
This course has great reviews and tons of testimonials as to it's high quality and life changing experience.  Just check out some of those testimonials right here!

For lots of details check out The Permaculture Design Course description page

Spiral Ridge Permaculture is teaming up with Trevecca Urban Farm in Nashville, TN, to offer a full Permaculture Design Certificate Course as well as a 2 day Introduction to Permaculture. We will be focusing on how to ecologically design farms & homesteads, building skills and participating in hands on projects. Students will complete a design with our guidance from making holistic goals, mapping and analyzing the landscape to presenting their designs complete with graphics and getting feedback. This step by step process will help you design your own project.

This course is held on weekends for 12 days (including 1 Mon. & 1 Fri). March 4-6, 11-12, 25-26, April 8-9 and April 28-30  This format is easier for homesteaders that can't get away for our two week intensives. Also more suitable for folks working a regular Mon-Fri job. It is our best priced and most centrally located PDC for Middle TN. Group discounts available.

http://www.spiralridgepermaculture.com/permaculture-design-course/

Farmer? Want to farm?
Do you want a course that will give you practical, pragmatic and proven skills, techniques and technologies, that are going to take you and your enterprises and landscapes further?

If you want to integrate agroforestry, grazing/pastured animals and/or crops to create a cutting edge, ecological, regenerative, productive and marketable farm, then this course is for you!

Darren Doherty of Regrarians, is coming to Tennessee to teach a 10 day Farm Planning Course in April. It is the only training of it's kind in the U.S and we are the only ones hosting him in the southeast U.S. We have waited years for this opportunity! You don't want to miss this! His first class in California sold out in a few weeks, so do not delay.
Darren J. Doherty has extensive experience across the world in project design, development, management & training. A career-long focus on the profitable & regenerative retrofit of broadacre landscapes has seen Darren acclaimed as a pioneer in this important & often overlooked field. Darren is a 5th generation Bendigo region farmer, developer, author & trainer and has been involved in the design & development of nearly 2000, mostly broadacre projects across 6 continents in close to 50 countries! Globally many of Darren’s alumni of well over 15,000 people are at the cutting edge of the movement towards regenerative agriculture & living systems.



The REX is run over 10 intensive days (no day off!) and is based on a real farm with real clients taking real risks and looking for a real future. Regrarians’ Darren J. Doherty will lead both the attendees and the clients through an intensive program which is a participatory balance of practical theory and hands-on decision making and practice just as happens on real projects & these are real projects!!
The following topics will be covered...
Day 1 – CLIMATE
Day 2 – GEOGRAPHY
Day 3 – WATER
Day 4 – ACCESS
Day 5 – FORESTRY
Day 6 – BUILDINGS
Day 7 – FENCING
Day 8 – SOILS
Day 9 – ECONOMY
Day 10 – ENERGY

REX10 Registration




Hosted by:

Hi,
We may be the place you found in TN...Spiral Ridge. We are having a two week residential PDC in September. We have considered trying to do one in Alabama or Pensacola (where we are from) but have not found a host. Hopefully you can make the drive and join us one day. It s about 6 hours...
Good Luck,
Jennifer

Learn from the folks at Spiral Ridge, that have been practicing permaculture for over 14 years and teaching for over 10. We have been trained by and taught with, top notch instructors and have mentored hundreds of students. We are particularly familiar with temperate systems and we are consistently living the permaculture life on an off-grid homestead/small farm and by working professionally as designers.

Internationally known ecological farm designer Darren Doherty says,

We’ve worked with Jennifer Albanese & Cliff Davis for a number of years now and found them refreshingly high on integrity and low on bravado, qualities that we at Regrarians just love in people. They are above all else great at the work that they do and truly walk their talk, whether it be hosting cutting edge events or real Permaculture Design courses (PDC’s) or in helping people develop their own dreams on a range of different sites in their region. Whenever we think of PDC’s or other workshops in the ‘south east’ we think straight away of Jen & Cliff! – Darren Doherty, Regrarians
We also have a great line up of fantastic guest instructors. We keep our classes small to allow for discussions, relationship building, and brainstorming for your own personal projects. Join us this fall for an event that can be “life-changing” as a recent participant states,

In one word “Life-changing” .In my 46 years one of the best decisions I have made,both personally and professionally. I highly recommend Spiral Ridges PDC course. I’ll definitely. be back! Cliff and Jennifer Thank You.

Get ready to….

Generate an inspired vision for your landscape.

Increase the yields and resilience of your backyard, homestead or farm.

Learn to create and implement a design from site analysis to completion.

Discover the secrets for rapid creation of healthy, and biologically active topsoil.

Plan for whole landscape water harvesting for your property.

Learn to improve efficiency and synergy between elements in your landscape.

Reduce costs and dependency on outside energy inputs, increase profits, and enhance livelihoods while improving your quality of life.

Create resilience and security for your family and your local community.

Contribute to the regeneration of land, water, and air quality to improve the health and wellbeing of the environment and it’s inhabitants.

Think in whole systems, rather than in parts, to understand and enhance the relationships between those parts. Whole systems thinking is a methodology that leads to successful problem solving because it mimics the behavior of natural systems.

Space is limited.

AGRO-ECOSYSTEMS: PERMACULTURE FARM AND HOMESTEAD RESILIENCY
A course by Spiral Ridge Permaculture

Includes:

4th Annual Regenerative Earthworks Course 10/9-10/12

Fertility Farming 10/13-10/14

Agroforestry 10/15-10/16

Mushrooms, Molds and Mycorrhizae: Cultivation, Gardening, Mycoremediation, Medicinal Use and Permaculture of Fungi with Tradd Cotter, author of Organic Mushroom Farming and Mycoremediation by Chelsea Green 10/17-10/18


Join us this fall for our 2nd Annual Agro-Ecosystems Series. This series is a conscious effort to provide on-the-ground training in regenerative land management and cultural repair for permaculture practitioners.

An agroecosystem is a dynamic association of crops, pastures, livestock, other flora and fauna, soils, water, and the atmosphere. It is agriculture functioning as an ecosystem in and of itself, but also with the surrounding environment. In this training, you will develop your skills and gain hands-on experience as you build a small scale regenerative farming system. You will help design and implement an integrated agro-ecosystem. This system is designed to supply the homestead with fuelwood, animal fodder, food, craft material, and more. It will include design/implementation of earthworks, soil testing and building, design and layout of multiple agroforestry systems integrated with animals and a mushroom farming course. You will be directly involved in the hands-on implementation of this system.

This series of courses can be taken individually, as a complete set or with mix and match savings. The more classes you take, the bigger the savings.

The Spring Resiliency Series - the more classes you take the bigger the discount
This Series Includes:
Introduction to Permaculture – April 11-12 $150
Permaculture Gardening and Fertility Farming – April 18-19 $150
Rainwater Harvesting in the Landscape – April 25-26 $150
Forest Gardening Demystified – May 16-17 $150


We’ve put together a series of classes geared towards gardeners, small land owners and nature lovers, that want to enjoy more self-reliance and security. Each class takes place on a weekend. The more classes you take, the bigger the discount.
Key Benefits include…
Understanding permaculture design ethics, principles and practices for energy-efficient and productive systems.

Greater self-reliance
permaculture gardening

Better garden design to maximize use of space

How to build soil for nutrient rich crops

How to use available resources in the most efficient way

How to save energy

Creating perennial, sustainable garden systems and food forests

No-till gardening

Rainwater catchment and storage for emergency use

Capturing water in the landscape for passive irrigation



More info at http://www.spiralridgepermaculture.com/events/spring-resiliency-series/

Join us for two Natural Building Workshops this summer...
4 Day Cob Workshop June 12-15 and Natural Building Intensive 8/8-8/16


Cob
Join us for a four day cob building workshop where art meets function. Create an elegant garden entrance and gate with us, using cob, stone and wood. Engage your senses. Arouse your creativity. Create a lasting impression.
This workshop will teach you the basics of cob building. Cob is an ancient method now revised and improved upon with modern development. From design to construction, you will participate fully, while expressing yourself and your inner artist.

Natural Building Intensive
Ready to get your hands dirty? Join us for 9 days of theory & design, hands-on natural building and exploratory tours of local structures and homes that were built using different techniques. This course is designed to immerse you in the methods used to create sustainable, healthy, made-from-local materials, energy efficient, aesthetic, functional and owner-build structures to add beauty and form to your landscape.

Learn more at http://www.spiralridgepermaculture.com/events/

Join us for two Natural Building Workshops this summer...
4 Day Cob Workshop June 12-15 and Natural Building Intensive 8/8-8/16


Cob
Join us for a four day cob building workshop where art meets function. Create an elegant garden entrance and gate with us, using cob, stone and wood. Engage your senses. Arouse your creativity. Create a lasting impression.
This workshop will teach you the basics of cob building. Cob is an ancient method now revised and improved upon with modern development. From design to construction, you will participate fully, while expressing yourself and your inner artist.

Natural Building Intensive
Ready to get your hands dirty? Join us for 9 days of theory & design, hands-on natural building and exploratory tours of local structures and homes that were built using different techniques. This course is designed to immerse you in the methods used to create sustainable, healthy, made-from-local materials, energy efficient, aesthetic, functional and owner-build structures to add beauty and form to your landscape.

Learn more at http://www.spiralridgepermaculture.com/events/

Join us for two Natural Building Workshops this summer...
4 Day Cob Workshop June 12-15 and Natural Building Intensive 8/8-8/16


Cob
Join us for a four day cob building workshop where art meets function. Create an elegant garden entrance and gate with us, using cob, stone and wood. Engage your senses. Arouse your creativity. Create a lasting impression.
This workshop will teach you the basics of cob building. Cob is an ancient method now revised and improved upon with modern development. From design to construction, you will participate fully, while expressing yourself and your inner artist.

Natural Building Intensive
Ready to get your hands dirty? Join us for 9 days of theory & design, hands-on natural building and exploratory tours of local structures and homes that were built using different techniques. This course is designed to immerse you in the methods used to create sustainable, healthy, made-from-local materials, energy efficient, aesthetic, functional and owner-build structures to add beauty and form to your landscape.

Learn more at http://www.spiralridgepermaculture.com/events/