permaculture design intensive about animals

Announcing:

Animals --Our Partners in Design. Twelve-day permaculture design intensive in Moscow, Idaho, June 24-July 5, 2013. Hosted by Palouse Permaculture. Instructors: Deborah Berman, Suvia Judd and guests.

A number of people have requested more information about this course. Here you are!


This course unfolds new ways of thinking about animals, expands our awareness of what they have to offer, and presents a new template for design.

If you are just starting out raising farm animals, this course is one of the best investments of time and money you can make. In one place it shows you how to provide for the well-being of your animals, and how to design with them.

If you are an experienced livestock producer, it is a privilege to hear any one of the guest speakers, and to have the opportunity to hear them all together is huge. Dr. Ahmed Tibary, for example, was voted Theriogenologist (animal reproduction specialist) of the Year by the American College of Theriogenologists in 2011. Owen Hablutzel spoke on resilience theory and using keyline design to rehabilitate damaged drylands at the Tenth International Permaculture Convergence in Jordan. Paul Wheaton of Permies.com has been dubbed the Duke of Permaculture by Geoff Lawton, and Joel Salatin, of course, is one of the best known farmers in America.

If you are not interested in using animals for food, but love working with animals, this course demonstrates multiple ways to practice permaculture with animals. And farm animals are only part of the story. This course introduces a wide variety of other animals you can use in permaculture, and shows what they have to contribute.

There has never been a permaculture course like this before. It is unique for the breadth of information covered and for the number and quality of the guest speakers. The speakers are all hotshots and great teachers, and they come from a wide variety of backgrounds. Our guests include permaculturists, farmers, veterinarians, and academics; all are highly respected. Expect to hear excellent information from multiple points of view.

Jefe eating leaves


The all-star line-up of presenters includes:


Joel Salatin* , well-known innovative farmer, speaking about his integrated multi-species farm http://www.polyfacefarms.com;
Video: "Sissy Farmer (Joel Salatin on Forgiveness)":

Paul Wheaton*, of Permies.com, speaking about Sepp Holzer; forage paddocks for chickens, pigs, and other animals; and dealing with deer http://www.richsoil.com/paul-wheaton.jsp;


Owen Hablutzel, Certified Holistic Management Educator and a Director of Permaculture Research Institute--USA, speaking about using permaculture, holistic management, and keyline design to optimize farm layout http://www.permacultureglobal.com/users/47-owen-hablutzel;
Video: "Water and Transformation in Drylands Systems":


Jacqueline Freeman , of Friendly Haven Rise Farm, speaking about natural beekeeping, and the nature of bees http://spiritbee.com;
Video: "Colony Collapse Disorder = Bee Stress" (Jacqueline, with Paul Wheaton):


Joseph Freeman, also of Friendly Haven Rise Farm, teaching about handling and moving animals gently http://equinenaturalmovement.com. Jacqueline and Joseph will also speak about their organic, biodynamic farm http://friendlyhaven.com.


Dr Ahmed Tibary, internationally renowned animal reproduction specialist, Washington State University Veterinary Teaching Hospital, speaking about reproduction in grazing animals http://www.theriogenology.org/associations/2753/files/ToY-Tibary.pdf
Video: Dr Tibary attending the birth of a baby camel:


Cathy Spalding, Gentle Spirit Training, teaching observation-based gentle handling and training http://www.gentlespiritllamas.com;


Tim Hatten, of Invertebrate Ecology, Inc, speaking about the ecological services of invertebrates, including bees and beetles http://www.invertebrateecology.com;

and others.

Instructors Deborah Berman and Suvia Judd of Palouse Permaculture are co-owners of The Lazy M Permaculture Oasis, one of the oldest suri alpaca farms in North America http://www.palousepermaculture.com.

*Presentations by starred speakers will be available as single workshops, in other words, open to those who are not taking the whole course. If there is another presentation you would like to see offered with that option, please contact us.



cat and sheep


The course topics are:

1. Context: the history of human-animal relationships; animals in natural ecosystems; exploring the nature of animals --what do animals need? what do they give?

alpaca girls playing dung beetle

Video: "The Primal Power of Play"


2. A template for design: the breadth of biological services offered by animals; matching animals to permaculture zones by the needs they have and the services they offer; integrating animals into forest gardens and other designed ecosystems

chickens in orchard


3. Introduction to Holistic Management: a framework for setting goals, making decisions, and evaluating progress. Useful for every household and every farm.


4. Short course in raising farm animals:

- Herd health and management: nutrition; preventive health care; physical, spacial and social needs

ewes and lambs

- Forage systems and pasture management: includes silvopastoralism, multi-species grazing, forage paddocks, holistic management grazing, and more

holistic management, before and after

- Fencing and predator control

- Ethics and the duty of care

- Reproduction and breeding of grazing animals: nutrition, poisonous plants, new research, plus breeding success --what to breed for, and how to get there

Brock the ram ram triplets

- Hands-on skills in gentle livestock handling, applicable to any kind of animals (people too!): understanding animals' need through observation; communication, moving and handling, training

mare with foal at side working

Video: "Using Natural Cattle Behavior to Move Cattle"

- Optimizing farm layout and infrastructure: farm design using holistic management, keyline design, and permaculture

landscape based on keyline design



5. Other kinds of animals: dogs, fish, bees, worms, birds of prey and more; using their services in design

falconer with goshawk

Video: Kelpies herding:



6. The wild side: permaculture with wildlife

released into the wild!



7. Dreaming the future --towards a regenerative human-animal partnership: using animals for healing the earth and healing ourselves and others; ahimsa options

beaver dam

Video: "Kasey's Capable Hands" (service monkey) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iGdHjSyry-A&NR=1&feature=fvwp



"Animals are the mobile part of the forest." bee in sunflower
Bill Mollison


To register see: http://www.palousepermaculture.com

Sounds like it will be great! Hope you have a good turnout.

Thanks Bill Kerans in Maine,
We are pretty excited about the course ourselves! In fact, if we weren't giving it, we'd take it!
Suvia at Palouse Permaculture

Hey, I hear this place is the Moscow of Idaho....!

I'd love to see a breakdown of the course costs (the whole thing vs 2-3 days, for example). This is simultaneously bad timing and excellent timing for me. Excellent because in June my co-conspirator and I will move to South Florida to begin redesigning his aunt's traditionally managed 100-acre cattle ranch, so the learning would be immediately put to good use. It is also bad timing because we will have just spent a lot of money and fuel flying halfway around the world (we currently live in Thailand), so it'd probably be a good idea in general for us to lay low, financially and ecologically. Does anyone know of a similar course coming to the southeast states any time soon?

This is the permaculture event of my dreams.... I really hope this event goes smashingly, and more of them come about. I will see what I can do to attend.

!!!

Thanks for the positive response everyone. We think this course has so much potential value to people that we really want people to be able to take it. We do work trade, we do barter, and we are going to see if we can add PayPal bill-me-later, so people can pay over time. Also, please note on our website that the meals option is now included in the course price, (or you can opt out and get a discount on the course fee.)

The workshops with Joel Salatin and Paul Wheaton are $50 each, or $75 for two. Or, you can get them as part of the whole course package. (The workshops are less than one twelfth of the course price as a special offering, and because we have some sponsorships.)

Deborah and Suvia
Palouse Permaculture

PS Has anyone else out there ever seen worms climbing up things. It's one of our special spring events around here. They routinely climb up into our water buckets on rainy nights, and one year we saw them spread out all over a silver tarp on top of a big haystack. Dozens of them. It dried out and began to blow, and the tarp began to snap in the wind - flying worms!

Oh, what a set of dream courses and dream presenters! If only I could afford it. I'm new to Permies so I'm not sure when this was announced. If there had been more time, I would have been able to save for it. Well, I'll just have to keep my eyes open, won't I?

Animals have been big on my mind. I don't own land yet, but I want to have a lot of knowledge before I get started. Are there going to be any courses closer to Columbus, OH? I've been thinking of asking some of our local farmers who use permaculture methods (If there are any.) and see if I can visit and possibly help out in return for their teaching. Hoping for the same type of situation as far as crops, also. One can learn a lot through books, but hands-on is the only way to put that knowledge to the test. I'd rather not learn after I have animals.

Permies is becoming addictive. I haven't written in the forums much, but I'm sure I will.

Br. Curt

An update from Palouse Permaculture: Jacqueline Freeman has had to pull out, but would love to come another year, so we will be thinking about that! Meanwhile, on a more POSITIVE NOTE, because of the number of people who wanted to take the course but could not afford it right now, we are reducing the price to an incredible $675 for the whole 12-day course. (No meals, work-trade and barter still an option.) You can register on our website for the whole course or the (also offered separately) Joel Salatin and Paul Wheaton workshops. We are also going to break out a few more of the days of the course into separate workshops for those who don't have time for a full course. Keep checking in with our website.
Suvia
Palouse Permculture

Is there any chance of these showing up on the internet (youtube, etc.) as a pay per view type of series?

Regardless, great information!!! Good on the promoters of this type of content!

For those of us for whom Moscow, Russia is nearer than Moscow, Idaho; I also wonder if there would be some videos/audio later of that talks that could be downloaded for a fee?

There is now a possibility of some parts of the course being video taped, but probably not Joel Salatin, whose lectures are his system yield. What would you most like to see, and where would you like to be able to see it?

Suvia
Palouse Permaculture