Joshua Shultz

I wanted to let everyone know that there will be a PDC taught by Midwest Permaculture and Cedar Creek Permaculture here in Southwest Michigan. The course is hosted at the beautiful Pierce Cedar Creek Institute near Hastings Michigan http://www.cedarcreekinstitute.org/ and runs from May 30th to June 6th. We will be touring several nearby farms and permaculture sites as well as doing some hands on learning all while enjoying the beautiful landscape at PCCI. The course sign up can be found here http://midwestpermaculture.com/michigan-pdc-at-pcci/

A little about Pierce Cedar Creek Institute:
Pierce Cedar Creek Institute is a nature center, environmental education center and biological field station located on 661 acres just nine miles south of Hastings, Michigan, in rural Barry County. With its mission to promote environmental education, research, preservation, and appreciation, the Institute maintains its property as a preserve under an easement granted by the Southwest Michigan Land Conservancy and works to provide educational programs and seasonal recreational for community members of all ages.

A little about Bill Wilson:
Bill is the lead instructor and designer for Midwest Permaculture. He and Becky have hosted and taught at over 50 PDC courses and now have over 1,000 graduates of their Permaculture Design Certificate Courses.
Bill holds 2 Advanced Permaculture Training Certificates, one in permaculture design and the other in teaching. He took his Permaculture Teacher’s Training with Jude Hobbs of the Permaculture Institute, USA. Jude is a Bill Mollison trained teacher and designer.

And a little about me:
Joshua holds two PDC certificates, one from Rancho Mastatal and Project Bona Fide in Costa Rica taught by Chris Shanks and focusing on tropical and subtropical permaculture design, and the other from Bill Wilson at Midwest Permaculture. Joshua has co-taught three PDC's and numerous short courses on permaculture over the last three years since moving back to the US. Professionally Joshua has worked at the Cape Eleuthera Institute for three years designing and installing a commercial aquaponics system and managing the eighteen acre property. This included gray water treatment ponds, farm animals, compost systems, living roofs, a biodigester, a two acre seven-layer food forest, and all of the building landscapes. He currently works at Western Michigan University's Office for Sustainability as Permaculture Program Coordinator for the Gibbs House Farm and also serves on the Education Committee for Pierce Cedar Creek Institute.

Hello All,

If you live in the Southwest Michigan area and are interested in taking a PDC course there is one available this spring! Bill Willson from Midwest Permaculture, the Pierce Cedar Creek Institute, and myself have put together a great program for beginning permaculurists to come learn the basics.

This is an intensive week-long course designed to provide participants with the skills and experience necessary to develop and create a permaculture landscape on their property. The principles of permaculture can be incorporated into areas from a backyard to a farm.

The workshop will be led by Bill Wilson of Midwest Permaculture. Wilson has hosted and taught at over 40 PDC courses. He holds two Permaculture Design Course Certificates and two Advanced Training Certificates, one in permaculture design and the other in teaching. Having lived in a sustainably-oriented community for 35 years, Bill has had a front row seat in learning what it takes to create authentic-permanent culture (permaculture).Midwest Permaculture Design Certificate Graduates - Earn a Certificate at Pierce Cedar Creek Institute this May

Students who complete the full curriculum earn the internationally-recognized Permaculture Design Certificate. It provides an introduction to permaculture design as set forth by the movement’s co-founder Bill Mollison. Credit for this course is now accepted by a growing number of universities around the world.

What is included in our PDC Courses?
The Internationally Recognized 72-Hour PDC Curriculum
Our Foundations of Permaculture Webinar Series (Required)
Classroom Instruction
Multiple Site Tours
Hands-on Experiences
Permaculture Design Exercises/Experience
Healthy Meals
A Registered, PDC Certificate upon Completion
Post-Training Study Resources for Continued Learning
Aquaponics Greenhouse by Joshua Shultz - Permaculture Design Certification Course at Pierce Cedar Creek Institute
The course covers sustainable living systems for a wide variety of landscapes and climates. It includes the application of permaculture principles to foodproduction, home design and construction, energy conservation and generation, and explores the social and economic structures that support a culture that cares for the planet and all its inhabitants.

Permaculture is about designing ways in which we as humans can live abundantly well on our planet while ALSO leaving it in better condition than when we arrived on it. The objective is to design livable and abundant systems for people and place that mimic the patterns found in nature and therefore, require less work. Permaculture is grounded in a respectful approach to others, to all of life, and to future generations.



Greenhouse - Permaculture Design Certification Course with Bill Wilson at Pierce Cedar Creek InstituteMidwest Permaculture and Bill Wilson at Pierce Cedar Creek Institute - A West Michigan Nature CenterSolar Power - Permaculture Design Certification Course with Bill Wilson at Pierce Cedar Creek Institute

Permaculture looks for the natural/logical integration of all aspects of living. Those who have benefited from the course are: Homeowners, renters, educators, gardeners, students, farmers, elected officials, community organizers, landscapers, architects, local and regional planners, developers, and green entrepreneurs. Vineyard - Permaculture Design Certification Course with Bill Wilson at Pierce Cedar Creek Institute

There is some pre-requisite study that must be completed before starting the course.
Foundations of Permaculture Webinar Series
A Self-Study Program
14-Hour Webinar Package Includes:
- 9 Recorded Video Webinars – Downloadable and sent via snail-mail on DVD
- 8 Different Teachers – Wonderful Diversity (scroll down)
- PDC Course Textbook - Earth User’s Guide to Permaculture by Rosemary Morrow
- 150-Question Study Guide
- Over 3-Dozen Articles and Resources from our Design Courses
In Addition
- Continue to Receive all Updated Webinars – Indefinitely

Lodging is available at Pierce Cedar Creek Institute.
Lodging at Pierce Cedar Creek Institute: Members $1345 | Non-Members $1375
Without lodging: Members $1145 | Non-Members $1175
All meals are included. Registration deadline for the Permaculture Course is April 7, 2014.

A $250 deposit is due at the time of registration with balance due on April 7, 2014. If canceling on or before April 7, participants will receive a refund of payment made minus the deposit of $250. If cancelling after April 7 participants will receive a refund of payments made minus $365.

You can sign up here: http://www.cedarcreekinstitute.org/forms/view.php?id=70221
And find out more information about the course and instructor here: http://midwestpermaculture.com/

See you there!

Joshua Shultz
Cedar Creek Permaculture Farm
ccpermaculture.wordpress.com

Thanks Andy! I never expected seedlings to be so reasonably priced! I had heard of Oikos before but never the coldstreamfarm. At those pries I may just have to buy seedlings!

Joshua

Hello! I am looking for tree seeds to increase the genetic diversity at my farm. Quantities can range from a doz to about a hundred depending on species so please contact me with what you have laying around (literally in the yard from the fall) Species below:

- Paper Birch (Betula papyrifera)
- Chestnuts (American or hybrid)
- Kentucky Coffeetree (Gymnocladus dioicus)
- Serviceberry (Amelanchier utahensis)
- Wormwood (Artemesia absinthium)
- Paw-Paw (Asimina triloba)
- Northern Pecan (Carya illinoensis)
- Shellbark Hickory or Kingnut Hickory (Carya laciniosa)
- Chinese Jujube (Zizyphus jujuba)
- American Hazelnut (Corylus americana)
- Filibert (Corylus avellana)
- Quince (Cydonia oblonga)
- English Walnut (Juglans regia)
- Bog Myrtle (Myrica gale)
- Burr Oak (Quercus macrocarpa)
- Black Locust (Robinia pseudoacacia)
- Black Willow (Salix nigra)

Thanks!

Joshua

Hello! I am looking for tree seeds to increase the genetic diversity at my farm. Quantities can range from a doz to about a hundred depending on species so please contact me with what you have laying around (literally in the yard from the fall) Species below:

- Paper Birch (Betula papyrifera)
- Chestnuts (American or hybrid)
- Kentucky Coffeetree (Gymnocladus dioicus)
- Serviceberry (Amelanchier utahensis)
- Wormwood (Artemesia absinthium)
- Paw-Paw (Asimina triloba)
- Northern Pecan (Carya illinoensis)
- Shellbark Hickory or Kingnut Hickory (Carya laciniosa)
- Chinese Jujube (Zizyphus jujuba)
- American Hazelnut (Corylus americana)
- Filibert (Corylus avellana)
- Quince (Cydonia oblonga)
- English Walnut (Juglans regia)
- Bog Myrtle (Myrica gale)
- Burr Oak (Quercus macrocarpa)
- Black Locust (Robinia pseudoacacia)
- Black Willow (Salix nigra)

I also have some limited seeds for trade or possibly trade seedlings back in exchange.
Thanks!

Joshua

Sounds like you have a fun project coming together! I am also located in MI and thinking of stocking the several acre farm pond on our property so I have thought quite a bit about the overall design for a northern setting. My experience is in freshwater aquaculture with Nile tilapia in a recirculating aquaponics system in a much warmer southern location.

First off, most of the fish your local hatchery suggested are carnivorous, or another way to think of them is that they feed high on the food chain. This is not surprising since most people's preferences go toward the better tasting carnivorous fish. Rock Bass, Large Mouth Bass, and Perch are all high feeders. Sunfish is an herbivore/omnivore and you could also throw bluegill in there too. Catfish is a bottom feeder that feeds on benthic organisms and deadfall from above. What you will probably want to do to achieve a balanced system in your pond is to simulate a natural ecosystem with each trophic level providing some benefit for yourself, i.e. edible.

So the basic layout would be three to four different species, each chosen for their what benefit they give the whole system and what level they feed on. You will want a filter feeder, herbivore, predator, and detritavore. This will provide a basic functioning ecosystem. Now which fish you chose for each of those rolls is up to personal preference for what tastes good to you, what is available, how hardy it is (does it get sick easily and tolerate the water conditions in your pond?), how fast does it grow, etc. The classic Chinese carp polyculture works in exactly this way and they have been successfully raising lots and lots of food for centuries in this fashion. They use the Black, Grass, Silver, and Big Head carp together to produce incredible amounts of edible biomass per acre. Beginning research can start here http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aquaculture_in_China

I would also suggest adding an abundant amount of nutrients into a system like this once it is established since our cold northern inland ponds are a little low on primary production. For my pond it is already provided by the runoff from a neighbors farm unfortunately. If you don't have anything charging your pond with fertilizer then adding ducks on the pond or some kind of farm animal on the slopes near the pond can boost productivity quite a bit. Basically you want the pond to go eutrophic so that there is lots of primary production (plankton and algae). Your filter feeders will consume the algae and plankton stimulated by this fertilization, your herbivores will eat the grasses and plants stimulated by the nutrient rich water, the carnivore will feast on the young offspring of the others to keep their populations in check (overpopulation leads to food scarcity and smaller fish all around), and the detritavore will clean up the bottom and feast on the waste of the others. Ducks provide the input and help keep duckweed and shore plants down.

A note on tilapia: they can become incredibly invasive if they get out into natural waterways (carp too for that matter). If you go this rout be sure you have protective measures in place to prevent the accidental escape of your fish.

I hope some of this helped. I know I didn't give any specifics on species but every situation is different and the overall design and balance is what you are striving for. Personally I am leaning toward seasonal Nile tilapia, crappie, green or pumpkinseed sunfish, and catfish/bullhead (not sure how they taste in a farmed pond) with muskovy ducks and wild geese (already have plenty of these). Let me know if you have any other questions and I will be happy to help!