Please Welcome Zach Loeks, Instructor for the Food Guild Design Course at EcosystemU!

Hello Zach. The book sounds interesting!

Hi Everyone,

Happy to answer your questions!

To learn more about our courses you can visit www.ecosystemu.com

Best,

Zach

Welcome Zach! Looking forward to your input in the forums this week.

Welcome, Zach

I am looking forward to reading threads in the Permaculture Design Forum this week!  And reading your replies!

I'd be interested to see a bi-weekly outline. Does the food guild design course come with a certification like the other courses?

Hello Zach and thanks for sharing your wisdom with us.

Welcome Zach I'd love to maximize my garden space and creating microclimates would be awesome!

Welcome! Would also be interested in certification, and if the practices in the course would be able to integrate with no dig and/or veganic principles?

So pleased to learn about your course here, Zach. It's going on my list. (I hope you offer it more than once a year.)
From a proud permaculture learning junkie,
Julie

Hi there, Zach! How did you connect with Permies.com, and what is your outlook for the future of permaculture?

Hi Zach

I am brand new to the permaculture society having just purchased 40 acres in Wyoming to homestead. I am soaking up everything I can in the various forums and look forward to what you offer.

Rick Breininger wrote:
I am brand new to the permaculture society having just purchased 40 acres in Wyoming to homestead. I am soaking up everything I can in the various forums and look forward to what you offer.

Wow, Rick, that is exciting! You're going to love permaculture! Some days, it's the only thing that gets me out of bed in the morning. :-)
Julie

I'm glad someone is offering a course on creating guilds, I'm pretty new and I've had numerous questions about how plants are selected for a guild. Always super excited to find a new resource.

Hi, Zach. When you develop specific guilds, do you incorporate the eventual elimination of certain pioneer/service plants into the design?

Thanks for sharing your wisdom Zach.

Hello Zach,
looking forward to learning with you,
learning from you!

Welcome Zach! I'm somewhat familiar with your work but didn't realize you were a fellow Ontarian! And with an endorsement from David Suzuki - that's the coolest.
I'm very interested in online learning, however I work freelance and my hours fluctuate like crazy, which presents a challenge when things are busy (i.e. now). Are your online courses set up so that you can go through it at your own pace/on your own time?

Just from what is available of your work through the links that are posted, your work is really impressive. I'll be exploring these links for a while.
Yes, In the fenced in garden, I made some beds and I'm not 100% happy with them. First, I want them deeper [6" tall just won't cut it in sandy soil. 8" is better. 10" is what I did for my 50 asparagus plants, and from now on, any new bed will be 10" high]. For traffic, it might have been smarter to place them with the long sides going one way. Turning a full wheelbarrow 90 degrees is awkward.
I'm especially interested in converting an apple & other fruit orchard to a food forest. It feels like a natural progression from having the foundations, the anchors or the place, and then add the lower vegetation: Bushes, vines, groundcovers...
I'm glad you came to permies. Looking forward to learn!

Welcome Zach !!

This design course is just what I need..  The wife and I are starting over with a new homestead and it is a blank piece of ground!

We live in what is considered high desert so plenty of challenges.

Thinking of "food" wind breaks etc.

Well, it just sounds like what we need!!

Am I posting something on the permaculture design forum?!  I hope so because I really want to enter to win a spot at the Food Guild Design Course at EcosystemU!  But I don't know if I am doing this correctly or not because I am a technologically impaired person and have never posted anything on the internet until now (Hopefully, yes I have successfully navigated to the right page.)  I am trusting the Gods plan.  Mr. Wheaton lured me into this website by offering me free pdf booklets about permaculture and oven technology and I am glad he did! It turns out the internets can be a huge resource for permaculture.   I don't have to labor for years with trial and error to find the perfect system, instead I can read about others people's work and save a ton of time! Which is exactly what I hope to do if I win a spot at Mr. Loeks Food Design Course!  I have been trying to crack this whole guild thing for a very long time but I am still broke and malnurished...  But perhaps this year will be different; perhaps I will win a spot and learn the whats, wheres, whens, and hows of polyculturing and guilding annuals and perennials; that would be like a dream come true because I am hungry for this knowledge! I have searched the internet and chatted up gardening and permaculture heads about guilding and I feel like all I have been finding the same old Lasagna. Not that lasagna isn't good but I want to know more!  We got to find our way back to the Garden! With that I want to say Welcome Zach! Thank you for your work in this very important field! Thank you for spreading the good word!!!

Bihai Il wrote:Hello Zach. The book sounds interesting!

Thanks,

It has a great range of material that builds a clear process of transitioning your yard and your community using ecosystem design principles.

Cheers,

Zach
www.ecosystemsolutioninstitute.com

Matthew, welcome to Permies! You're almost there to get a chance to win Zach's book. The Permaculture Design Forum is here ---> click this link for the Permaculture Design Forum! You can either join in a thread that interests you, or if you have a question, you can start your own thread. All of your comments and questions are welcome.

Maybe not he food-guild this thread is all about, but I offer up a conundrum, aka a fucking problem I cant seem to solve, for discussion. I have a small farm up in the Blue Ridge Mountains of NC Appalachia on which I have been raising Jersey dairy cows, American Guinea Hogs, meat goats (Kiko-Beor-Savannah mixes), Shetland sheep, chickens, honey bees, and pond raised fish aquaculture. Ive been at it going on 4 years. I want to help my community with fresh farm raised, slaughtered, and butchered meat, but the laws make it illegal to do so. My husbandry efforts have reached to point where I am at grazing capacity of my pastures and swamp and forest paddocks. After this Spring I am going to have a problem of excess critters! And yes, I have been in contact and deep communication with NC State University and the extension offices.
And now back to the topic of this thread... FOOD GUILDS.
Anyone have experience developing local food guilds to the tune of “ I got goats and meat critters, you got green thumb and veges, lets get together and do some good, spread the love around the community”?

T Simpson wrote:I'd be interested to see a bi-weekly outline. Does the food guild design course come with a certification like the other courses?

Hi,

Yes there is a Cert at the end.  Here is a segment from the course Outline.  If you send us an email to EcosystemU@gmail.com, we will send you the full course outline.

Course Syllabus

WEEK ONE- Intro to Guild Essentials & Permabed System
This week will focus and describe ecosystem services and the many benefits of growing an integrated garden at home, especially a perennial garden!  We will introduce the concepts of the edible ecosystems and introduce ecosystem design.
We will explore the essentials of guild design and the Permabed System for approaching efficient and effective gardening, farming and landscaping with best practices for food guild design, planting and maintenance.

WEEK TWO- Perennial Guild Design & Site-suitable Plant Selection
We will look at how to create and consolidate a vision for your land and the importance of environmental assessment for plant selection.  This week is about how to create awesome perennial guilds using the Permabed System and includes examples of different perennial guilds for different scales of landscapes.  Themes of design for soil and plant companionship, garden management accessibility, ecosystem form and function and potential will be discussed.

WEEK THREE- Annual Guild Design & Guild Crop Rotation
We will explore annual garden guilds and which vegetables companion well in terms of management efficiency and companionship opportunities.  Especially the content around space, time, energy partitioning and the significance of crop rotation for maximizing food plant services for the soil, water, fertility and weed cycles.  Guild Crop Rotation is outlined as a key strategy for better garden management and examples of how to implement it on different scales are provided.

WEEK FOUR- Guild Patterning & Modular Design
We will discuss micro and micro-landscapes and how to expand your edible ecosystem yard, farm or community green space using a modular system of patterning your perennial guilds in edible hedges, agro-ecological farms, community food forests and more.  Examples of practical techniques for enhancing and creating new gardens from scratch are supplied,  including Zipper beds, flip-flop gardening and pattern propagation.

Final Certification Test- Food Guild Design
EcosystemU supplies different levels of certification.  A passing mark (70%) on the final certification test will yield a 28-Hour CERT in Food Guild Design from EcosystemU through The Ecosystem Solution Institute.  Among other advantages for your own property design and planning, our certifications help qualify learners for work as edible landscape designers, farmers, garden managers and more by providing proof of accomplishment in a field of growing interest and perennial importance from one of the pioneering educators in Ecosystem Design for landscaping, gardening and farming.  

Jen Dee wrote:Welcome! Would also be interested in certification, and if the practices in the course would be able to integrate with no dig and/or veganic principles?

Hi,

Please send us an email at EcosystemU@gmail.com for a full course outline.  And you can see the other response for a segment.  This course is about Food Guild Design and focuses on plant guilds, layout strategies, plant selection and the Permabed System for ecosystem design....It doesn't focus on whether to use animal or plant composts.

Let me know if that answers your questions

Bryan Johnson wrote:Hello Zach and thanks for sharing your wisdom with us.

Thanks for joining us

Susan Boyce wrote:Welcome Zach I'd love to maximize my garden space and creating microclimates would be awesome!

I do talk about micro-climates in this course.  Also, stay tuned for my next Harrowsmith article all about Micro-climates :)

Stay tuned by sending us an email to EcosystemU@gmail.com

Best,

Zach

Julie Johnston wrote:So pleased to learn about your course here, Zach. It's going on my list. (I hope you offer it more than once a year.)
From a proud permaculture learning junkie,
Julie

Hi Julie,

Check out our various courses at EcosystemU. We have a selection of courses available.

Best,

Zach

Lisa Brunette wrote:Hi there, Zach! How did you connect with Permies.com, and what is your outlook for the future of permaculture?

I found Permies.com through friends.  

I think that Permaculture has come a long way since its earliest origins in wild ecosystem management from our ancestors and its formative years as a design and cultural concept through pioneer teachers.  What I want to see now, and of foremost importance in our work at The Ecosystem Solution Institute is to increase the pathways to highly successful design that is not only beautiful and productive for home gardeners but also offers alternatives to all landscapes, professionals and communities.

Learn more about our projects at Ecosystem Solution Institute

Rick Breininger wrote:
Hi Zach

I am brand new to the permaculture society having just purchased 40 acres in Wyoming to homestead. I am soaking up everything I can in the various forums and look forward to what you offer.

How exciting!  At 40 acres, you may like my first book The Permaculture Market Garden which shows how to design and build a property from scratch with the "potential" to be an intensive food forest market garden :)

Best of luck!

Zach

T Simpson wrote:I'm glad someone is offering a course on creating guilds, I'm pretty new and I've had numerous questions about how plants are selected for a guild. Always super excited to find a new resource.

Yes, this is a very important topi, I think you will enjoy and gain great insights from this course

You can learn more at Ecosystem Solution Institute

Dj Cox wrote:Hi, Zach. When you develop specific guilds, do you incorporate the eventual elimination of certain pioneer/service plants into the design?

Hi, great question!  Yes, our design process includes the transition of land to edible ecosystems and the evolution of those systems and what it means for management over time and plant selection, propagation and ecosystem transitions over time.

I discuss this in my books as well.

Best,

Zach

Jen Fulkerson wrote:Thanks for sharing your wisdom Zach.

Glad to have you with us!

Michel Ange wrote:Hello Zach,
looking forward to learning with you,
learning from you!

Glad to have you join us and share in the growth of this important topic

Hayley Stewart wrote:Welcome Zach! I'm somewhat familiar with your work but didn't realize you were a fellow Ontarian! And with an endorsement from David Suzuki - that's the coolest.
I'm very interested in online learning, however I work freelance and my hours fluctuate like crazy, which presents a challenge when things are busy (i.e. now). Are your online courses set up so that you can go through it at your own pace/on your own time?

Hi,

Welcome neighbour :)

Yes, the courses are set up so you can follow along at your own pace.  All LIVE lectures are recorded so you can view them later if you can' make the live lecture time.  All material is available in an easy online portal format for you to access the videos, eBooklets, data sheets and more.

Best,

Zach

Andrew McDonald wrote:Maybe not he food-guild this thread is all about, but I offer up a conundrum, aka a fucking problem I cant seem to solve, for discussion. I have a small farm up in the Blue Ridge Mountains of NC Appalachia on which I have been raising Jersey dairy cows, American Guinea Hogs, meat goats (Kiko-Beor-Savannah mixes), Shetland sheep, chickens, honey bees, and pond raised fish aquaculture. Ive been at it going on 4 years. I want to help my community with fresh farm raised, slaughtered, and butchered meat, but the laws make it illegal to do so. My husbandry efforts have reached to point where I am at grazing capacity of my pastures and swamp and forest paddocks. After this Spring I am going to have a problem of excess critters! And yes, I have been in contact and deep communication with NC State University and the extension offices.
And now back to the topic of this thread... FOOD GUILDS.
Anyone have experience developing local food guilds to the tune of “ I got goats and meat critters, you got green thumb and veges, lets get together and do some good, spread the love around the community”?

Andrew, go to this page: https://permies.com/f/123/permaculture-design and click on New Topic near the top right of the page. Then pose this question there and you'll likely get an interesting thread going. Good luck!
Julie

Cécile Stelzer Johnson wrote:Just from what is available of your work through the links that are posted, your work is really impressive. I'll be exploring these links for a while.
Yes, In the fenced in garden, I made some beds and I'm not 100% happy with them. First, I want them deeper [6" tall just won't cut it in sandy soil. 8" is better. 10" is what I did for my 50 asparagus plants, and from now on, any new bed will be 10" high]. For traffic, it might have been smarter to place them with the long sides going one way. Turning a full wheelbarrow 90 degrees is awkward.
I'm especially interested in converting an apple & other fruit orchard to a food forest. It feels like a natural progression from having the foundations, the anchors or the place, and then add the lower vegetation: Bushes, vines, groundcovers...
I'm glad you came to permies. Looking forward to learn!

Hi,

Yes the choices for raised bed design is broad and very important.  We do go into our specific system of Permabed Design and the approaches we take for management of raised garden beds.  Another great course we offer is HOME GARDEN PRO, which goes deep into successful home gardening through a system of highly tuned techniques for gardening.

All the best,

Zach

Dennis Barrow wrote:Welcome Zach !!

This design course is just what I need..  The wife and I are starting over with a new homestead and it is a blank piece of ground!

We live in what is considered high desert so plenty of challenges.

Thinking of "food" wind breaks etc.

Well, it just sounds like what we need!!

Hi Dennis,

I am very happy for your new beginning on the homestead :). This course will give you a powerhouse of information!  All of our courses are the cumulation of decades of research and work in ecological market gardening, regenerative farming, edible landscaping, permaculture and more and we are very happy to be create great courses to build your garden savvy and ecosystem education!

Best,

Zach

Matthew Raphael wrote:Am I posting something on the permaculture design forum?!  I hope so because I really want to enter to win a spot at the Food Guild Design Course at EcosystemU!  But I don't know if I am doing this correctly or not because I am a technologically impaired person and have never posted anything on the internet until now (Hopefully, yes I have successfully navigated to the right page.)  I am trusting the Gods plan.  Mr. Wheaton lured me into this website by offering me free pdf booklets about permaculture and oven technology and I am glad he did! It turns out the internets can be a huge resource for permaculture.   I don't have to labor for years with trial and error to find the perfect system, instead I can read about others people's work and save a ton of time! Which is exactly what I hope to do if I win a spot at Mr. Loeks Food Design Course!  I have been trying to crack this whole guild thing for a very long time but I am still broke and malnurished...  But perhaps this year will be different; perhaps I will win a spot and learn the whats, wheres, whens, and hows of polyculturing and guilding annuals and perennials; that would be like a dream come true because I am hungry for this knowledge! I have searched the internet and chatted up gardening and permaculture heads about guilding and I feel like all I have been finding the same old Lasagna. Not that lasagna isn't good but I want to know more!  We got to find our way back to the Garden! With that I want to say Welcome Zach! Thank you for your work in this very important field! Thank you for spreading the good word!!!

Hi Mathew,

You are in the right place.  I can assure you that the garden guild design approach we take at The Ecosystem Solution Institute is very practical while also being dialled into the hotline of ecosystems and natural dynamics.  We want landscapes to be abundant, edible, biodiverse and yet organized and easy to maintain...This is our mandate and our motto

Best,

Zach