by Kyle Wells reporter@prpeak.com Food growers of all types and sizes are being encouraged to sign up for a hands-on, comprehensive course on permaculture, an approach to food growing based on biodiversity and interrelationship.
Urban farming educator and course coordinator Ron Berezan said this will be the first time a full permaculture design course has been taught in Powell River. Shorter workshops have been held, including one in 2010 taught by program partner Erin Innes, but never a comprehensive program.
As a trained permaculture teacher Berezan has taught design across Canada. Rather than teach a two-week intensive course, as is often done, Berezan decided to spread the course out over a growing season so that participants are able to see how permaculture works from start to finish.
The course will also act as a community project resulting in a community garden on the property of St. David and St. Paul Anglican Church on Sycamore Street in Townsite. After completion of the course the garden will become a place where residents can learn about permaculture and harvest food that will be shared among those involved in the garden and donated to local food agencies.
“When the course is finished the students will have got some hands-on design, real life design and installation experience,” said Berezan, “and there’ll be a bit of a legacy in the community left behind from it.”
Also involved in the course and garden project are Skookum Food Provisioners Cooperative and Transition Town Powell River. Berezan said he wanted to link the course as much as he could with community initiatives so as to spread the benefits and knowledge.
“The unique thing about permaculture too is that it’s not just about creating a productive site,” said Berezan. “We want to make this a beautiful, interesting, vibrant space that has lots of different benefits, beyond just food production.”
The knowledge that participants will take from the course can be used in a variety of ways, said Berezan. The permaculture methods that will be taught can be applied to household gardens to increase yields and biodiversity. The community garden component of the course will be useful to people interested in becoming involved with growing co-operatives. Permaculture methods can also be applied to farming and commercial food production.
Anyone potentially interested in taking part in the course is invited to an information night on Tuesday, December 6 to learn more. The event, titled Creating Community Abundance—An Evening Introduction to Permaculture Design, is a chance for people to listen to an overview of permaculture and decide whether it is something they would like to pursue further. The event is from 7:30 to 9 pm at the Anglican Church. Admission is by donation with money going toward the cost of the course.
The course itself will start January 20 and take place over three-days stints in January, March, June and August. Registration for the course is already open. Interested readers can register online or by phone 604.223.4800. There needs to be a minimum of 10 participants for the course to run and five are registered at the time of writing.
