Fall 2009

Saturday, Oct. 10th - Introduction to Permaculture

 This is a fun one day overview of Permaculture, site analysis and integrated landscape design. Based on Permaculture principles and ethics, we’ll learn how to design sustainable homes and landscapes that take care of people and take care of our environment at the same time. We will demonstrate and practice some of the skills and strategies needed to do a Permaculture design, like mapping and use of simple elevation tools. This class is held at a mature 14 year old urban Permaculture site in an outdoor Ramada classroom, which is the main in Tucson classroom site and office for the Sonoran Permaculture Guild. Class size is limited to 15 participants.
Location: Mesquite Tree Permaculture Site, one and a half miles north of downtown Tucson. Directions and more information will be sent with registration. 9AM o 4:30PM
Cost: $59 - includes all course materials and delicious mesquite bread snack cooked in the solar oven.
Taught by Dan Dorsey (520) 624-8030 dorsey@dakotacom.net www.sonoranpermaculture.org/members/dan-dorsey
Call or e-mail Dan for registration or information. Directions and more information will be sent with registration.

Sunday, Oct. 18th - It’s All About the Soil 

The future of sustainable agriculture will be in small to medium scale organic food gardens grown right in our cities. Come learn how to set up a complete garden system from one of Tucson’s best organic gardeners. Kim will show you how to increase your garden’s health, production, and nutrient value, using an integrated system of on site earthworms, compost mulches, and organic soil amendments to improve fertility, structure and life in your soil. As a bonus you will see how chickens can be integrated into the system also. 

 Time: 9AM - 1PM

Cost: $39 - includes all course materials. Taught by Kim Fox. Contact Dan Dorsey (520) 624-8030 dorsey@dakotacom.net for registration. Please contact Kim for more information on this course after September 30th, 2009 at (520) 622-1917. Class limit is 15 participants.

Saturday, October 24th - Natural Building, Passive Solar Design, and Energy Saving Design.

In the first part of this class we will practice hands on work with straw bales, adobe blocks, mud based plasters, cement based plasters, cob for sculpture, and home made paints, building small structures like benches and walls. After this hands on work in the morning we will talk about the building codes related to these materials for wall and house construction. After lunch we will talk about the main principles of good passive solar design. This workshop includes an easy to use handout that details how much each energy saving material or strategy will cost and how long it will take to make back in energy savings an initial investment in that material or strategy. We will emphasize integrated design throughout the class and getting back in touch with the patterns of nature to make good design decisions. We’ll show how working with these patterns and natural building materials can make our living environments healthy and comfortable, while also helping us to save money on energy bills. Class size is limited to 15 participants.           Location: T.B.A. in central Tucson. Directions sent with registration.Time: 9AM to 4:30PM Cost: $69 - includes all course materials.  Taught by Dan Dorsey and other teachers (520) 624-8030 dorsey@dakotacom.net www.sonoranpermaculture.org/members/dan-dorsey
 Call or e-mail Dan for registration or information. Picture of straw bale wall courtesy of Watershed Management

Saturday, Oct. 31st - Complete Hands On Water Harvesting

Learning how to use rainfall and storm water run-off is one of the keys to developing a successful Permaculture site. It helps us to reduce erosion and have a lush multi use landscape without having to import water from outside a site. In this fun workshop we will install a water cistern, learn how to read the water situation on a site, and do basic calculations on the water flow available. We will learn how to install basic earthworks to hold water on site, and talk about contours, plant selection, and mulching. This workshop is more than learning about techniques for harvesting rainfall; it will show you how water harvesting can be integrated into your own lifestyle and into a simple landscape design for your home.
 Location: Central Tucson Location, TBA. This class is limited to 15 participants.
Time: 9AM to 4:30PM
Cost: $59 includes all class materials
Taught by Dan Dorsey (520) 624-8030 and guest instructors dorsey@dakotacom.net www.sonoranpermaculture.org/members/dan-dorsey
call Dan for registration or information

Saturday, TBA, - Native Food and Herbs

Foods and Herbs collected during their seasons will be integrated into recipes featured in Barbara’s and Jill’s new cook booklet, “Wild Recipes, Seasonal Samplers”. We will prepare and share a feast for a wild and wonderful taste of the desert - our home. Wear comfortable clothes and walking shoes, as we will be identifying native plants in the field. Class size is limited to 15 participants.
Location: Dancing Rocks Permaculture Community, 15 miles north of downtown Tucson. Directions and more info sent with registration.
Time: 10AM to 3PM
Cost: $75 - partial scholarships available, includes all class materials
Taught by Barbara Rose (520) 572-7221 www.sonoranpermaculture.org/members/barbara-rose
call Barbara for registration or information

 Tuesday evening TBA - Build A Straw Bale House or Wall
Co-Sponsored by Pima Community College

Learn about straw bale construction and the advantages of super insulation, thick walls, and ease of construction. Handouts and a complete discussion of the current straw bale code, detail drawings of windows and doors, and additional tips to make your building experience easier are included. This class also includes a complete slide show from start to finish on how to build a straw bale house or wall, as well as a demonstration of special tools and props that work well with straw bale construction.
Location: Catalina Methodist Church, 2700 E. Speedway
Time: 6:30 PM to 9 PM
Cost: $49, set by Pima Community College. Call PCC at 206-6468 to register
Class size is limited to 15 participants
Taught by Dan Dorsey, B.S., local straw bale designer of over 60 permitted single family residences and auxillary buildings throughout Arizona.

 

Second Annual Advanced Permaculture Design Course -

One three day weekend - November 13th, 14th, and 15th, 2009 9AM to 5:30 PM each day

Picture Below: The participants in the November, 2008 Advanced Design Class

Have your Permaculture Design Certificate? Ready to take your Permaculture practice to the next level?
This course is for you. You will learn new skills and a new way of looking at Permaculture design, practice, and presentation from teachers with decades of Permaculture experience:

We’ll start the first morning with getting to know each other and reviewing some basic Permaculture design skills - the rest of the course will be a balance of group design exercises,  movement flow exercises, and presentations of dynamic patterning tools - all designed to let you practice and aquire these new skills… 

- Practice pattern understanding with new tools- learn to see projects in a new way, and how they nest within diverse community scales and contexts.
- Explore how to use simple, clear presentation methods and templates for groups and clients - as well as efficient ways to partner with design teams on larger projects.
- Study real world case histories of Permaculture projects, including projects in other cultures.
- Enhance your understanding of the often neglected “Zone 0″ of Permaculture Design
- Learn how to create working teams which enhance and empower communities to find their own sustainable solutions.
- Practice effective communication skills with clients and the public, and learn more about working with government and non government organizations and non-profits.

Cost: $325 Fee includes all course materials and delicious natural snacks each day made from local foods. Although the course is non-residential, accommodations to stay the weekend may be made with the course host (contact Barbara Rose)

Location: Dancing Rocks Permaculture Community, fifteen miles north of downtown Tucson. Contact Barbara Rose, 520-572-7221, for more info on the site and directions.
Teaching Team: TBA

To register or for more information on the course contact Dan Dorsey, 624-8030, dorsey@dakotacom.net http://www.sonoranpermaculture.org/members/dan-dorsey

Spring 2010

 The 15th Annual Permaculture Design Course

Registration for this course opens on Sept. 1st, 2009

Participants in the 14th Annual Design Course in 2008 pictured below

 

Five Weekends in February and March TBA
9:00 AM to 5:00 PM each day.
Cost $650, $595 for early registration (by December 15th). There is also
a class book fee of $39 for a copy of Introduction to Permaculture by Bill Mollison.Also highly recommended is Brad Lancaster’s Rainwater Harvesting for
Dry lands Vol 1 and Vol 2.

For the last seven years this course has
been full with a waiting list, so early registration is encouraged. To give a high
quality educational experience, we limit the size of the class to
eighteen participants. Contact dorsey@dakotacom.net or 624-8030 to register.

This course is one of the longest running annual Permaculture courses in the U.S. and leads to a Permaculture design certificate. It covers all aspects of sustainable design with an emphasis on Southwest dry lands, including a balance of hands on experience, classroom time, and design practicum. Dynamic exercises encourage pattern recognition, noticing the links between plants and animals, climate, and landforms that make up natural ecosystems. These patterns are the basis for the Permaculture system of sustainable design.

The course focuses on dry land communities, addressing individual site and neighborhood “problems” such as storm water flooding. Students learn to read the landscape, to map and analyze energies flowing through a site, and to develop integrated designs for sustainable systems. The weekend format of the course makes it easier for people who hold a week day job to attend and promotes better integration of the course material into daily life.

Course topics include agro forestry, appropriate technology, building design, design principles and patterning, site analysis, dry land gardening principles, ecosystem restoration, philosophy and ethics of Permaculture, regenerative community economics, soils and erosion control, village design, water harvesting, and many other topics.

We take field trips to working Permaculture sites around Tucson, and you will have the chance throughout the course to design and begin implementing Permaculture on a site of your choosing. This course is challenging and fun, and it shows the whole big picture of
sustainable design in Southwest Dry lands and how sustainability and integrated design really work!

Site: The classroom will be in the Central Tucson area, and at other Permaculture sites in the Tucson area. Much of the class is held outdoors.

Taught and facilitated by Dan Dorsey and other instructors from the Sonoran Permaculture Guild, as well as professional guest instructors. For teacher profiles see the members link on this website. To register and for more information contact Dan Dorsey, course registrar, at 624 8030 or dorsey@dakotacom.net

frequently asked questions on registering for one day classes…

How do I register for a one day class?

You are registered for a class when we receive you payment in full. There are three ways to pay or register for a class…

1. Checks and money orders can be made out to our non-profit: “NEST/Sonoran Permaculture Guild”. Please mail only checks and money orders (no cash) to: Sonoran Permaculture Guild, c/o Dan Dorsey 221 E. Linden Tucson, AZ 85705. Include your return address, e-mail, and phone number, and you will be sent an e-receipt confirming your registration

2. Cash, money orders, or checks can also be handed directly to Dan Dorsey or the contact person for the class in person, and a receipt will be issued to you at that time. Call the contact person listed for the class to schedule a time to meet. Our central Tucson office is one and a half miles north of downtown Tucson.

3. You can pay by major credit card as we are set up through PayPal to handle those transactions, or if you already have a PayPal account you can pay from your existing PayPal balance. E-mail dorsey@dakotacom.net for this option, and I will e-mail you on how to use your major credit card or existing PayPal balance.

If after I register and pay, and the course starts, what if I need to cancel out?

Our refund policy is as follows: Up to two weeks before the class, you will receive a full refund minus a $5 refund and processing fee. Up to one week before the class you will receive two thirds of the class fee as a refund minus $5. Less than one week before the class we will refund one third of the class fee minus $5, although if the class is full with a waiting list, and we can fill your cancelled spot, you will receive a full refund minus a $5 refund and processing fee

 Is there work-trade exchange available?

There might be a limited amount of work trade for these classes. We don’t have the resources to offer a full work trade. Putting on high quality yet reasonably priced workshops is our main source of income and the main reason for our non-profit.

Can I get college credit for taking this class?

Some of our students have been university or college students, and they have worked with their departments at the University of Arizona, Prescott College, and Pima Community College to obtain independent study credit for taking our courses and classes. It is up to the individual student to work out arrangements with his/her college and his/her department.

What if I have additional questions about what to expect in the classes?

Call or e-mail the contact person for each class listed.