Winter 2011 Urban Permaculture Design Course

Have you thought about getting a Permaculture Design Certificate (PDC) but couldn't afford the time off or the cost?  At the Urban Permaculture Institute, we offer an affordable option that allows you to pursue a PDC without leaving the City nor taking time off from work.  Our Urban PDC is especially geared to city-dwellers, letting us apply permaculture principles right where we live.

The Urban Permaculture Institute is now accepting registrations for its Winter 2011 PDC. Our session begins Jan. 12th and costs $750 for 88-hours packed full of permaculture.  To register, please visit http://www.upisf.com/

Who can take this class? Anybody interested in learning more about permaculture! We've shared urban permaculture with beginners and folks with 30+ years in agriculture, sustainable design, etc.

What is permaculture anyways? It is a land use and community building system, which strives for the harmonious integration of human dwellings, microclimate, annual and perennial plants, animals, soils, and water into stable, productive communities.

What will we be doing?  Students will interact with two urban projects. We have a demonstration garden in Potrero Hill that has undergone a soil-transformation by receiving an extremely deep sheet-mulch (up to 4 feet deep in some places). There are over 70 fruit and nut trees on just 5,000 square feet and this little garden is working to set the bar for dense SF gardens. http://www.18thandrhodeisland.org

Our second site of interest is the Hayes Valley Farm, which just began this winter and is transforming the old Central Freeway in the heart of SF into a productive site and education center. Join us in exploring all the exciting opportunities.  http://www.hayesvalleyfarm.com

We have field trips to interesting locations in San Francisco to explore urban strategies as well as out to Castro Valley to interact with broad-acre and farm design.

The student design projects in the class have the real potential to become live projects right here in SF; students will be designing actual sites. Several are now underway such as KicthenGardenSF (www.kitchengardensf.org ) as well as the 18th & Rhode Island garden.

The course costs $750 with work-trade options available. Nobody has ever been turned away for lack of funds.

For more information and to register, please visit the Urban Permaculture Design Course at http://www.upisf.com/