PERMACULTURE DESIGN COURSE 2010

From the 20th to the 28th of March we'll be running here at the Mount of Oaks another PERMACULTURE COURSE and as last year, it will be taught by Lesley Martin who is a fantastic person and teacher in my opinion, and I’m sure all the ones who did the last year course can say the same...
It’s gonna cost 180E (if by any chance you’d like to offer more, know that all the money will revert to pay the teacher, the food expenses of the course and all the extras will be for our future building projects...this land is still in a pioneering stage and we buy all things we need mainly with charitable donations)...

Now, WHAT SHOULD YOU EXPECT OF THE COURSE ?


It includes lectures, field trips, hands-on projects, camping and meals. The course will be conducted in the internationally accepted manner, so all graduates earn a Permaculture Design Certificate for completing the 72-hour course which includes : Intro, Fundamentals, Field Trips, Design Workshop (the attendants will be put into groups and each presents their own design project in the final day)... All students are required to be present for the full 9 days if they wish to receive the certificate.

The course will consist of a broad range of topics applicable to life anywhere on this planet, yet will be tailored to the needs of the students present as well as the location at hand. Participants will help to co-create the design of food forests, permaculture-style gardens, natural buildings, water catchment and irrigation systems, work with swales and dams, etc...

Permaculture courses are fairly standardized as far as content. We will cover every major topic . So quickly what that includes is the following:

1. Philosophies and Ethics underlying permaculture.

2. Basic permaculture principals and help shape things in general

3. Patterns in Nature, and how to use that in design

4. Methods of design. How to go from a damaged piece of land to having and idea for how to move forward with it.

5. Climactic factors. We will cover all the major climates and how to work with them.

6. Trees, forests, and why we want to mimic their systems.

7. Water: catchment, usage, importance, and conservation

8. Soil, minerals, microorganisms, building new soil, and preventing erosion

9. Earthworks: How to shape the land to help it acheive the goals we are aiming for.

10. Aquaculture

11. Natural Building

12. Alternative systems: community living, and other ways of choosing to live differently that works well for people and the planet.

Each of these categories has subcategories and the teacher also has their own additions and certain topics that are stressed over others.

You can also check here for the last year’s report:

Now, WHAT ARE YOU EXPECTED TO BRING ?

-tent or if you have, your own mobile home :-)
-your daily care personal stuff
-a flash light (the moon will be growing as it will be full on the 29th, but still, it’s always handy)
-a cup/mug (we might not have enough here for everyone)
-we do have plates, forks and knifes, but if you prefer to bring your own that’s up to you...
-sleeping bag and mat or whatever you wanna sleep with...
-some hard surface for you to write on... We don’t have a conventional class room...Fiiiiuuu!!!
-if you have your favourite kind of chair or stool, do bring it...the ones we’ve got might not be the most comfortable ones :-/
-Some warm clothes...the nights can be chilly...but the days, are usually warm and sunny (I do hope so)...
-If you play any instruments and would like to bring it for the fire circle in the evenings, do bring them along...
-Joy, Love , open heart, laughter, your own knowledge, etc...all the good in you!!! The not so good stuff comes along too, but we all have it anyway, so hopefully we’ll all be gracious :-)
-you can pay the 180E as you arrive, but if you have the chance to give it in advance one week before (all of it or a part), that would help on the shopping we need to do before everyone comes...

WHAT DOES THE LAND PROVIDE ?

-A camping area
-A shit pit and or a dry compost toilet (if we get it ready for that time) :-)... With toilet paper or water as you prefer...
-Drinking spring water and food (mainly vegetarian)...LET ME KNOW IF YOU HAVE ANY RESTRICTIONS ON YOUR DIET...
-I do hope to have a better shower system then :-)...but we do have a way to shower or bath :-)

Hmmm...I guess that’s all the information I’ve got... If you have any questions, do ask ...

O.K, DON’T FORGET TO PASS IT ON TO YOUR CONTACTS OF PEOPLE WHO MIGHT BE INTERESTED...
P.S- I just sent the invitation a couple of days ago and I already have 4 people interested to come...so let me know if you are interested cuz I will limit the attendance to 15 people...

...a comment from one of the last year attendants :
“What an absolutely brilliant course it was.. I am still digesting everything Lesley taught us. And thank you so much for hosting us all, and for this write-up!
I look forward to seeing the fruits of her teaching in the years to come - when we are all working on established permaculture projects of our own!” Hannah xx

I hope to see you here !!!!

winter 2009, projects ...

Summer is almost over...even though it's still sooooo hot...
you can read some of the last events here on my blog ...
I have to apologize for being so rubbish writing on this blog, but summertime is just not the most encouraging time to seat with a computer, specially when I don't have electricity :-)...
Anyway, I just wanted to let you know of some ideas I have for winter projects, in case you'd like to come and put your hands on the work or contribute to its expenses...
Speaking about that, I'm trying to get some donators for the Land's projects, so, if you have some extra money in the end of the month, or if you want to consider separating some to help the land, get in touch with me (Barbara)... or maybe you don't have that spare money, but know some people who might want to contribute for projects like this one...
The ideal in the future is for this piece of land be the most self sustainable as possible, but we need to realize it does require some investment in the beginning...
It is step by step , I know, and that's why I took the time to think about what could be the next step...

As you can see by this picture, the roof of the kitchen (our central common place) needs an improvement (actually we don't have a single permanent roof so far, what makes it a bit hard when strong winds and rain comes)...
well, actually, I'd rather just make the whole adjustments to the kitchen... I'd like to build a room attached where we can have a bread oven, wood storage and a place for the dairies...It would be also nice to have a storage for food (whatever we harvest or transform)...so, I came up with this ...don't mind the technical design :-)...

Can you get an idea?!! So, the attached room will be also a terrace, the roofs will be green roofs as it's the best solution I thought of considering the very strong winds we have here... The front roof of the patio as well... And I'd like to make a cement/stone floor for the patio too...
The terrace will have an external stairs, and from the kitchen there will be another stairs for the 2nd floor (connected to the terrace with a door...
On this drawing I also put on top the terrace a solar water heater...
And this will lead us to another project, which is a water tank on the above layer, so we can have pressure for the kitchen, garden and bath-house...
Speaking about the Bath-house, another one that needs improvements...

And if we have time, I'd like to build below the bath-house a shower house with 4 shower places...
I'd also like to replace the shit-pit for a proper compost toilet house...or at least make a better roofing on this one...

So, these are all nice dreams and ideas, which would improve this place for those who want to come by...
But as I mentioned before, it would be nice to have some money to invest in materials to build all these... Just the water tank would be around 1.500 E...the house maybe 2000 E, as I might use clay bricks, for walls and terrace...and we'll probably need to buy some straight wood boards and water proof sheet material for the roofs... I'm just shooting up in the air, but I already asked some budgets for material and shouldn't be far from that...
So,let me know if you want to contribute to any of this...either by coming to help, or by sending us some donations... (I'll not be able to say when we're gonna go for it unless we have the money for the materials)...
I've been here for almost 3 years now, and I feel it's time to start building more lasting structures, so we don't need to replace and fix things every year...

O.K, I'll let you know more about it as I plan it...

be peaceful :-) Joyful :-) Loving :-)
Share your Light

Barbara

PROJECTS ON THE COURSE...AND OTHERS TO BE FINISHED...

As we prepare ourselves for the permaculture course at the end of March, we keep ourselves busy with some buidings we have planned...
The "prayer shelter" which I started to rebuild in the middle of January...
here's how I found it...the strong wind blew off the plastic cover...

So I "destroyed" what remained, in order to build it again...

New season began !!!

And I got my hands to work...that's all I've been focusing on this last month...

And on my knees when required...

Almost done...it's getting nice !!!



On top of this roof structure I'll lay a sheet of sackcloth and on top of it a plastic to stop the rain to come in...On top of the plastic we'll put dirt, which will be taken from the floor inside...and in the soil, seeds :-)...that's what it's called a "green roof" :-)... Inside I'll leave a corner with the soil as it is, and the rest will be a wooden floor with pallets... the walls will be of stone and clay and one of them will have a window... these are the ideas now, then we'll see how it goes :-)

This has been a prayerful, meditative work...as I have no proper plans, I had to go slow...choosing every pole that would fit on the best place...cleaning them from any pointy lumps...tying every junction with rope, hammering, etc...and contemplating the work of my hands...it is during this times of contemplation, that ideas for the next step arise :-)... and so it goes !!!

meanwhile, the others have been busy finishing our "treasure Island", or "useful junk" shed... we have lots of things laying around (as you can see), and other stuff that people leave here, so we really need a place like this to keep it all in one place for when it's needed...

So, that's what we're doing at the moment... but many other projects we have still to finish... like the washing dishes place and the grey water system, my "hobbit" house (in which I wanna be particularly focused before the summer arrives), a new dry toilet room, the water system for the summer... anyway, we still have so many things to do...but step by step... we don't want to get overwhelmed with that... :-)

ANYWAY, IF YOU'D LIKE TO COME AND PARTICIPATE IN ALL THIS, WHETHER BY HELPING WITH YOUR HANDS, OR SEND SOME DONATIONS TO HELP WITH THE COSTS, THAT WOULD BE MOST APPRECIATED !!!
GET IN TOUCH WITH US !!!

PERMACULTURE DESIGN COURSE

We shall be holding a permaculture design course at the land from the 28th March - 5th April 2009.
This is a 72 hour course, spread over 9 intensive days of practical experience and learning the principles, methods and applications of permaculture, sustainable land design and growing.

The course will be led by Lesley Martin a teacher with twenty years teaching experience and it will cost 150 euros including food. Believe me, this is a bargain, compared to the usual costs of such course.

Accommodation is camping so bring a tent and your sleeping bag.

We will need your confirmation and a 50 euro deposit till the 1st of MARCH so that we know the number of attendees and see if it's viable to run the course.


We'll also need 3 or 4 volunteers to help us with the meals, as we'd like to attend the course ourselves. That would be great !!! If you want to come to help, we'd also need your confirmation till the 1st of MARCH. Thanks a lot !!!

Please contact us for more information .
our house number is 275561057.
Or simply post a comment here.

WHERE WE ARE...

We are at the Mount of Oaks, which is the original name of the place where the land stands...
it's part of the village POVOA DE ATALAIA, which is a nice 20 minutes walk from the land.
The nearest cities are CASTELO BRANCO in the south and FUNDAO in the north...

BUT BEFORE YOU COME, MAKE SURE THAT YOU LET US KNOW WHEN YOU ARE COMING SO WE CAN HAVE A PLACE PREPARED FOR YOU...you can find our contacts below...
SO FAR WE DON'T HAVE THE BEST WE'D LIKE TO OFFER YOU... WE DO HAVE SOME GUEST ROOMS (1 wooden cottage, 1 caravan and 1 Van), BUT IF YOU CAN, BRING YOUR OWN SLEEPING BAG AND TENT...

WE'RE ALSO PLANNING TO HAVE A SEASON OF REST FOR THOSE WHO LIVE HERE, BETWEEN 30TH NOVEMBER AND 15th FEBRUARY...FOR US TO BE ALONE AND GET REFRESHED FOR NEXT SEASONS... SO WE'D PREFER NOT TO RECEIVE ANYONE AT THIS TIME IF POSSIBLE...



so, if you come by CAR
you can choose this google map or follow the directions below. We suggest the google map for larger vans or caravans. 

You have to get the A23 (Guarda-Castelo Branco), and in either direction you get out at the CASTELO NOVO exit... Follow the directions ALPEDRINHA- ESTAÇÃO CAMINHO FERRO... You will get to the N18, where you can either turn left to Alpedrinha, or RIGHT TO SOALHEIRA / ESTAÇÃO DE CAMINHO DE FERRO...GO RIGHT :-).........After you will TURN TO YOUR LEFT to ESTAÇÃO CAMINHO DE FERRO / PÓVOA DE ATALAIA / ATALAIA DO CAMPO... You will easily spot the train station and you will cross the rail tracks (under a new viaduct)...keep on driving on that road... You will see the sign saying “Welcome to Póvoa de Atalaia”...keep going a bit more...NEXT , TURN TO YOUR LEFT, where you see the sign to PÓVOA DE ATALAIA, you can also see a saint statue easy to spot... this is the main road in PÓVOA DE ATALAIA... Keep going straight...the cobble stone road will start at the JUNTA DE FREGUESIA... Keep going straight...you will find a CAFÉ on your left side -CAFÉ CENTRAL, another CAFÉ right after that on your right side - CAFÉ TÍLIAS, and right after that you will see the RUA DIREITA, on your left side (just before the church building), TURN THERE, AND FEW METERS, TURN LEFT AGAIN on RUA DA CONTINA (you won't see any sign on that angle, so, just remember that after you go on Rua Direita, it's just few meters and you have to turn left again)... It’s a narrow road between stone walls... When this walled road end you will reach the dirt road... Just keep going straight, and when there are possible turns you HAVE TO PAY ATTENTION TO SOME COLORFUL FABRICS (pink and black, quite obvious, but not massively big) HANGING ON TREES OR BUSHES TO SHOW YOU THE CORRECT DIRECTION :-)... (another reason not to arrive at night)...
But it’s not hard !!! 
In any case, contact me on 965429083 if you need help... or ask people for Bárbara...
Before entering the land, you will see signs for parking... I would prefer cars to stay outside...then you can walk down and uphill (to your right)...you will easily see caravans parked and the stone house that is our main hanging out place and common kitchen... FEEL WELCOME and at home...
 
OBS: the google map on the mount-of-oaks blog gives you another way, for larger vans... chose what you prefer :-)

o.k, if you come by train or by feet :

the nearest train station is called CASTELO NOVO, but it's actually closer to POVOA DE ATALAIA then to CASTELO NOVO...(might be confusing)

check out for schedule on www.cp.pt
From the train station you need to go to Povoa de Atalaia, which is still a bit of a walk down the car road (the opposite direction of the mountains...they will be at your back)
When you see the sign that says Povoa de Atalaia on your left, with a statue of Santo Estevao, follow to the end of that road... (look for the car details if this is not so clear) you can stop by in a cafe for a drink :-)...just next to the church building, to the left you will see the "Rua direita" , turn there..right after you have on your left again, the "Rua da contina"...that will lead you to the dirt road...follow it and be really careful to notice the pink and black stripes hanged on the trees wherever you have 2 possible ways :-)... Ok, you must be able to make it... preferably in the day light...
I don´t mind picking up people on the train station, but it's not always possible... specially if it is a last minute call :-(

( I hope you understand that...thanks !!! )

WELCOME HOME !!! you made it !!!


Note: If you are flying into Portugal...you can get to Porto (cheapest Ryanair flights) or Lisbon...In Porto you need to get a bus to FUNDAO (www.rede-expressos.pt), and then a train to ALPEDRINHA ...in Lisbon, you just need to get to ORIENTE train station and get a train to ALPEDRINHA... (www.cp.pt)
Here are again the web sites where you can get the schedules:
www.rede-expressos.pt (for bus from Porto...If you wanna come straight to the land you must be sure you can take the 10am or 2pm bus in BATALHA, close to SAO BENTO metro station)
www.cp.pt (for trains)

Hope all this helps... :-)

OUR CONTACTS:


Mobile (Barbara) : (00351) 965429083
E.mail : whitestone2004@gmail.com