I have a little catching up to do here. After a solid migratory run of four straight summers bouncing between hemispheres, the hatches are now being battened down in Chile for a mild Mediterranean-climate winter that will yield no sympathy from my people in the north. The autumn is beautiful and drawn out here.

It was a transformational summer for my wife and I. In February we spent two weeks attending a Permaculture Design Course (PDC) at the Ecoescuela El Manzano a couple of hours to the south. The school was founded and is run by a guy named Grifen Hope from New Zealand and his Chilean wife Javiera. They have about 150 acres of mostly pine forest with horses, pigs, sheep and a steady stream of people who want to learn how to live a well-connected, resilient life. Truly beautiful spot and good folks who really know their stuff.

The course was something I had been wanting to do since I stumbled upon the term Permaculture and its refreshingly direct, practical and holistic ideas that really turned a light on for me. It is a more or less standardized, 72-hours (ended up being far more) designed by Bill Mollison and David Holmgren, the founders of Permaculture.

There are people teaching these things all over the world. If you are thinking about taking one, best if its certified by the Permaculture Research Institute of Australia. Not all of them are. Do a little research and try to find one close to home (a lot is climate-specific).

It was a very enlightening and intensive two weeks. We spent a good chunk of time in the classroom going over the ethics and principles, case studies and the more technical side of the design science. One day we focused on soils, the next was water, followed by agroforestry etc. We also spent a lot of time out in the fields and forests observing patterns, planting, making raised beds and building with natural materials such as clay/straw bricks.

The curriculum is an impressive balance of philosophy and science. Not only did we learn many of the technical skills required to be self sufficient, but we dove into the often intimidating world of why that is either avoided or left superficial in other scientific disciplines.

It quickly becomes clear that this is important stuff and we came back home fired up for our own project here on the farm. I don’t think I’ll ever be bored again. If I am I’m not paying attention.

I have a lot of new info to share with the goal of helping others to take a few steps in the direction of becoming resilient and living more connected lifestyles. So I’m back up on the bloghorse and more to come.

TVP