A note from Greg Peterson: Don and I go way back with almost two decades of learning and teaching permaculture. Working together, we have given around 20 Permaculture Design Courses, started the Phoenix Permaculture Guild, and purchased a hammer mill to run a Mesquite Milling Program. Don is an extraordinary teacher & I look forward to offering PDC’s with him for many years into the future.
What is Permaculture?
By Don Titmus
Permaculture is a way of thinking as well as a system of organizing intelligent ecological and ethical design. It does not focus on the elements of sustainability in themselves (for example the details of organic living, eco-building, appropriate technology, community building, green finance, or rainwater harvesting), but on the beneficial relationships between these elements. It goes further, focusing on how they are put together to make them as energy efficient and sustaining as possible, for people, the planet and our ecosystem.
Permaculture (Permanent Culture) enhances our observation and understanding of natural patterns and universal principles. It teaches us to contemplate nature and natural systems and then to apply these ecological truisms to our own living environments. (Definition partially excerpted from a Permaculture UK magazine editorial by Maddy Harland).
Permaculture is not gardening, is not composting, is not chickens, is not rainwater harvesting, is not solar, is not intentional community, is not recycling…… It is ALL OF THESE!! Together!!!
Additionally, it Is all these things IN BENEFICIAL RELATIONSHIP…….in right location.
This Is Permaculture…This Is sustainable!!!!!!
Who is the Design Course for?
The Permaculture Design Course (PDC) is for everyone who is serious in learning how to create a more sustainable life in all areas: food production, energy use, transportation, housing/shelter, water use, community building and so much more. Your view of sustainability will be broadened and deepened, stretching your idea of what is possible. This course is suitable for every level of knowledge; from seasoned gardeners, students, landscapers, architects, trades people, homemakers, and all levels and ages in between.
Your experience will go beyond the classroom as you develop your design project, and community, along the way. Selected primary home sites will be hosts for each of the weekend classes in addition to arranged tours. Each topic and weekend is organized to build upon each other so that by the end of the course you will have all you need to create an integrated permaculture design. Some classes are intense, others relaxed, but all will be rewarding.
This course is internationally recognized among others in the field. The requirement of covering the 10 main chapters of the “Designers Manual” within the 72 hours of in-class information and some hands-on segments is necessary to achieve this global standard. The initial PDC is the beginning of your permaculture training, and more opportunities will be offered for those wishing to make this your profession. For more information and to register go HERE!
About this author:
Don Titmus. Don grew up in London and at age 16 spent 4 years being trained in horticulture through an apprenticeship and a college course. From there he continued landscaping in his hometown until he moved to Arizona in 1981, where he worked in landscaping and then starting his own business in garden maintenance.
In 2003 he attended a Permaculture Design Course, which was life-changing for Don. He knew right away that this was the path he’d been waiting for, and later attended two Permaculture Teacher Trainings.
He co-founded the Phoenix Permaculture Guild, started a Permaculture design company, redesigned his home site into a permaculture design destination, and helped develop a thriving permaculture community in the Phoenix, Arizona area. He has presented in 5 cities, worked in several states, attended classes in 5 states, and pretty much lives and breathes permaculture.
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