Hands-on Permaculture Classes
Ellenville, New York
Join us in Ellenville on our educational campus, 18 years in the making!
These are the workshops that many of you have been clamoring for.
They will be relaxed, very informative, fun and a great way to have an immersion educational experience on our permaculture campus.
Andrew Faust and Adriana Magaña at our Center for Bioregional Living are proud to present a series of advanced permaculture and ecological design courses this season.
We have thoughtfully crafted each of these offerings to extend your fundamental Permaculture design skills and advance them strongly, with these hands on trainings taking you forward on the wings of true experience!
Our themes this season are:
All the courses in this series function as stand alone teachings and they build off of each other when taken together. You will be helping to create a legacy that will be enjoyed by future visitors and students for years to come.
Camping is encouraged in designated areas on our land and taking in the sights, during off time, at one of the many nearby gorgeous hiking areas (Lake Minnewaska, Sam's Point, Peter's Kill to name a few)
Rain Water Abundance
Installing Rain Tanks & Rain Gardens
Hands-on Workshop - May 31st - 10am - 4pm - $100
Come and Learn how to capture, hold and store pure high quality rain water. A free gift in a place that gets 49 inches of rainfall a year! You can catch .6 gallons per inch of rainfall, for each square foot of roof area you connect to a tank.
Topics:
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Calculate your water harvest
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Install a rain tank system
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Use Gravity for water pressure
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Off grid sinks and showers
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Connect your overflow or downspouts
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Design a series of dynamic diverse, flowering rain gardens
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Create havens of biodiversity and beauty fed by rain tanks!
Celebrate the abundant gift of rain water and solve water problems on your land with one action. Learn to create gravity fed rainwater supplied irrigation systems for gardens and livestock. You will learn how to connect a big rain tank to your house and how to properly plumb it to use for watering needs on your land and for fun!
Permaculture & Biodynamic Gardening
Saturday, June 7 - 10am - 4pm - $100
In this workshop we will have hands-on activities taking you from seed starting to bed prepping and planting an organic market scale garden.
Come and join us at our one of a kind of Permaculture farm in Ellenville. The Center for Bioregional Living is a demonstration farm designed specifically, as our example to the regional food movement Offering opportunities and approaches for addressing our food needs with more of an integrated, ecological, permaculture approach.
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Discuss preferred seed sources
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Explain the Biodynamic Calendar & how we use it
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Prep and plant beds in our garden
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Explain our rain water catching system
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Discuss permaculture in the fruit & vegetable garden layout
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Explain when we use the tractor and when we use hand tools
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Show you amendments that we use in our garden and why
You will get a chance to plant seed and prep beds and learn experientially about some key biodynamic and permaculture gardening insights and approaches to take home to your family and farm.
Permaculture Whole Site Design
June 21st & 22nd - 10am - 4pm - $400 -- Meals and Camping included!
Learn to lay the groundwork for an entire land development project; establishing ecological businesses, community farms, eco-villages, co-housing and homesteads. Siting buildings and integrating the entire project through a solid phase plan. Hands-on activities: siting buildings and infrastructure, laying out and establishing earthworks and infrastructure.
Topics:
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Identifying Trees
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Understanding Water
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Creating Habitats
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What Pollinators Need
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Reading the landscape
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Making use of topography and hydrology Identifying biological indicators
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Whole site analysis, mapping techniques
Come participate in the Center for Bioregional Living’s Permaculture Design Educational center where we will help to teach people the essentials of high quality ways of living abundantly now and into the future.
Naturally Built Tiny House
Saturday June 28 and 29 - 10am - 4pm - $400
Meals and Camping included
Healthy Buildings = Healthy People
Applying the permaculture principles throughout the building process. This hands-on workshop series will teach you about creating buildings with trees cut from the land, maximizing on-site and local raw materials and framing with rough cut local lumber. Natural, local and bioregional buildings contribute to ecologically sound local economies and create beautiful, healthy homes and villages to live our lives in.
Topics:
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Passive solar design
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Phased and integrated site development and building techniques.
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Building structures and sacred sites with good feng shui and natural energy.
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Insulating naturally, using rainwater for domestic needs and greywater for gardens.
How to use Straw bales:
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Earthen Plasters, Light Clay straw
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Passive solar hot water systems for domestic heating
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Off grid Energy systems
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Minimizing household sources of Electro-Magnetic Fields
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Using gravity and low energy pumps and systems for indoor/outdoor plumbing systems
When you complete this entire series you will know how to create a beautiful natural building from the ground up and set it up to be fully off the grid! Come and learn how to create healthy, natural reasonably sized homes, outbuildings and communities . We will teach you how to analyze building locations and materials to determine how ecologically safe and sound they are. Most of our time will be spent outdoors and there will be plenty of hands-on work. Home cooked and locally sourced meals included! Lodging options include limited indoor common area as well as tent space on our beautiful 14 acres. Bring tents, sleeping pads, sleeping bags.
FREE ONLINE PERMACULTURE COURSES
INTRODUCTION TO PERMACULTURE
April 30th 2025
Permaculture addresses the major issues of our day with a whole systems approach. It is a worldwide movement that is helping to regenerate local ecologies and economies.
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History of Permaculture
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Designing Your Home, Farm & Business
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Regenerative Farming, Biodynamics and Climate Resiliency
WHAT IS PERMACULTURE?
Permaculture is a design process and a worldwide movement that is helping to regenerate local ecologies and economies by addressing our social justice and environmental issues.
JOIN OUR ON LINE MONTHLY PERMACULTURE MEETUP
April 25th 2025
Andrew Faust - Founder | Director
One of the premier Permaculture teachers and designers in North America with over two decades of experience in the field. His passionate and mind expanding talks and curriculum have motivated teachers, students since his decade long career as a H.S. teacher at Upattina's, a open community free school in Glenmoore, PA.
Faust received a dual diploma in Design and Education from Permaculture Institute of North America in 2016. Andrew and Adriana Magaña with their daughter Juniper run the Center for Bioregional Living in Ellenville, NY., a hands-on educational campus for students and clients. Andrew is a certified Alternative School Teacher, focusing on Bioregional Education; he instructed at Upattina's Open Community High School from 1992-2001. Faust holds a B.A. in comparative religions from Guilford College.
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Andrew Faust is the founder and director of Center for BioRegional Living and a permaculture designer, teacher, and activist. Andrew is known for his dynamic teaching style and his ability to inspire people to take action and make positive changes in their communities. He’s also an advocate for social and environmental justice. He believes that permaculture can play a crucial role in addressing issues such as climate change, food insecurity, and social inequality by promoting sustainable and regenerative practices. It all might sound very serious but believe me, it’s very ticklish stuff as you’ll hear.
Permaculture Center for BioRegional Living - Farm Tour
Available by appointment only - $100.00
Please call - 917.584.4588
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See a working Permaculture Educational Farm
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Learn how to grow more of your own food
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Learn how to set up big rain tanks for water security
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See our straw bale cabin, outhouses and natural classroom
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See how create ponds and to find and develop springs
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Visit our Dwarf Nigerian Goats, heritage chickens, nut trees natural buildings Biodigestor and more.
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Andrew Faust Permaculture Consultation Services
Property Analysis
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Real Estate Appraisals
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Energy Consulting
"If it was not for Andrew I would have completely bought the wrong piece of Land and wasted tens of thousands of dollars. After sharing my goals, Andrew patiently took months of narrowing down properties I sent him from online listings. Then he went to visit the best and final online selections in person, selecting the best of the best within my budget. Hiring his services was well worth every dollar. I would highly recommend leveraging his experience to anyone serious about buying land. " - Property Analysis Client
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Permaculture Gardens and Landscapes
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Gardens
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Agroforestry
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Native Pollinator
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Orchards
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Biodynamic
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Meadows and Landscape
- Design, build and maintain diversified, beautiful, edible and native landscapes for our clients using permaculture design principles. We fully utilize southern exposure for rare and delicate fruits and cooler areas for rare woodland medicinals and other appropriate plantings. We will disperse detrimental energies like wind and sun and increase privacy and the diversity of use by the strategic placement of the plantings we create on-site.
 Strawbale/Off-grid-Hillsboro,W,V,My permaculture Homestead/educational Center,Black locust posts from on site and clay for the walls, local hemlock framing and strawbales from a local oats farmer |  Strawbale-Sullivan,NYPole barn framing all from site. We sited, designed and built this 2200 square foot home from start to finish. |  Straw bale houseCochecton,NY a client and graduate of our class we designed and built this passive solar house for. |
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 No plastic wraps-All clay&woodEarthen plasters directly onto the bales with a wood siding for the final exterior and plaster on the interior. |  Clay walls done by handWe like to do earthen plasters from local clay after we paint the bales with clay slip. |  Passive Solar OrientationA straw bale earthen plastered, slab on grade home heated with radiant floor heating from a solar thermal array.It is a pole barn framing system with unique engineered metal joiners.Every stick of wood in the building came from on-site. |
 Wood sidingWide overhangs protect from summer sun,let in the winter sun.Solar thermal on the roof into the slab, thermostat inter tied to tankless propane hot water for winter heating, |  Solar Thermal-Passive hot waterSolar Hot water is your key to resilient domestic hot water and low effort winter warmth we put the suns energy right into the foundation of your home and into your water tank! |  2-5 sided Strawbale-Accord,NYWe designed and built and sited this 2 -5 sided strawbale healing sanctuary as part of a masterplan for a 40 acre property,for a client in Accord,NY |
 Solar thermal into slabWe built the forms and put the pex in for the solar thermal and sub contracted out the pour, |  Posts from on siteStanding seam metal roof and posts from on-site,ready to stack bales. |  2-5 sided strawbale-doneEarthern plaster finished w/lime wash. |
 A straw bale earthen plastered building It is actually two, 5 sided structures connected by a breezeway we designed, we sited and built for a client with ash posts from on-site and poplar framing from the area.It is slab on grade with radiant floor heating from solar thermal hot water and biofuels.We can do this for you! |  Inside the sanctuaryAll interiors earthen plasters and natural finishes. |  Posts sit in side balesThis way you can appreciate the beauty of the wood framing materials, |
 Roof insulated from outsideOur innovation we blanket the whole outside with salvaged rigid blue foam and then put the metal on so you get the beauty of seeing all your rafters and great insualtion! |  Built in shelvingThe details are all tailored to the clients needs. |  Tiny House Gardiner,NYLocal natural materials, non-toxic and passive solar writers studio,We designed and built . |
 Tiny house -Natural interiorAll non-toxic natural interiors in this tiny house project,Clay onto drywall and citra solve w /tung oil for the floors. |  Sunroom-Stone Ridge,NYOur team designed and built this addition for a graduate of our class , |  Sunroom |
 Latest Strawbale-Stonykill,NYSeth one of our crew and his wife Sarah are design/building this strawbale home for themselves based on the houses we built for our clients over the past 6 years in the region, |  |  |
 Outbuildings-Stony kill,NY |  4-stall-Outdoor showers,Stonykill,NYRain fed out door showers made for increased hosting at a Tai Chi center in Accord,NY |  |
 |  Straw bale pole structure we are building here in Ellenville. |  |
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 |  Our classroom and summer kitchen in Ellenville from local lumber and poles on-site. |  Outdoor Classroom Waldorf SchoolAccord,NY .We are building natural structures with on-site trees with parents and students helping. |
 Teaching carpentry by doing, with Juniper's class at Acorn school in Accord, NY. |  Tent platformsModular and made with local rot resistant wood. |  Rain water catchment incorporated into outbuildings, as you see here, to create reliable water supplies on remote sites is one of our specialties. |
 1500 gallon rain tankWe can put water on a platform to get you the pressure you need! |  A structure for water supply and storage made from local materials. |  Pole construction with local rough cut hemlock.We built this at the high point in our 10 acre meadow to catch hold and store rainwater for our primary water supply on-site . |
Natural Building Services
We combine our experience in natural building and landscape construction to create healthy homes for healthy people. We will site buildings to be well located in regards to water drainage around them and maximize the natural benefits of being oriented to the sun for winter homes and towards the north for passive cooling and root cellars.
Humanity is more than ever threatened by its own actions; we hear a lot about the need to minimize footprints and to reduce our impact. But what if our footprints were beneficial? What if we could meet human needs while increasing the health and well-being of our planet?
"INHABIT - IS QUITE SIMPLY THE BEST FILM EVER MADE ABOUT PERMACULTURE" - Permaculture Magazine
WHAT WE DO:
Educational Initiatives
Permaculture Design Consultation
Water Quality & Regional Planning
Herbalism, Food & Healing
CLASSES & WORKSHOPS: