Hands-On Permaculture Design Courses
Spring 2022
Center for Bioregional Living - Ellenville, New York
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 May and June 2022.
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:
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Water in the Land
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Biodynamic Gardening
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Whole site Design
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Forest Gardens/Tree Crops
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Natural Building
All the courses in this series function as stand alone teachings and they build off of each other when taken together.
Come participate in the co-evolution of our Center for Bioregional Living where we teach the essentials of high quality ways of living well with how the earth works. Everything that we will be working on here will be used and enjoyed by future visitors and students for many 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...).
All classes 10am till 4pm
Introduction to Permaculture and Biodynamic Gardening
Saturday May 14th - 10am to 3pm - $100
Come and join us at our one of a kind of Permaculture farm in Ellenville. The Center for Bioregional Living is an off grid market scale 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.
In this workshop we will have hands-on activities taking you from seed starting to bed prepping and planting a organic market scale garden.
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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 Design for Whole Site Development
May 21st and 22nd - 10am to 4pm - $200
This course will focus on laying the groundwork for an entire land development project such as establishing ecological businesses, community farms, eco-villages, co-housing and homesteads.
Topics covered:
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Reading the landscape
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Making use of topography and hydrology
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Reading biological indicators
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Whole site analysis
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Mapping techniques
Siting buildings and integrating the entire project through a solid phase plan.
Hands-on activities:
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Siting buildings and infrastructure,
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Laying out establishing earthworks and infrastructure.
We have thoughtfully crafted each of these offerings to function as stand alone teachings or to build off of each other when taken as the whole series. Come participate in the groundbreaking of The Center for Bioregional Living’s Permaculture and Ecological Design Educational center where we will help to teach people the essentials of high quality ways of living abundantly now and into the future.
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Forest Gardens and Tree Crops
Saturday May 28th 2020 - 10am to 3pm - $100
This course will focus on gardening with nature through the creation of edible forest gardens, as well as the design and management of multi-functional woodlots.
Topics covered:
Designing, Planting management of woodlots for selective harvesting of fuel and building materials, understory value-added crops like shitake, ginseng, goldenseal and wild garlic, techniques for increasing the quality and productivity of wild edibles.
Hands-on activities:
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Planting Nut tree legacies!
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Pruning and land management to accelerate succession.
Naturally Built Tiny House
Saturday June 11 and 12 - 10am to 4pm - $260
Healthy Buildings = Healthy People
Natural, local and bioregional buildings contribute to ecologically sound local economies and create beautiful, healthy homes and villages to live our lives in.
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.
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Passive solar design
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Phased and integrated site development
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building techniques.
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Building structures and sacred sites with good feng shui and natural energy.
Insulating naturally, using rainwater for domestic needs and greywater for gardens. 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.
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How to use straw bales
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Earthen Plasters
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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
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!
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.
Classes will start at 10am Saturday There is a bus from Port Authority that leaves at 5:30 and arrives at 8:02 in Ellenville where we could pick you up. Let us know if this is the best way for you to travel and we will save dinner for you!
Anyone driving who has extra space in their car let us know so that we may organize carpooling.
There is a NJ Transit Train that runs to Middletown about 40 minutes away, but we are unable to organize service to pick people up from there at this time. Possibly in the future?
For questions or to reserve a space email andrew@homebiome.com
Lead Instructor Andrew Faust
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 and students since his decade long career as a H.S. teacher at Upattina's, a open community free school in Glenmoore, PA.
View Faust's TED X lecture
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Permaculture Consultation Services - Property Analysis
"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
Permaculture Consultation - Natural Building Services
 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 . |
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.
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.
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
JOIN OUR ON LINE MONTHLY PERMACULTURE MEETUP - TBA
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WHAT WE DO:
Educational Initiatives
Permaculture Design Consultation
Water Quality & Regional Planning
Herbalism, Food & Healing
CLASSES & WORKSHOPS: