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Selva Negra Permaculture Design Course February 2025

Selva Negra PDC flyer - edit - 25NOV2024.jpg

Sunday February 9 to Saturday February 16th.  

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That allows for Saturday Feb. 8 and Sunday Feb. 17th to be travel days.  The cost is $1,750.  Fee includes three organic meals per day and lodging.  Airfare is extra.  

 

A trip to the Pacific resort town of San Juan Del Sur is also available Feb. 18 - 21.   Let us know if you're interested.   Price available upon request.

​​​I’d like to invite you to a wonderful adventure.  Imagine a permaculture design course taught by two of the premier teachers in the US.  Move that course to one of the most outstanding examples of permaculture in the Western Hemisphere, which just happens to be a 1,000 acre farm in Nicaragua.  Its name is Selva Negra.  Teach it in February when it's cold and rainy in the US but warm and sunny in Nicaragua.


What's “permaculture” about Selva Negra?  It’s survived 130 years in the isolated mountainous north of Nicaragua.   To do that, the farmers have created a self-contained village which provides everything they need to thrive and generates virtually zero waste.  In short - permaculture!

7 Day Course at Selva Negra

 

Permaculture Tropical Agroforestry 

Creating Eco-Resorts & Training Centers

 

Day 1 

  • Orientation to the site and the course

  • Hike the Forest preserve

 

Day 2

  • Water Systems

  • Spring development

  • Gravity fed systems

  • Cisterns, Ponds and distribution

 

Day 3 

  • Biodigestors

  • How they work

  • Wastes Into resources

  • Cooking with Biogas

  • Feedstocks

  • Management

  • Solar Thermal Hot Water Systems

 

Day 4 

  • Organic Vegetables

  • Biodynamics

  • The CSA 

  • Growing for the Eco-resort

  • Compost 

  • Vermiculture

 

Day 5

  • Agroforestry

  • Coffee plantings and over story trees

  • Organic treatments for the coffee

  • Interplanting Coffee with Citrus, Avocado, Macadamia and Cacao

  • Field exercise

  • Laying out plantings on Contour

 

Day 6

  • Animals

  • Chickens, Pigs, Dairy and Beef cattle

  • Rotational Grazing

  • Heritage Breeds

  • Microhydro Systems

 

Day 7

  • Coffee, drying packaging, roasting

  • Cacao and chocolate making

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  • What’s in Selva Negra’s 1,000 acres?

  • 350 acre farm

  • 20,000 square feet of greenhouses

  • Pastures for cows, chickens, geese, ducks, goats, pigs, horses

  • Village with school and health clinic

  • Hydro powered generator

  • 300 feet of worm bins to process food scraps

  • 350 acre shade grown coffee operation

  • Coffee mill and settling ponds for “aqua de miele”

  • Coffee drying houses

  • 6 biodigesters to capture waste from coffee mill and animals

  • Field kitchen powered by biogas

  • 350 acre biopreserve

  • Ridge line to capture water during rainy season

  • Trenches to divert water to catchment ponds

  • Howler monkeys, giant sloths, many tropical birds and amphibians

  • Giant trees and ferns

  • Eco-resort with excellent dining with farm raised produce, pastries, coffee and meat

  • Solar hot water

  • Three ponds to store water for farm

  • Conference center and wedding chapel

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And a beautiful classroom in the middle of the farm with its own dining and lodging areas. Come for the classroom instruction and the on-site demonstration of  permaculture.

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