Wild Dahlia Homestead
Wild Dahlia Homestead has been offering classes & workshops on herbal medicine, homesteading, & sustainable living since November of 2012. This first year of teaching has been inspiring & very well-accepted by the surrounding community. In the coming months & years we intend to expand the depth of our current classes, while broadening the array of sustainable living classes that we offer to the local community.
Our Goals
One of the goals of Wild Dahlia Homestead is to offer not just education & community, but to grant access to skills that, when put into practice, will build a resilient community that can more readily support & sustain itself in these uncertain times. Permaculture is specifically designed to facilitate in this.
Alexander Meander of Wild Dahlia Homestead would like certification in Permaculture Design so that he has the necessary training needed to teach Permaculture Design Certification (PDC) classes at the Homestead. This course will make a very suitable addition to the sustainable lifestyle-based classes that are already taught here. Other classes eventually offered through having this certification include an Introduction to Permaculture course, a Forest Garden design course, as well as courses on Water Catchment & Natural Building.
Not only will this Permaculture Design Certificate allow Alexander Meander to teach these skills to others who want to learn to do it themselves, but it will also allow him to do Permaculture Design installations & consultations for those that do not want to do it themselves. So, either way, the earth-stewarding work of Permaculture will be having a greater impact on a region that sorely needs it.
Permaculture itself is built on a set of Principles derived from the ecological patterns, scientific knowledge, and indigenous wisdom of this planet, and is guided by a set of ethics that guide us toward care for people, care for the earth and conscious consumption.
Major topics of the Permaculture Design Course include the following:
Philosophies and Ethics underlying permaculture
Basic permaculture principles
Patterns in Nature and how to use that in permaculture design
Methods of design. Applying permaculture design methodology and strategies to meet your design goals.
Climactic factors and strategies for all major climates.
Trees, forests and forest gardening. Mimicking forest systems to create an abundance of food, fiber, and fodder.
Water: catchment, usage, importance, and conservation.
Soil structure, minerals, microorganisms, building new soil and preventing erosion. Working with the soil food web to create a healthy ecosystem and regenerate degraded land.
Earthworks. Shaping the land to help it achieve the goals we are aiming for.
Aquaculture
Natural Building. Building structures with materials available on-location.
Alternative systems. Community living and other ways of living that work well for both people and the planet. Bioregional organization, community development, alternative economic systems, permaculture as aid.
We Would Love Your Support
In closing, Wild Dahlia Homestead is asking for your support in this venture, as we look to the future with the hope of offering Permaculture Design education & application to our local community in the Piedmont of North Carolina. Thanks!