What is Permaculture?


Permaculture is a sustainable design system that provides for human needs while having positive effects on the surrounding environment.

It is based on the ethics of earth care, people care and fair share, and provides practical solutions to the global crises we are currently facing.

Permaculture is for EVERYONE, regardless of their education, background, or previous experience.

Permaculture is NOT just about trees, or just about gardening! You don't need loads of land to practice it and it's a design method that can be applied to all social systems.

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Straw Bale Building course

We were recently asked why our new communal area / training room is built using conventional building techniques. If I’m honest it’s simply because it was quick and easy, the materials were easily available and will fit in with the existing house. But Jeroen is very excited to be soon attending a Straw Bale [...]

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Introducing Oficinas da TerraCrua

Oficinas da TerraCrua (literal translation = Workshops of Raw Earth) is a local organisation offering workshops in a range of sustainable building techniques such as Adobe, cob, cordwood and straw bale.

Nuno taught the New Build session on our recent Permaculture Design Course, which everyone seemed to thoroughly enjoy. Although workshops are taught in [...]

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Thermal Mass Rocket Stove Workshop

We’ve just come back from a Thermal Mass Rocket Stove workshop over at Corga da Periera, where Jeroen was helping to build a rocket stove in their tipi. The flue from the stove passes  through a cob bench (the thermal mass) as it exits, so the heat of combustion is retained and can be [...]

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SLU update – It’s all over

It’s over. The focus of my life for the past six weeks, the Sustainable Land Use course, has finished. I’m not sure whether I should be whooping with delight or weeping that it’s all over. Certainly I’m happy to have my Permaculture Design Certificate in my hand and a head full of ideas. But I’m [...]

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Casalinho’s Permaculture Design Course Announced!

Jeroen and I are really excited to confirm the dates of the first official Permaculture Design Course to be held at Casalinho e Escabelado. It will be held from the 10th to the 19th of June 2011 and be taught in English by Lesley Martin.

We’ve had some interest already, particularly [...]

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SLU update – Biodynamics? I’m not convinced!

Yesterday Patrick’s SLU Course all piled into cars and headed off to Grange Village, a Camphill Community on the edge of the Forest of Dean. Grange Village is a community of around 80 people, around half of whom have special needs. But our interest was the biodynamic garden, which provides the majority of the [...]

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SLU update – Ecology & Organic Horticulture modules

Well who could have imagined that ecology could be so interesting? Patrick Whitefield is a stupendous teacher. Really. We’ve been looking at how plants, animals, climate, soil and humans interact, which is at the core of everything really. It’s highlighted to me how much we’ve doing wrong, and made me quite proud that we’re doing [...]

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SLU update – Well I’ve arrived!

After a lovely weekend spent with my parents I arrived at Ragmans Lane Farm on Sunday evening to join Patrick Whitefield and a bunch of fellow minded seekers of permaculture enlightenment on his Sustainable Land Use Course.

We had a good look at Ragmans Lane Farm using Google Earth over the weekend, but it [...]

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Sustainable Land Use course with Patrick Whitefield

Whoo Hoo!!! It’s booked up, it’s official! I’m going to be attending the Sustainable Land Use course with Patrick Whitefield early next year.

Whoo hoo!

Do I sound excited?!

The course is actually something I looked at a while ago but at that stage it was held over 9 weeks, which was a bit too much [...]

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