Permaculture Homestead Design Intensive @ Siskiyou Seeds

We welcome you to join us for an immersive weekend introduction to Permaculture with a focus on homestead design.

The key premise of this weekend intensive is that many people aspire to have a simple 1/2 acre permaculture homestead for their family, with food forests, fruit trees, berries, outdoor living systems with a fire pit, sauna, hot tub, cob oven, chickens, shade structures, water catchment, compost making, and so on.

We’ll attempt to answer the central question of,

“What is the ideal human living environment?”

Our home base will be Seven Seeds Farm which is in it’s 23rd year of development with extensive plantings of a wide diversity of fruiting, medicinal and useful trees and shrubs, acres of diverse seed crops, multi-species animal systems, ecological forestry, off grid appropriate technology and vertically integrated cottage industry businesses. Seven Seeds Farm has become one of the most established Permaculture sites in N. America. Since 2000 with extensive earthworks and pond and water catchment systems, and an intensive organic seed farm and seed bank distribution hub (Siskiyou Seeds) have contributed to a blossoming of hope for regenerative resilient culture.

This course will also include a design charrette involving participants in the assessment and design of a renewal of a neighboring homestead where Ann Nguyen & Noel Ruiz have created the @homestead.culture platform to inform others along their journey. So this is a unique opportunity to explore the initial stages of laying out a long term permaculture homestead.

Some of the topics that we’ll explore include:

• Observation, assessment & Design
• The Permaculture Ethics & Principles
• Mapping techniques
• Basic surveying for laying out swales for water catchment
• Fencing strategies
• Food forests & orchards
• Backyard poultry (chickens, ducks, turkeys, etc…)
• Permaculture zone & sector analysis
• Natural play zones and structures for children
• Social permaculture and people power considerations
• Long term needs assessment (considering the evolution of a family)
• Organic gardening
• Composting toilets & home composting for fertility
• Ecological forestry, fuel wood & natural building materials
• Long term health & vitality with nutrition & mental/spiritual well being

This course is an excellent opportunity to both see an established example of the Permaculture dream and participate in the early stages of an emergent one as well. We’ll alternate between lecture, tours and hands-on activities with some engaging “world Cafe” style exercises to help refine our dreams and plans. Mornings will include the opportunity to join in a guided Qi Gong class led by accupuncturist and Chinese Doctor, Kyle Shinners. Organic meals will bring us together around the hearth of good food and kind hearts. Participants are invited to camp, or sleep in their vehicle, or arrange local accomodations. We have outhouses and a bath house here.

Don Tipping is the lead instructor who brings over 30 years experience in organic farming, seeds, permaculture and enthusiastic on-farm education. Don has been farming and offering hands on, practical workshops at Seven Seeds Farm since 1997. Seven Seeds is a small, certified organic family farm in the Siskiyou Mountains of SW Oregon that produces fruits, vegetables, seeds, flowers and herbs, while raising sheep, poultry and people. The farm has been designed to function as a self-contained, life regenerating organism with waste products being recycled and feeding other elements of the system. Lauded as one of the best examples of a small productive Biodynamic and Permaculture farms in the northwest by many, Seven Seeds helps to mentor new farmers through internships and workshops. In 2009 we began Siskiyou Seeds, a bioregional organic seed company that grows and stewards a collection of over 700 open pollinated flower, vegetable and herb seeds and is constantly breeding new varieties that we distribute nationally. Don is active in the Seed Stewardship movement and educates regionally on seed saving through the Seed Academy, the Student Organic Seed Symposium, Seed Schools and numerous conferences. He currently sits on the board of a new non-profit called Seeds of Light that is developing educational programs and workshops aimed at growing humans through their head, heart and hands.

Don Tipping will be supported by co-teachers:

Jessica Plancich-Shinners: Therapist & systems design expert

Kyle Shinners: Accupuncturist, Qi Gong teacher, and 5 element systems teacher

WHEN: 3 day Event begins Friday, May 3 @ 9:00am and runs through Sunday, May 5th at 4 pm. The event is 9 am through 6pm with dinner to follow and a more open, salon type format after dinner. People travelling from out of town can arrive Thursday eve to set up camp.

WHAT: We invite you to join us for a 3 day intensive training in the basics of permaculture from an emirical lens. We will alternate between activities that nourish the head, heart and hands – with lecture, hands-on and integrative techniques. Don Tipping is the lead instructor who brings over 30 years experience in organic farming, seeds, permaculture and enthusiastic on-farm education. This is a deep dive into whole systems theory and management and an immersive experience in a mature Permaculture Farm site.

WHO: Gardeners, farmers, permaculturalists, homesteaders, and those interested in stewarding land or a garden as a wonderful way to grow a positive future. No prior experience is necessary, however, some gardening familiarity will be helpful.

HOW: includes delicious organic meals from the farm, camping, showers, instruction, handouts, field trips and a deeply nourishing dive into co-creating regenerative culture. Breakfast ingredients are provided but done self serve (or group coordinated) in our Seed Barn, whereas lunch and dinner will be spectacular farm based catered meals. If you are traveling from out of the area and would like to camp on Thursday (5/2/24) night please email [email protected] to pre-arrange that. Or if you’d prefer to do an Air BnB there are some in Williams HERE.

Course Fees: Full Price – $650 (if able to pay the full price you enable us to welcome more people through scholarships.) Includes instruction, tours, excellent organic meals and camping.

Early Bird Discount (until 4/11/23) – $550

Farm Tour only: Friday, 5/3/24, 9 am – 1 pm. – $40 (included in full cpourse registration)

*please note that we do not offer refunds.

SCHOLARSHIPS: No one turned away for lack of funds. We offer a limited amount of scholarship opportunities. We welcome help with course logistics. The hope is to eliminate any barrier for folks who want to participate. Please send an email sharing a bit about why attending this course will benefit your journey to become a seed steward to [email protected] to apply.

Note: We are offering 7 half day Permaculture Farm Tours this year. This 3 day course includes one on Friday 5/3/24 from 9-1p. It can be done independently if you don’t have time for the 3 day course. Here is the link for all tours:

https://youtu.be/jkrsqrRKgd4?si=bzEdnkcCSSedg2eZ