Ridgedale Internship booklet Spring 2016

Farm Scale & Professional Permaculture 10 Week Internship Handbook May 6th - Jul 16th 2016 ...farming, innovating and educating for the benefit of all...

Copyright ridgedale PERMACULTURE 2015/6

The result of 6 months work implementing our design in our first season in 2014

farming, innovating and educating for the benefit of all

Åsen 20 Västra Ämtervik Sunne Sweden 686 95 www.ridgedalepermaculture.com

The kitchen gardens after 9 months action on the ground

“Permaculture consciously and intelligently integrates regenerative agricultural ecosystems with socially just environments to produce fulfilling, stable and ethically sound livelihoods through whole systems management. Reflecting natural patterns, flows and relationships, permaculture design functionally interconnects diverse elements in highly cooperative and mutually beneficial arrangements that display robust energy efficiency and abundance of yield. The ethic of reinvesting surplus into natural and social forms of capital promotes care of all beings and the planetary systems.” Richard Perkins

Context...

Managing our farm holistically

At ridgedale we believe that financially sustainable and socially beneficial livelihoods are founded on regenerating the world’s biospheres. We believe these three aspects that make up our triple bottom line are totally inseparable and so our decision-making consistently reflects this.

To ensure our success we use testing questions to ensure our decision making at the farm is consistently aligned with our Holistic Goal. Below are 12 of the key outcomes we are managing towards related to our triple bottom line; 1. Build topsoil via intelligently integrated planting/Keyline layout & animal disturbances 2. Maximize photosynthetic energy captured on site 3. Restore water, carbon and nutrient cycling on site by mimicking natures processes 4. Create habitats that fully support organisms physiological needs 5. Increase diversity of wildlife species and natural “feedback” loops 6. Demonstrate socially just and sustainable profit with an open farm gate policy 7. Support world-class education in all aspects of regenerative systems design and holistic decision making 8. Develop local food resilience & facilitate access to beyond organic food by connecting people to local farmers 9. Prevent wasting of fiscal, human and ecosystem capital 10. Utilize regenerative technologies to minimize oil dependence 11. Create & demonstrate robust decentralized energy production 12. Continually reassess our holistic objectives and management process with decision makers

Read more about the design here http://www.ridgedalepermaculture.com/design-at-ridgedale. html

ridgedale PERMACULTURE is a family owned pasture and perennial crop based beyond organic local food producer and educational hub in Värmland, Sweden. A flagship multi- income diverse small farm, ridgedale is Scandinavia’s first Keyline designed farm and a leading European education provider in the field of Permaculture and Regenerative Agriculture.

Birds eye view of ridgedale PERMACULTURE

ridgedale PERMACULTURE’S primary

responsibility is regenerating landscapes, ecosystem processes and soils through replicable, scalable and profitable symbiotic farm enterprises.

Our secondary responsibility is to educate, facilitate, inform and empower people into action through regenerative design, enterprise and holistic decision-making that fosters and stimulates local community, economy and resilience.

10 Week Internship: Farm Scale & Professional Permaculture

The full Internship begins with a PDC arriving afternoon of Friday 6th May and people leave Saturday July 16th 2016 The following is an extensive amount of information about participating in the Ridgedale Internship program.

We are proud to offer the most advanced, thorough & comprehensive trainign of it’s nature in Europe and have taken the time to put this document together in order to answer the typical questions that come up for folks and clarify what you can expect from our program. Please read all the information presented carefully & thoroughly; it will help frame and orientate you for the experience.

We are offering unique experiential learning internships to support the establishment of more professional designers, farmers and land managers. The flavors of this Internship are; Whole System Planning, Keyline Design, Holistic Management, Fencing, Access, Water, Tree planting ground preparation, Perennial Planting, Kitchen Garden Establishment and Integrated Animal Systems, Regenerative Enterprise & Holistic Decision Making.

Are you looking to develop a career in professional Permaculture design? Wanting to establish your own project or farm? Looking for longerterm immersion into regenerative design? ridgedale Permaculture specializes in Action Learning Internship programs immersing you in daily farm life to give you experience in what it takes to design, implement, maintain and monitor Regenerative Systems. We’re here to help fast track your professional development.

Working alongside a P.R.I (Aus) & PC Assoc (UK) certified fieldtrained professional designer, farm managers and guest trainers the focus of this training is to engage highly motivated people looking to develop and hone the design, planning and decision making skills to implement successful projects/ enterprises elsewhere.

This is an ideal way to fast-track your ability to establish and maintain your own permaculture project and/ or get started on a career as a permaculture consultant and/or educator.

In 10 weeks you will participate in 5 courses whilst immersed in daily life at the farm. All in all the pro-

Farming, innovating and educating for the benefit of all...

There are very few learning opportunities to fast- track experience with Farm Scale Permaculture design, Holistic decision-making, budgeting, planning and implementing Permaculture projects working alongside professional designers in Europe. With a strong objective to support others to develop careers in this field, from professional design to planning farming enterprises, we operate an open farm gate policy so you can really understand the prioritization and budget planning behind decisions being made on the farm.

Based on a solid and thorough Master Plan, the implementation of major systems and patterning of the farm will be achieved in the first 3 years so this unique opportunity allows accelerated learning opportunities for those committing their lives to this field.

Please note: This learning opportunity suits people who are solution orientated, self- motivated and committed to hard work in teams! This opportunity does not suit armchair theorists.

As an intern you will be exposed to a great many opportunities to learn.

Making the most of these opportunities is critical to your learning process.

You will be immersed in a supportive community of learners during your stay and are expected to get up early each day and get involved in farm life.

This will help ensure you come away with the confidence to subsequently design and implement your own Permaculture and Regenerative Agriculture solutions. We aim to offer the highest caliber of practical & theoretical integrative trainings in Europe, and this program is designed as a wonderful opportunity for students who are prepared to accept the challenge.

Our primary educational objective is to specifically empower more people into farming & land based regenerative enterprises as well as supporting more designers to step up professionally tooled up with the right skills and attitude. This Internship is most suited for; • • • • •

Small holders & Farmers or future farmers Project Initiators Design professionals & pre- professionals People wanting to experience what it takes to run a farm or project People who’ve taken short courses and want to know how to actually DO IT!

Program Overview

Fast track your Permaculture pathway Please also note that whilst we are committed to your learning experience we also run a working farm and therefore scheduling must be flexible to the weather as well as the emerging priorities that we manage holistically to ensure consistent development of our Holistic Context. Therefore please be aware that weekly scheduling may shift around according to what we feel is of most benefit.

A stay at ridgedale Permaculture gives a deep and rounded practical experience which also builds on your initial Permaculture Design Certificate (PDC) course through additional trainings. All students are fully included in everything that takes place using a rotating roster system to allocate the sharing of daily jobs, giving participants both mixed learning experiences and real responsibilities.

Flavours for the Internship Topics we can explore together • Whole System Planning • Detailed Design • Approaching Consultancy • Surveying Skills • Maps and Digital Design • Keyline Design • Scale of Permanence • Farm Forestry • Mobile Sawmilling • Tools & tech.

• Water Systems • Teaching Permaculture

• Nursery Systems • Holistic Management • Animal Grazing • Mobile Fencing • Kitchen Gardens • Main Crops • Food Forests • Perennial cropping • Teaching Creatively • Cold Climate Techniques • Future Tech Systems • Local food systems

• Architectural Design • Natural Building • Renovating naturally • Energy Systems • Appropriate Tech • Waste Systems • Community Building • Composting systems • Compost Teas • Soil Building • BioFertilisers • Soil Microscopy

10 Week Internship Fees • • • •

10 Week Internship (Earlybird before Nov 22nd 2015) (Full price 39,500 SEK) Deposit secures space Balance (Due in full 40 days before training start) Price retaking PDC (Pre Approval necessary)

37,500 SEK Full payment required 5,000 SEK 34,500 SEK 33,500 SEK

The income generated by the Internship program covers the associated costs of you being here, supports the projects we undertake that give you tangible hands on experience, maintains & repairs damaged items from the Internship and covers expert tuition from one of Europe’s leading Permaculture designer- educators & Keyline practioners. Sweden is among the most expensive countries in the world and rates of taxation are incredible, so we see this program as extremely good value when compared with programs of a similar nature around the world. This has also been the consistant feedback from our students. We aim to keep our pricing as low as possible.

Internship Prerequisite Our Internship begins with one of our internationally acclaimed PDC courses. We require all Internship participants to join, although if you are retaking a PDC (you qualify for a reduced rate). Having run intensive education for many years we see the standard & content of PDC trainings varies greatly and we see it is of most benefit for people to join our course, meet the crew & orientate themselves here as well as benefit from additional time on the ground at this lighthouse project. People who made this choice in 2014/5 said is was very worthwhile and so we have made this a condition.

Program overview & Introduction Our primary objective for this Internship is to empower individuals who are genuinely interested in starting their own regenerative enterprises, projects & farms or wanting to design professionally. The Internship program is focused on immersion into daily life setting up and running regenerative agricultural enterprises. Our farm is designed around modular, replicable and scalable enterprises & systems that have the power to regenerate ecologies, local economies whilst benefiting everyone involved. “Futureproof ” we like to say. By immersing yourself into what it takes to set up, maintain and manage diverse farm enterprises you will learn a great deal through tangible experience.

Your time with us signed to give people ceed. We operate an ings, decision-making,

also includes specific trainings that we have dethe skills & knowledge we see are necessary to suc“Open Farm Gate” policy and share our inner workapproach and perspectives, fast tracking your learning.

As an Intern at Ridgedale Permaculture you are presented both with tremendous opportunity and a degree of responsibility during your time with us. What is this word “responsibility”? To us it is simply the ability to respond. When you commit to participating in the Internship with us you are really committing to your own learning adventure. We offer the most comprehensive professional design orientated trainings of their nature available in Europe, unique trainings in fact, at Scandinavia’s leading Permaculture & Regenerative Agriculture demonstration farm. We will lead you through the required duties and responsibilities we expect from you from day one, where you will take on and manage aspects of the farm. We see that hands on experience are what is needed to create a new generation of intelligent and sensitive farmers & designers. Theoretical learning just won’t do it, so we have opened up our farm and lives to offer this unique experiential learning opportunity.

This 10 Week Certificate training includes; • •

• • •

90hr+ PRI (Aus) & PC Assoc (UK) certified PDC Introduction to Holistic Management (Savory Institute Certified) & inte grated Animal Systems Keyline Design & Water System Training Agroforestry & Perennial Cropping Annual vegetable production & Regenerating Soils

In learning about Farm Scale Permaculture you will also spend time with our awesome Core Team working & learning about all areas of the farm. You also have the opportunity to work on your own design projects and develop teaching materials you can put to the test with the group and receive feedback from on of Europe’s most experienced Designers & Educators. Our daily schedule is very full; you will need to manage your free time to make the most of the opportunity presented. Self-organizing and motivated folks can leave with a very beneficial documented experience if they put the time in.

The PDC is intensive full time training. All other trainings in the Internship (other than the 3 Day HM Introduction) will run for half days in the classroom Mon- Fri allowing us time to work on projects around the farm putting knowledge into practice. Please be aware the schedule is flexible according to priorities on the farm, weather, group needs, etc.

Whilst everything we do on site is focused around our farm activities here in a cold temperate climate, our experience working in every major climate zone around the world means we can support learners from other zones. We had people from over 30 countries come to learn in 2014 & 5, and as we always say, studying these systems in various climates can only increase your understanding of your own climate.

Immerse yourself into life at a pioneering farm and study cutting edge regenerative design with Professionals (90 hr +) Permaculture Design Course: Every Internship includes a 90 hr+ internationally certified PDC course (P.R.I Aus & PC Assoc UK) to orientate participants.

The entire Internship program builds upon various elements of the course content and gives participants incredible practical learning opportunities through out their stay. Our PDCs have an agricultural focus, but also include the full syllabus you should expect from such a training. We teach from our field & design experience.

Holistic Management : Holistic Management revolves around Holistic Decision Making. As farmers we are automatically engaged in Complex systems, Ecology, Economy & Society. This 3 Introduction frames our Internship program. We make decisions Holistically using testing questions and our Holistic Context, graze our animals using Holistic Planned Grazing and plan our finances. We feel HM is essential for Farm Scale Permaculture and Holistic Decision Making is relevent and potent for everyone.

Keyline Design : gain an broad overview of the theory and practice of P.A Yeoman’s incredible Keyline design system, including site design skills, mapping & surveying, laying out Keyline patterning on varying terrains and the importance of the Scale of Permanence in Farm Scale Design from of Europes leading practioners. You will gain a clear insight into how to use various technologies to assist in rapid & effective design for broadacre work.

Holistic Management gives us clear holistic decision making and grazing planning both of which are instrumental to managing and steering our farm consistently towards our Holistic Goal.

Keyline and HM have been instrumental complimentary integrations into our Permaculture Design work for years.

Agroforestry & Perennial Cropping : this training will give you deep theory and practical experience in establishing perennial crops (forest gardens, alley cropping, Orchards, Silvopasture, Silvoarable Riparian plantings, Windbreaks & Coppice, etc), including design, quality ground preparation, planting and nursery considerations.

Perennial plants, including pasture, are our focus here at the farm and play a huge part in a resilient climate adaptive future.

Annual Vegetable Production & Regenerating Soils: we unravel the complex sciences of soil microbiology and plant nutrition and look at the cutting edge systems of regenerative soil management.

You will gain hands on experience with composts, compost teas, Biochar & BioFertiliser preparations as well as use and understanding soil analysis Microscopy.

You will also work with members of the Core Team producing & harvesting vegetables in our No Dig contour beds, field beds and Polytunnel.

Looking back & looking forward 2015 in brief & looking forward to the year ahead...

2015 has been EPIC! We’ve done a LOT on the farm. We planted thousands more trees; Savannah nut plantings, windbreaks and riparian plantings. We built a tree nursery for 20,000 trees that will support various functions including growing out a hedgerow that we’ve planned to replace the metal elk/deer/wolf fence in 15- 20 years time. We made a cold climate vineyard.

We’ve also built the cheapest approved slaughtery of it’s kind and run a lot of premium pastured broilers and Egg Mobile eggs that have had an awesome impact on our pastures already in one season. We’ve developed our own currency to pre sell birds and scaled up production to support a family just from the land. We’ve sold everything we’ve produced and built up markets, buying clubs and local connections.

At the same time we’ve run 3 PDC’s at home, one in Poland and a farmer/rancher training in Mexico and run 2 x 8 week Internship programs as well as host many groups and open farm tours. Life is rich and full here. We’ve also improved a lot of infrastructure, built up new and improved facilities and a whole bunch of other things.

We just love how this place is geared both to serious landscape regeneration and profitable farming as well as the highest quality of education available in this part of the world.

2016 sees our last Internship, for as much as we love to run epic education we also want to focus on scaling up production and build local community. Next year will see the doubling of current productions, as well as initial experiments that expand our range with pastured possibilities; ducks and turkeys, possibly pigs and pigeons as we hear back from local restuarants that want top notch local ecosystem benefitting products.

We’ll be planting out more perennials, constructing ponds and building soil whatever we do. Rest assured you’ll receive a very in depth experience of what it takes to design/ install/ manage & monitor awesome regenerative systems at Europe’s only dedicated Farm Scale Permaculture & Regenerative Ag farm & Edu hub...

Learning Outcomes

Who thrives in our programs?

Our objectives are that participants leave confident in diverse aspects of Farm Scale Permaculture and the necessary skills to develop regarding professional design in the field. Asides from learning a lot about yourself and working and living in groups, diligent and committed Interns should leave the farm clear and confident in;

After running intensive & diverse education around the world we see that people who get the most from our action learning intensive immersions are; • Taking notes, rewriting them, synthesizing information • Practicing design work and asking for feedback • On time, punctual and self starting • Inquisitive and keen to get involved • Asking how they can help and learning by doing • Using spare time to conduct research, read, etc

• Applying Keyline patterning to varied terrains • Deep understanding of maps and how to use them in design • How to integrate functional systems in a farm/ project setting • Basic digitally drafted design • Producing a Bill of Quantities • How to draft a Design Report • The vital elements and prioritization in Farm Scale design • Your Holistic Context and know how to test decisions in your life Holistically • Setting up a Holistic Planned Grazing Grazing Chart • Knowing how to conduct basic field surveys to create tangible data for planning & monitor

ing pasture • Confident in daily farm tasks at Ridgedale and how to manage them effectively • Understanding basic elements of Animal Husbandry • Clear about Regenerative Enterprises and how to plan a farm enterprise • Able to identify biome characteristics and assemble appropriate species • Knowing various approaches & strategies for implementing Perennial cropping systems • Understanding how to establish Pastured Egg and Pastured Broiler enterprises, including

processing & packing • Moving & working with dairy cows, goats, chickens, pigs, sheep as well as interacted with

100 or more plant species • Producing abundant annual crops with minimal effort • How to build soil in a variety of ways suitable for different scales and climates, including

various preparations • Using Soil Microscopy to monitor your composts & soils • How to share your knowledge & experience (you need to take initiative if you want to prac

tice teaching to the group) • With a solid design base for your own property (if you came with relevant data and put

spare time into creating this plan and asking for reflection & feedback) • With some design work documented for your portfolio (if you put the extra hours in around

our busy daily schedule) • With a 500gb (please bring an external HD with you!) Hard drive packed with a lifetime of

resources for all aspects of regenerative design through all climate zones • With incredible memories and new lifelong friends as well as a developing professional net work • Inspired, engaged & empowered to take your plans to the next level

This Internship is less suited to people that wish to simply study theory and not get involved with hard or dirty work on a farm. The trainings we offer are specifically designed to bring you the cutting edge of Regenerative Design, but this is secondary to providing you hands on tangible experience in implementing, maintaining and monitoring systems. This is what we see is needed more in the world. Our professional design work and lifestyle is focused around agriculture, whilst we can and have designed for Urban and Small Scale projects this is not our focus and we will not be addressing this at any length in the Internship program.

We study intensively and work hard and full days. If this does not suit you then this is probably not the best learning environment for you.

Please note we are a meat-producing farm. As an Intern you will be working with our animals regularly, including daily animal movements, egg collection & sorting and weekly processing of meat chickens which we sell locally. If you are not comfortable with this then this is probably not the right Internship program for you to follow.

Instruction During Course periods you will receive classroom & field based tuition. We aim to leave you with the design tools, skills & strategies we have found necessary in our professional work. You will also be given resources and design tasks that you can manage in your free time. Making the most of these opportunities is your responsibility. We greatly value experiential learning. Reading or learning about how to do something is a useful tool, but unless you practice what you have learned, it remains a tool unused. What we need globally is more experienced folks sharing their experience and we have designed this program to fill a gap in opportunities available in Europe.

Apprentices will receive a good amount of instruction and assistance, especially in the beginning of the program, regarding daily work and responsibilities on the farm. You will quickly move into taking responsibilities working supervised by our Core Team that you are expected to master. For example, after we have demonstrated & explained Holistic Planned Grazing and how we work with that at the farm, you, as a group, will be expected to take over that task for the remainder of the Internship. Running a farm is about responsiveness, responding to whatever needs addressing whenever it needs addressing. If a job needs doing that cannot wait then we must respond. If an animal escapes, something needs cleaning so the next person will find it ready or you left something out in the field then you may be late for dinner. If a meeting is needed to clarify the next days activities or address any of the situations that can come up unexpectedly in this environment then you may miss the sauna that night. This is the way it is sometimes, we work hard and try to plan well ahead, but bottom line is things must get done when necessary. Working well in a team of people is a lot about giving up part of the self for the greater good of the whole. We work with the underlying question, “how can I be of benefit here?� It is these experiences that we see calibrate and orientate people with the capacity to go off and design, plan and implement their own regenerative enterprises.

Preparing for your design assignment Hone your design skills...

Participants are required to complete diary entries as part of the overall learning experience and portfolio building at ridgedale Permaculture. You will also be spending some time each week working on a private design project and can get regular feedback from a professional designer as well as supportive peer reviews within our learning community. Our extensive teaching experience has shown us that it is protracted observation and design thinking that allow you to synthesize and utilize the broad information we will cover in our time together.

You are encouraged to make time every week to work on one or more personal extended design assignments. During a PDC most participants find there is not enough time to get into the finer details of design planning, for example generating a Bill of Quantities, budget planning and other research. The aim of this extended design work is to allow for regular feedback with a professional designer as well as supportive peer meetings over many weeks to extend the design work from your PDC, or begin a new design. If you have a site you want to work on then begin taking photographs and looking for topographic maps and aerial photographs. Search Google, Bing or local service for these if you do not have a detailed survey of your property. Public online topographic maps vary greatly from country to country so hunt online and see what you can find. You should also be able to find wind data, rainfall and temperature data easily enough. Take some soil tests, perhaps dig a soil profile pit and take some jar tests to find the composition of the soil. Take photos. If you can you might take some basic chemical analysis. Record species of plants exisiting on your site- can you find out what they might indicate?

Basically, you are starting to gather data. Good design responds to both your objectives and the potential of the landscape. If you do not have a place to work on then you are welcome to work on designing systems or portions of the farm here. Have a look at the recommended reading at the end of this booklet and delve deeper into design beforehand if you can. We will have a weekly meeting and brief and you will be guided carefully through this process with the added support from your peers We will be presenting this design work as well as a report and analysis of our learning experience at the end of the internship. This is important as part of our intention is to help you build a portfolio of the work and design you have engaged in. Successful participants will leave with a PDC and Internship certificates and a learning portfolio with design and practical works recorded.

Nature of Work

Commitment

The nature of project work on the farm varies greatly. This year we plan on scaling up our pastured egg and broiler production, with more tree planting very early in the season, possibly earth working and continuing our experiments with Jean Pain composting. We also grow a lot of our own vegetables, forage wild foods and maintain existing farm systems. We often spend long hours working in the summer; farming in this climate is very seasonal with an intense spring, intensive harvesting & food preservation in Autumn and quiet winters to recuperate.

You will likely find our days are full. Including training times we work full time, about 40 hours of work per week plus basic farm chores at the weekends, which is otherwise down time.

You are expected to be present for all tasks to receive the certificate of successful completion from Ridgedale Permaculture.

Work will include picking & packing eggs, planting kitchen gardens & perennial systems, mulching and maintaining existing systems, weekly chicken slaughter & processing, harvesting, establishing new systems, monitoring, surveying and anything else that comes up.

6:30-8 Morning chores: Moving animals & daily routines 8-8:30 Breakfast 8:30-9 Morning Meeting: Organize the day 9:00-10:30 Session 1 Tea Break 11- 12:30 Session 2 Lunch 2- 3:30 Session 3 Tea Break 4- 5:30 Session 4 Dinner

We work physically hard, often long hours in summer, outside in all weathers and do what is needed to get tasks done in a timely & optimal manner. Be prepared to get wet, sometimes cold, wear holes in your work gloves and learn & laugh a lot. It is important you bring appropriate gear to be comfortable during your stay. We are not close to shops and Sweden is incredibly expensive so best to come with what you need.

Daily Schedule In order to help you picture what a typical day looks like at the farm;

On Saturdays we have Community Check-In after Breakfast. This is an opportunity to share how you are feeling, how your week went, express frustrations, needs, get stuff off your chest, etc.

Our Objectives, Expectations & Context for a beneficial experience We primarily exist to create a functional and successful local food-producing farm. We are most excited to support more people into land based regenerative enterprises as well as support more professionals getting out there designing with confidence & competence.

We are deeply engaged with high quality education, and have been for many years, however at our home site this goes hand in hand with the running of the farm. We are offering an immersion into what it takes to design, establish, monitor & maintain awesome systems. The deeper you immerse yourself the more insight you will gain.

Success of our educational trainings requires clarity around people’s expectations and a pro- active solution based approach from all working here together. After many intensive years of leading all manner of trainings around the world we know what to expect from groups coming to the farm. We know what subject matters and activities you will find challenging, the group processes that come up and have developed a good sense of when to act and when to step back and let things play out by themselves.

We wish for everyone coming to the farm to have a fantastic and empowering learning experience, and this begins by clarifying boundaries and expectations. It is vital to us that you spend time reflecting what it is you wish to gain from your time with us, what is expected from you and how you can benefit the whole. If you prefer observing others work, drinking tea and discussing what could be done rather than getting out in the rain and getting the trees planted then this experience probably won’t suit you. We work hard and learn a lot by doing.

People arrive with very different expectations for our trainings. Please spend some good time carefully considering the available information and reflecting on what you are coming for. Whilst we are committed to the best level of regenerative education available in this part of the world we are also very busy people. Aside from family life we design a dozen or so other properties each year as well as run our business outside of the farm gates. We are more inclined to give our time to folks who are engaged, timely & responsive. It’s about reciprocating. If you’re late up or not paying attention in classes then you may be disappointed when we don’t have time to respond to questions regarding things we have already covered, or that you missed something. We’d obviously rather give our limited time to those we can see are pro- active and engaged, for they are the folks we know will go on to do great things with what they learn with us.

We’re running a farm and most of our consultancy work is focused on small- holdings, farms and larger scale projects around the world. Whilst we can and have designed for Urban & small-scale projects this is not the primary focus in our work or trainings. If you have a property to develop be sure to bring good topographic maps, photos and contact us for a questionnaire to fill out before you arrive. The more preparation you come with the more you can get out of the resources on tap here.

The “how can I be of benefit?” approach is the motivation this place runs on, and an attitude we ask everyone to uphold. When people are connected through the motivation to benefit all through their actions then everything works smoothly and easefully, even in the most challenging circumstances.

Our project is living testimony to this.

There’s nothing we cannot achieve together when working effectively together.

We have a clear Farm Policy that you commit to by participating in our trainings. Please make sure you have viewed this on the website and reflect upon it. People violating our basic conduct expectations will be asked to leave and forfeit any payments. We present ourselves professionally at all times here. We show up on time, consistently and are attentive to what is going on around us. We are engaged, responsive and supportive to each other at all times. You are part of our world whilst you live here. You represent us to the local community, the stories you share, the products you buy at the store. You represent us in what you share with visitors as well as online. Together we need to be aligned in the message we put out to the world. Your impact can live on well past your time here.

You are entrusted with responsibilities during your time with us. From managing livestock, to maintaining hygiene and spaces, processing chickens, packing eggs and communicating with others at the farm. It is your duty to make sure every tool goes back clean to its correct place. It is your responsibility to fix things that you damage, note them on the control sheets, inform us when anything happens with animals that we may need to know.

If you aren’t able to carry out a duty and need to pass on the responsibility you need to know the other is fully informed how to perform that task properly. If someone else is neglecting their responsibilities then you are next in line, how did you support them to correct anything out of place? How did you respond?

When we give instructions and delegate responsibilities we are putting trust in you to fully manage whatever you are doing at the farm, treating it like it were your own. We are working with complex systems; people, finances & ecology. You will make mistakes from time to time, you will learn a lot. We are here to support you to fully step into your learning. When you immerse yourself in the farm, it’s intricacy and processes, you will learn a lot. How deeply you immerse yourself is directly proportionate to how much you gain from your experience. Sometimes it will not always be the learning you want that day. Sometimes you’ll be tired or disinterested, and we’ll still need to be out working in the rain. How do you motivate yourself to be up first to begin the morning chores, to clean the tools someone else forgot, brush the floor of the workshop that someone left in a mess? We work with the underlying question “how can I be of benefit here?” Which means if you see something you can do something about then do it. We run around doing a lot of jobs to help serve the whole that nobody notices, nobody thanks us for. We hope you see the value in adopting the same approach.

We have designed and planned what we are doing very well, a big part of the reason we can roll so effectively. This is not an open experiment in “having a go”. We aim to demonstrate economic viability and we are investing our lives and a huge amount of financial capital into this. When we instruct you in a task or management procedure we expect you to follow these instructions meticulously and perfect the systems as we working with. We want you to learn the optimal way to carry out the tasks we demonstrate to you. If you don’t fully understand why you are asked to do something then ask for clarification. We have thought about what and how we are doing things a lot and you can assume it is based on our experience. When our routine procedures are not followed closely things get broken, worn, damaged and lost. It is expensive to have so many people coming to the farm and we have worked out clear systems that work well for us.

There are many things we will do in the future here, and many things we wish to improve. Before opening too many doors it is vital that jobs are completed, systems maintained and documented well. A big part of your learning is to perfect these operations to gain an experiential understanding of how to go off and adopt, adapt and replicate the aspects of the enterprises you feel are relevant. Communication with us is vital and timely communication keeps the wheels oiled nicely. Pro- active people.

Whilst we prefer to follow proposed schedules in a timely & coordinated manner we don’t watch clocks here; we do whatever is needed to get the job done well and leave everything ready for the next people. We aim to make you experience as rich as possible and empower every single person passing through here with the design approach to do whatever fits your hearts desire. At the same time we must make decisions that fit our Holistic Context and as such our schedule is extremely flexible to whatever feels of most benefit.

Central to the effective running of the farm is that tools, spaces and belongings are kept in perfect order. Not only must you take good care of your own stuff, you’ll find you have to follow up others who always forget to put things away where they belong. The Workshop is labeled and signed, everything has a place and everything should be in it’s place unless being used at that moment. Anything dirty must be cleaned for the next person. Anything damaged needs fixing immediately or noting on control sheets if broken and Richard or Yohanna informed. It always works best in a place like this to do things you see need doing, and do it when you spot it. Don’t expect recognition, thanks or praise for it. If folks can’t look after their own responsibilities they likely won’t notice when you step out beyond your own. It’s what makes it all work though, it’s how we can all benefit the whole, it’s what we spend a lot of our time having to do.

Whilst we work together on various projects and daily tasks we naturally always try to identify people’s unique gifts, strengths and talents. We give more trust & opportunity where we see its appropriate. We do not always have much time to check in with everyone day to day, so a proactive solutions focus is essential. Its much more useful to have folks here who comes to let us know how they fixed a problem rather than coming to tell us there’s a problem. “If not you, then who?” we like to say. Give up the right to be a victim. It’s not interesting who left the mess, who broke the tool; it’s interesting how we keep responding.

It is our overall responsibility to make sure everything rolls smoothly, and we are doing quite well with that. Ultimately the buck stops with us. It’s us that have to pay for new power tools because someone forgot them out in the rain.

It’s us that have to stay up till 10 pm fixing fencing connections that got damaged by improper use. It’s us that miss meals when supplies are needed from town, and it’s us that have to clean up and pack down all the things others forgot. It costs a lot to put on the epic educational programs we manage to run, but ultimately we see our future relies on each one of us getting powered up to use our unique strength, gifts and talents for the benefit of all. So let’s do it together….

Why take a training at ridgedale PERMACULTURE?

We’re running the only dedicated Farm Scale Permaculture & Regenerative Ag farm/ Edu Hub in Europe where you can learn Keyline Design, Holistic Management, Agroforestry and all the other aspects of regenerative design we teach about IN THE FIELD. Learn where the action is!

Our courses are accredited by the Permaculture Research Institute (PRI), Australia (PRI Registered Teacher No. 24) and the Permaculture Association UK. This ensures you are you being trained by a personally vetted field trained professional, actively engaged in design and with recognized teaching skill. We live and work in our designs and are continually deepening our knowledge and understanding to empower what we have to share. We are engaged in regenerative design daily; professionally, on the farm and at home and have been for many years. We are 100% committed to radical system redesign by managing financial, social and ecological elements holistically.

DESIGN is the foundation of all our trainings Our experience shows that students engaging in regular design exercises synthesize course content much more effectively, and produce more competent and actionable designs. We teach principle-based design, so you will understand how to apply design to any site regardless of the climate or circumstance. Our no- nonsense approach to design is key to our trainings, and our practical experience in every major climate zone integrating the best of several disciplines of regenerative design means we can impart very broad and practical knowledge and experience.

We offer a clear, pragmatic and scientific approach to design. Permaculture is a design science; metaphysics is not included in our curriculums, and for good reason. Students of all backgrounds, cultures and religions are fully welcome and respected. We are integrationalists and believe in integrating anything effective and workable from any discipline to widen our scope, we have been using Keyline design and Holistic Management in our work for years. We fit in a lot more than many similar programs. See our schedule and compare programs.

We can support you after the training with both personal and professional experience in further education we can offer advice, design support and recommend further learning opportunities for those wishing to take design further. We have acted as mentors in longer term education programs, such as the 2 yr Permaculture Diploma, as well as run a wide variety of workshops and trainings to students from over 45 countries through all climate zones.

Getting to ridgedale PERMACULTURE

What to bring for your stay?

Driving We are located quite centrally to all the major regional transport

Bring what you need to be comfortable, the items below are ESSENTIALS. We live outdoors a lot of the time, in all kinds of weather. Autumn can see freezing spells and even snow. DO NOT underestimate warm layered clothing.

We provide a delicious and wholesome rounded diet with farm kitchen style menu but perhaps bring any special treats that we may not be able to cater for.

Latitude: 59°50’15” N, Longitude: 13°08’34” E

hubs. We are 3 hrs from Oslo, 4 hrs from Stockholm & 3.5 hrs from Gothenburg. For Google maps use this address; ÅSEN 20, 686 95 Västra Ämtervik, Värmlands län, Sweden

Train & Bus We recommend using the website http://www.sj.se/ which

gives you all the options and comparative prices when travelling in Sweden, in both Swedish and English. We can pick you up in Västra Ämtervik which is a neat 6km from the farm.

Flying Travel is simple from the three major transport hubs above. Use the train/ bus link to determine what feels best for you.

Come sun, rain or snow...

• A good quality tent • Warm sleeping bag • Several pairs of work clothes, which you are happy to get get dirty • Strong waterproof work boots/ wellies & comfortable shoes • Non-work clothes, be prepared for cold, multiple layers is best • Swimming costume for sauna (we have people from many cultures) • Water bottle for comfort when working in the field • Flashlight / Head lamp, important • Towel and ECOLOGICAL toiletries • Sunscreen/ hat/ sunglasses/ working gloves, etc if you need them • Notebook and good pens for taking notes (4 colour biros are excellent) • Maybe your own supply of coffee, we only offer it at breakfast!

• Laptop or tablet • 500 GB Hard Drive (To make use of our awesome library) • A musical instrument if you like to play one • An open mind for learning from everyone present • High quality chocolate (optional but appreciated!)

Booking onto the Internship We have to work on a first come first serve basis. We manage our bookings online, it is cheapest for you to pay in full before Nov 22nd to qualify for the Earlybird rate. If this is a problem you can reserve a spot by paying a deposit and pay the balance within 40 days of the start of the training. You can also contact us here http://www.ridgedalepermaculture.com/contact.html Please make sure you have read our Returns Policy

Other information you need to know for your stay at ridgedale PERMACULTURE Dedicated to the benefit of all...

Site Policy

Accommodation & Facilities

ridgedale PERMACULTURE is a family home as well as a professional learning center.

We cater to people from many cultures and nationalities so to help maintain a comfortable stay for all, visitors are asked to follow our simple code of conduct during their visit.

Accomodation will be shared dorm, loft or camping, for which you’d need to bring a good quality tent. We can supply a simple mattress & duvet, but you will need to bring a sleeping bag to ensure you are warm enough during your stay.

Catering

Included in the cost

Our courses are fully catered from The cost of the Internship covers your our practical farmhouse kitch- stay at the farm and expert tuition in en with our full-time farm chef. a full internationally recognized PDC course (P.R.I. Aus and P.C. Assoc.

We provide as much basic fresh food from UK) and other certificate courses. the farm as possible, vegetables, fruit, It also includes organic or beyonddairy, eggs, meat, etc. At some times of organic farm food caterering, access For the benefit, comfort and wellbeing of all We have simple dry composting toilet year we may also have wild meats, berries to our physical & digital libraries, staying at the farm there is a strict no drugs as a means to close our nutrient cycles. and mushrooms available too. All bulk learning materials and camping acpolicy. Transgression will result in you being products we buy in are organic and the comodation. We also offer pick up asked to leave immediately, forfeiting your Washing facilities are a large communal sau- meals we serve are of a wholesome farm and set down at Västra Ämtervik. stay/ training, etc. Please don’t involve us. na/ washroom with a couple of private stalls menu type, which include preserved, fer- We are sorry but we do not offer refor bucket showers. We ask people to bring mented and dried surplus products from ductions; our intention is to bring Consumption of alcohol is also only purely ecological soaps as they drain into our the farm. We offer an option of our meals you the highest quality up- to- date permitted on Friday/ Saturday eve- plant systems. Please also bring a swimming without meat products for vegetarians, trainings at affordable rates. We nings. This is a working farm and costume for the sauna/ washroom. Whilst any variations to basic meat or vegetarian believe we are very competitively we work hard everyday of the week. this is not exactly traditional by Swedish stan- diet we are not able to cater for, so students priced, particularly considering the dards we must point out that we have people with specialized diets need to supplement cost of living and taxation in Sweden We do not tolerate any form of anti-social from all over the world attending our train- their meals with their own food purchases. is amongst the highest in the world. behavior/conduct and our commitment to ings from very different cultural backgrounds.

We understand some people have deep ethics and the benefit of all form the Please let us know if you have medical difficulty raising the funds to particibasis of our working and social relationships. Conditions are simple but comfortable here, allergies well in advance of your visit. pate in trainings, so we act as a course provider for Wethetrees, a dedicated we are establishing a farm from scratch!

Permaculture crowd sourcing site; Internet Access http://www.wethetrees.com/pages/ We have invested into a community 1GB/Sec Fibre Optic instal so everyone can have awesome connection speed for research and fund-your-permaculture-designstaying in touch with your loved ones. You need to bring a computer or tablet to make the most of trainings & resources available. course

Recommended Reading

Permaculture , Keyline Design, Holistic Management,Whole Systems Design and Ecological Design This is a small selection of good books. We have an extensive library at the farm, there are plenty more good books we can recommend; The Permaculture Designer’s Manual Bill Mollison An exhaustive text oriented to specific design techniques, landscape profiles, management systems and philosophies of regenerative design.

The Introduction to Permaculture Bill Mollison The primer on the beginnings of design science as if humans mattered.

Permaculture: Pathways Beyond Sustainability David Holmgren The Co-founder of Permaculture, David re-defines and expands on permaculture principles and prognosticates about the end of the Oil Age, stimulating.

A bit Aussie centric.

Cradle to Cradle William McDonough and Eric Braungart Aims to revolutionize how we make things and how they can be part of a closed system of biological and technical nutrients in place of our traditional throughput system.

Ecological Design Sim Van Der Ryn and Stuart Cowan This work is a great treatise on ecological design and whole systems, many good examples of real world situations.

From Eco-Cities to Living Machines John and Nancy Jack Todd Fantastic visions, plans, and designs for a truly permanent culture. Recommended.

Edible Forest Gardens Volume 1 Edible Forest Gardens Volume 2 David Jacke and Eric Toensmeier Two volume set of forest garden design for temperate climates to USDA zone 5. Impressive plant lists, good design specifications and the books are extensively researched and written.

The Timeless Way of Building Christopher Alexander A Pattern Language Christopher Alexander Plants For a Future Ken Fern An exhaustive reference for useful temperate plants for permaculture. The database is even more impressive on the website at www.pfaf.org The Backyard Orchardist Stella Otto The Backyard Berry Book Stella Otto The Grafter’s Handbook RJ Garner The “Bible” concerning all facets of grafting from simple propagation techniques to cotyledon grafting and top-working. Highly recommended.

The One Straw Revolution Masanobu Fukuoka The classic treatise on no till and zen agriculture/forestry/orcharding.

Freshwater Aquaculture William McLarney Considered to be a “bible” for freshwater aquaculture. Extensively researched.

Nourishing Traditions Sally Fallon Keeping it real in the Kitchen. Flies in the face of food pyramids, lists, scientific data and all other nonsense.

Healing with Whole Foods Paul Pitchford 5 Elements approach to human health, yin-yang and food combining, cool, hot, colors, seasons, recipes. EXCELLENT. Water For Every Farm P.A. Yeoman’s Classic text for large-scale water storage in ponds, swales and catchments, features many water harvesting techniques. This book also features Yeoman’s scale of landscape permanence. This scale is essential for land planning, design, and usage.

The City Forest P.A. Yeoman’s The Challange of Landscape P.A. Yeoman’s Humanure Handbook Joseph Jenkins Small is Beautiful E.F. Schumacher Classic treatise that outlines economics “as if people mattered” steady state economic theory and community based economics are covered.

Regenerative Enterprise Ethan Roland & Gregory Landua Defining the principles of a regenerative enterprise Growing Gourmet and Medicinal Mushrooms Paul Stamets. This work includes a short chapter on Permaculture design and how to intergate fungi into one’s designs.

Mycelium Running The latest and greatest work of Paul Stamett’s on using mushrooms to clean up pollution & build soil Salad Bar Beef Joel Salatin Backyard Poultry-Naturally Alanna Moore Free-Range Poultry Katie Thear Small Scale Poultry Keeping Ray Feltwell Raising Poultry Successfully Will Graves Rabbits for Food and Profit Lee Schwanz For the Love of Ducks Nyiri Murtagh All of the above are informative publications from Storey publications.

Holistic Resource Management Alan Savory The “bible” concerning ecological based land management decision making processes as well as flexible formulas for planned grazing land management.

www.ridgedalepermaculture.com ...farming, innovating and educating for the benefit of all...