Great news we finally have our dates locked in for the Urban Garden Design class to be taught by Nick Burtner of WorktingWithNature.org and it gets even better, we are adding a chicken butchering workshop on the first day of it.

Here is the deal the chicken workshop will involve butchering and slaughtering 50 freedom ranger birds that we just received as chicks yesterday.  It will be pretty strait forward, kill em, clean em and in a few cases we will break a few down into parts.

At this event every student will be given a chicken for themselves and will butcher it plus they will butcher a second one that will remain with us.  The chicken you are given may either be taken with you or if you fly in and can’t do that or just don’t want to take it home, you can donate it to us to use as part of the meals for the event.  One way or another pastured fresh chicken will be on the meals agenda for the event.

The event will run from Wednesday the 16th of October until Saturday Oct. 19th, there will be a Sunday breakfast for those that chose to stay on Saturday night.  Students are NOT REQUIRED to attend the Chicken workshop if they don’t want to or their schedules won’t allow for it but the cost of the event is the same either way.

Here are the details of the Urban Garden Design Workshop.  Registered students will receive more info on what to bring, when to show up, etc. as we get closer to the event.

Join Nick Burntner and Jack Spirko for a 3.5 day intensive design clinic focusing on designing for the small space.  This workshop will not focus on digging swales and planting trees but on the actual design and planning process.  In this workshop we will be designing a 3,000 square foot area which will become an “Urban Garden Showcase” for future visitors to Jack Spirko’s homestead.  The course will cover the following criteria…

• Site Analysis
• Sector Analysis (solar, wind, view, etc)
• Irrigation Planning
• Designing Flow and Function
• Client Interview and Needs Analysis
• Development and Utilization of Micro Climates
• Species Selection
• Guild and Polyculture Planning
• Aquaponics Integration
• Sheet Mulching Applications
• Dealing with Household Waste
• Developing and managing an implementation timeline

In this workshop all students will draw out multiple designs for the eventual project.  Each design will be reviewed and over the course of the workshop combined into a final design schematic for the Urban Garden Showcase.  The course will be largely academic, composed of power point driven lecture and hands on design development.

Students will be presented with a desired species list and perform both climate and site analysis to narrow down a list of useful plantings along with were they will be placed and a timeline for implementation.  While the Urban Garden will eventually be mostly installed as a single large project, many homeowners do not have a budget for a full install.  So this workshop will focus not just on the final design but on a prioritized timeline of installation based on seasonality and budget along with plant availability.

Students will leave with the ability to design any small space primarily zone one permaculture garden. In fact all design will transfer to any zone one design even on a larger project.

FAQ

Q – What is the price of the event?

A –  425 Dollars for the Chicken Workshop and the Three Day Urban Intensive.  If there are any chicken only seats they will be sold for 50 dollars a person but won’t be offered until all the full workshop seats are claimed and we know what is available.

Q – Can I come to the chicken part and not participate in the slaughter?

A – Yes of course no one is compelled to do anything they don’t want to at our events.

Q- Who Should Attend this Workshop?

A – Anyone that wants to implement permaculture design on smaller spaces.  This is ideally suited to the person who wants either to design their own small property or specialize in designing such spaces for others.

Q – How is this workshop different from a PDC?

A – A permaculture design course covers the 14 primary components of Permaculture Design Science based on the Permaculture Designer’s manual in depth.  This workshop will dig right into the application of design for small spaces.  In some ways it will be like and intense version of the design phase of a PDC, but in reality it is specifically designed to allow students to decide exactly what to do with smaller spaces.  It will teach you to make great decisions about what to plant and where to plant it along with how to phase a project in overtime where budget won’t allow for full implementation in a single installation.

Q – Will I receive a certificate for this workshop?

A – Yes, Nick Burtner will give you both a written certificate and a registered electronic certificate registered at Permaculture Global.

Q – Do I have to be an artist for this?  I can’t draw well; this paper based design intimidates me.

A – A quote directly from Jack Spirko, “I can’t draw worth a damn either, don’t worry about it”.  This workshop isn’t about drawing beautiful art work, it is about planning what goes where.  No one is going to judge your work, if you can draw ovals and write words you will be good to go.

Q – What will be different about this workshop then most permaculture style events?

A – This event will be as much a social experience as it will be a classroom environment.  There will be great food, heavy on meat by the way, cold beers, shooting pool, throwing darts, camp fire talks, barter circles, seed exchanges and more.  The goals at Jack’s homestead in regard to workshops are as much for enjoyment and community building as direct education.  This event will also be devoid of “hippy crap”, we won’t be completing our navels as a group or other such things.  Our courses are more like educational relaxing vacations rather than going to school in the conventional sense.

Q – How do I sign up for this event?

A – We will begin taking payment on deposit next week.  Right now we already have a list of 30 plus people that want to come and are only going to take 25.  I will email people on the list in blocks of 10 based on the order in which their emails were received.  Each group will get 12 hours to sign up before I email the next group.  I am sorry but I can only take 25 students do to size limits.  If you want to be on this email list send an email to jack at thesurvivalpodcast.com and put urban permaculture workshop in the subject line.  I am sorry but this is the only way I know to be fair about this.

Q – What if I just want to come to the chicken workshop?

A – Email me with chicken workshop in the subject line.  I will email folks on that list in the order of receipt once the spots have been offered to those attending the full workshop.