ABOUT THE COURSE | PO POLSKU | FB EVENT | PERMACULTURE UK
WHAT ARE FOREST GARDENS?
A forest garden is a place where nature and people meet halfway, between the canopy of trees and the soil underfoot. It doesn’t have to look like a forest – what’s important is that natural processes are allowed to unfold, to the benefit of plants, people and other creatures. The result is an edible ecosystem.
Forest gardens or food forests come in all shapes and sizes, from a tiny patch in a back garden to sites of many acres. You can find them in people’s homes, on allotments, in schools, colleges, housing developments and public parks. They are also being used in commercial market gardens and on farms.
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WHY FOREST GARDEN IN PRACTICE?
This 4-day course will set you up for planning, planting and maintaining a forest garden. Whether you are a beginner or have already started, the input from Tomas Remiarz, a top educator and practitioner in the field, will move your practice to a new level! We will use the land and people around as a practical example. You will learn to observe the land around you, ask questions of the people using the site and analyse the gathered information. We will explore how to combine trees, shrubs and perennial plants and how to organise planting, harvesting and maintenance.
Tomas Remiarz is an expert in the field with 20 years experience in permaculture design, teaching and practice and extensive research insight into practices of established Forest Gardens in the UK and in Europe. Over the years, he has been active in many different fields, with an emphasis on the restoration of land, buildings and communities. The location of the course, Ptasia Dolina Farmestead, in the vicinity of ancient woodland and pristine nature reserve, with the “Land of Extinguished Volcanos” in the background, are a special place on the map of Lower Silesia, Poland. The historical Farm and the atmospheric smallholding spaces will activate your sensibilities to consider new possibilities for your own garden design.
WHO IS IT FOR?
- Gardeners, Urban Gardeners, Farmers, Herbalists, Food-growers
- Ecology educators and school gardeners
- Students looking for applicable, practical course in land design
- Project developers & land holders
- Designers, architects, landscapers and urban planners
- NGO-members, Grassroots Community Organisers
- Community members & anyone looking for nature connection
WHAT IS INCLUDED?
- 4-day course: presentations, practical activities, field trips and Q&As
- 4-nights & 4-days full accommodation and food at Ptasia Dolina Permaculture Farmstead
- Learning resources, online library, evening film screenings & handouts
- Certificate of 4-day Forest Garden course completion
COURSE LANGUAGE
The course will be in English. Selected specialist terms will be translated into Polish, assuming that most participants from Poland and abroad come with proficiency in English.
COURSE LIBRARY / PL
Course participants will receive access to an online course library, which contains information from core presentations, and additional resources and links to enhance students’ post-course self-learning.
BOOK BY TOMAS REMIARZ
In Tomas’ book, Forest Gardening in Practice you can meet some of the pioneers who have been planting, tending and harvesting their sites, often away from the spotlight of media and research.
“There are plenty of books and websites telling you how forest gardens should work. I am more interested in how they do (and sometimes don’t) work, and in the people who are working in and with them.”
– Tomas Remiarz
COURSE FACILITATORS
COURSE TEACHER – TOMAS REMIARZ, UK
Tomas first came across forest gardens in 1995, when he was lucky enough to visit Robert Hart’s original site in Shropshire during a permaculture course. A year later he went to the Dutch/German border to help Harald Wedig plant his own version of a forest garden dome, and he has been hooked on the subject ever since. In the early 2000s he expanded his knowledge of trees and ecology as site manager for Treesponsibility, a regional community-led reforestation programme in Northern England. In 2012 he settled at Earthworm Housing Cooperative in Herefordshire, as part of a group that has been busy renovating three old buildings and looking after 7 acres of land. Much of this is woodland and orchards, and Tomas is finding plenty of opportunity to integrate forest garden spaces on this patch of earth.
Over the years Tomas has helped design, plant and maintain forest gardens across Britain and Europe, and learned a great deal in the process. He also enjoys sharing his learning in many courses on forest gardening and permaculture and helping people with realising their own forest garden visions. Tomas has worked with individuals, communities, businesses, charities and public bodies. In his research work, he conducted the first comprehensive survey into temperate forest gardens and coordinated the Permaculture Association’s forest garden field trial programme, the first of its kind in the world.
ASSISTING – JOANNA BOJCZEWSKA , POLAND
Joanna gained practical community gardening and permaculture experience at Organiclea in the UK (2011-13); she then completed a 2-year organic farming course in Poland at EUL, and trained in agroecology in Italy with Schola Campesina (2016-2018). She earned confidence as a food-grower by managing a biodiverse market garden and an educational farm – Ekopoletko (2015-2018). For the last 4 years she has been transforming an urban garden into a Food Forest, based on her Permaculture Design Certificate project.
Since 2018 she facilitates workshops, designs curricula and courses, now as a Certified Permaculture Educator, and a student of Diploma in Applied Permaculture under the mentorship of Tomas Remiarz. With the background as a Social Anthropologist, a co-founder and a trainer at Agro-Perma-Lab Foundation, she has passion for holistic, practical and transformative learning, and regularly collaborates with grassroots organisations on social systems design. She produces teaching materials, guidebooks, and works with visual media.
COURE PLACE
PTASIA DOLINA FARM & GUESTHOUSE / Fb
Ptasia Dolina is located in a naturally beautiful place in the so-called Land of Extinguished Volcanoes (Kaczawskie Foothills between Jawor and Jelenia Góra). It is surrounded by forests. Behind the fence of our place the Chełmy Landscape Park begins. There are 3 gorges around the village. Two of them are nature reserves. There is somewhere to walk after the activities. The centre covers an area of approximately 80 acres. There is an organic garden, an orchard and a fire pit. There are many different groups using the space for their trainings and workshops, art and music events as well as Folk University activities.
LOCATION
Ptasia Dolina is located in Nowa Wieś Wielka village, in Lower Silesia, 70km from Wroclaw city centre in the South of Poland. Wroclaw is a hub for long-distance transport, with international rail connections, airport and Europe-wide coach terminal.
ACCOMMODATION*
6 rooms (20 places) in a historical Lower Silesia Farm House & Permaculture Holding, including:
- 1x single
- 1x double-bedded
- 2x triple rooms
- 1x four-bedded
- 1x 4-5 bedded with kitchenette and bathroom
- Shared bathrooms
FOOD
Three home-made vegetarian meals per day with organic ingredients sourced locally from agroecological and permaculture holdings in local area, as much as possible; whole day access to coffee services. Ptasia Dolina produces some of its preserves and is the centre for local Community Seed Home.
*Extra night (breakfast only) on Sunday: 25 Euro / Extra day accommodation (3 meals): 45 Euro
COURSE FEES
Costs will be at attendee discretion using sliding scale:
* FAIR FEE: 400€ / 1880PLN (for people on lower incomes, limited number)
* REGULAR: 440€ / 2070PLN (suggested for wage-earning participants from Eastern Europe)
* SUPPORTIVE: 480€ / 2260PLN (suggested for wage-earning participants from Western Europe)
Accommodation cost with organic home-made meals at 180€ is included in the Course Fee.
We do not wish people to be excluded. To this end, we have allocated one 50% scholarship. Please bear in mind that paying more makes it easier for us to include people who have income restrictions.
Course fee includes* teaching, accommodation in lovely shared rooms with home-made food in organic/agroecological standard. Upon booking you will be asked for your details and the payment of registration fee. You can receive invoice for your payment. Please make sure to read our refund policy.
Our course is organised on the basis of Solidarity Economy, in which participants can pay support fee. Thanks to that, we can open one 50% stipend place. We reserve the stipend for a person, who cannot pay the fair fee, but who is involved in community education and will share the knowledge with others.
WHAT IS NOT INCLUDED?*
- Travel to and from location: we will provide as precise and helpful information as possible to participants
- Sunday night & Monday breakfast at Ptasia Dolina: if you want to stay extra, arrange it with hosts
- Tomas Remiarz’s Book, Forest Garden in Practice; you can buy it beforehand online and bring it in
REFUND POLICY:
>2 months before the course start date, you will get a full refund of your registration fee (minus bank/PayPal transaction fees, currency difference)
<2 months before the course start date, you will lose 150 euros
<1 month before the course start date, you will not be refunded
Ekopoletko 