PDC course off to a Great Start in 2011!

Benjamin Fahrer

At the dawning of 2011 I found myself in a remote location on the southern Caribbean coast of Costa Rica at Punta Mona. A permaculture farm and demonstration center that Stephen Brooks has been working on for over 15 years. Stephen is a passionate fruit Fanatic and land steward. Although is style has been criticized by many as being 'all-over-the-place', Stephen has stayed with the implementation of a permaculture design at his beloved 85 acre farm, and the place is literally dripping with fruit. Stephen has specialized in rare and exotic fruits and his collection is very selective and a crucial island of genetic diversity. I was called in to help administer the curriculum of the design course that we conducted over 31 days.

It was an amazing gift to teach this course and have the experience in the tropics. After the first week I realized Stephen was living up to his reputation and I had to provide more foundation for the students in the 6 hrs of class time we had each day. Mostly in the four hour morning sessions that were mostly dynamic 'classroom' discussions, lectures and activities in which we flowed through the foundational core of a PDC the afternoons were filled with hands-on activities in which we built compost, harvested fruit and medicine, created chinampas, designed greenhouses and water catchment systems. Every morning was started with Yoga sessions and the evenings ended with music, movies and community building events.

After 3 weeks we made the journey from Punta Mona, which can only be reached by a 20 minute boat ride or a 2 hour hike, into the capital of San Jose and then on to the Tacotal Eco-village where we spent our last days putting to practice the ideas and concepts. Our design project presentations were amazing and the 20+ participants left feeling empowered and grateful for this unique opportunity.

Within 36 hrs of landing in San Francisco, I was in West Sonoma County conducting my second PDC for this year along with my 5-year collaborator Kat Steele at Westminster Woods outside of Occidental, Ca. This being the first PDC at the Woods, the 32 participants spent the first week in intensive immersion with the PDC content. A much different pace than the tropical month I had just spent. The format of this course took a different rhythm as the after 7 days together we have taken a break to reconvene in a week for a hands-on weekend emersion and then an additional 3 day weekend to wrap up the course.An incredible team of teachers include, John Valenzuela, Brock Dolman, Jeff Adams, Michael Presley and Josiah Cain.

2011 looks to be an active year with Kat and I teaching 3 teacher Training courses, 2 at the Esalen Institute in Big Sur, Ca and another in Seattle. Being involved in 4 additional PDCs it feels as if the public is more and more ready to start taking responsibility and make change. 

I feel grateful and honored to have the opportunity to teach such valuable information that provides solutions in these dynamic times.

Look for more detailed updates in the future and hope to see some of you in the circle soon.