Location: Spiral Ridge Permaculture in Summertown, TN 

Website: http://www.spiralridgepermaculture.com

More about the courses: 
Homestead Permaculture Design Certificate Course 9/30 - 10/12, 2013 - Earn your internationally recognized Permaculture Design Certification during this 13 day residential course. This course is specially designed for those interested in Regenerative Farming Systems and homesteading. For 13 days you will be immersed in learning tools, guiding principles, and strategies to create lush abundant landscapes, reduce your energy use, and create more stability and security for you and your loved ones. You will join a community of caring individuals sharing the knowledge and enthusiasm that come from a solution-focused mindset, so that we may regenerate land, family and community. We uniquely focus on the ecological design process. This professional process will give you a step by step approach to applying the principles of permaculture. Knowing this process will give you greater confidence to move forward with a design. You will be taught the scale of permanence to organize data and develop a design that meets the desired goals.
Regenerative Earthworks Course: Rainwater Harvesting, Erosion Control and Soil Fertility Oct 19-22, 2013- Regenerative Earthworks is a holistic approach to healing the land and making it more productive, using human scale labor and machinery to sculpt the earth. Slow, sink and store water in the landscape to mitigate drought and renew fertility. Learn how to build swales and construct ponds, dams and spillways. Regenerative Earthworks includes the application of biologically active compost teas, planting of various bio-accumulating and nitrogen fixing plants, the remineralization of the soil using amendments, the use of animals to enhance the biology of the soil, and use of mulch to conserve water and heal the exposed soil. According to Sepp Holzer 70% of our agriculture is completed when we have our water systems designed and developed. Without Regenerative Earthworks we have little chance at creating Regenerative Farming Systems. 
Food Forest Intensive: A Hands-On Course on the Cultivation of Edible Forest Gardens 10/24-10/27, 2013 - Food Forests, also called edible forest gardens and woodland farms, are perennial gardens full of useful plants, that are designed using permaculture and ecological principles. They are meant to mimic self-sustaining forest ecosystems in that they are: diverse, layered, moisture retaining, low-maintenance, self-fertile, efficient, productive and comprised of species that mutually benefit one another. Food forests are not limited to just edible species. Learn how to work with nature to create a Food Forest system in this 4 day intensive, as we take you through the design process and finish with hands-on implementation of a forest garden at Spiral Ridge. 
About Spiral Ridge Permaculture Spiral Ridge Permaculture is s a 6.7 acre site located in the Cumberland-Green bio-region of middle Tennessee. The site was clear cut in December 2007 causing major damage to the soil, wildlife habitat, and the watershed. We acquired the land in April 2009 with the intent to restore the landscape using permaculture and restoration ecology and turn it into a productive, low in-put, regenerative homestead/small farm. 
In four short years (and with little money to work with) we have implemented/built earthworks ( swales, earth contour dams, ponds and on contour driveway), a small cabin on the top of the hill with rainwater for gravity fed irrigation that also serves as a shelter for now and education center later, a 20×48 hoophouse, annual gardens, small duck ponds for our ducks, earthbag retaining walls, a workshed, outdoor showers and humanure systems, a cleared pad for our house, a young food forest, bamboo agroforestry, savanah gardens and animal systems (chickens, ducks, goats, pigs, turkey, guineas, rabbits). This all is powered by solar that we designed and installed ourselves. This is truly an example of permaculture in a homestead/small farm scale. 
About the instructors: Cliff Davis and Jennifer Albanese - Spiral Ridge Permaculture – Cliff Davis co-created Spiral Ridge Permaculture, LLC out of his passion to address cultural and ecological issues that demand real and lasting solutions. His experience in the fields of permaculture, food forestry, organics, appropriate technology, natural building, and regenerative agriculture allow him to offer an integrative approach to land and culture repair. Cliff has practiced and taught in temperate, tropical, sub-tropical, and dry land climates. He empowers others to take a hands-on approach to design in his regular and advanced course offerings. His humor, straight-forward style and determination to make positive change, make him an engaging instructor, consultant and designer. He homesteads in middle TN with his family, researching applications that really work. For a detailed look at his work, training, and teaching experience, check out his resume. Jennifer Albanese - Jennifer has been an organic gardening student and practitioner for over 14 years. She has a special interest in soil regeneration and re-mineralization to create ecosystem health and nutrient dense food. She has a passion for local in-season and nose-to-tail cooking, ferments and traditional foods. She is the co-owner of Spiral Ridge Permaculture business and homestead. She home schools her three children in addition to working as a permaculture teacher and grant writer for The Farm School in Tennessee. 
Jessie Smith – The Nectary Project - An environmental educator and event planner, Jessie Smith, founder of The Nectary Project, uses the principles of permaculture to create learning experiences which closely mimics natural learning. With more than 15 years experience working with children, non-profit organizations, and educational facilities, she happily brings her experience to central Tennessee to provide life-changing courses that empowers people to positively alter our future for generations. A former camp councilor and camp director, you can still find her connecting children with real food and nutrition as a teacher with The Farm School. 
Special Guest Instructors – to be announced 
About the Food: We believe you should be well nourished during your stay so that you may fully participate. For that reason, when you sign up for our course, we will provide three nutrient-dense and delicious, omnivorous meals a day, for free. As much as possible, the food is sourced locally and is organic. We include meats and vegetables from our homestead, probiotic rich fermented foods and we only use butter, olive oil, coconut oil or animal fats in our food. No over processed, GMO laden junk. We aim to embody the principles we teach about on every level. Vegetarian? Gluten Free? No problem! Let us know ahead of time and we will do our best to accommodate you (we used to be vegetarian, and we are largely gluten free ourselves). If you have a very restrictive diet, you may need to bring some of your own food. 
Contact us at [email protected] or 931 231 4099