When: 3 – 5 January 2012
Three day courses at Doornlaagte, Rustenburg, North West, South Africa.
These courses will run weekly up until April 2012.
Cost: R6,800 per person
Food & accommodation included or adapted if staying nearby. Max. 6 persons per course.
BIO-ORGANICS
By Nico Snyman. B.Sc.Agric. (Agron) Pret. Cell: (071) 547-9814
Nico & Texas Grano onions. It was the 5th consecutive trial where the soil is now fertile enough that it does not need Bio-Muthi for the time being, only raw material for food for the organisms.
The image on the right: a single onion was placed on a side plate with 18cm diameter. These onions are too big for the market, but sweet and tasty. We donated 10 to the church fair where they fetched R4-00 each.
If there is one book you should read as soon as you can, this is it. Your outlook on the plant world will be forever changed. Prepare to be amazed.
You can get the book from Amazon:
http://www.amazon.com/Secret-Life-Plants-Peter-Tompkins/dp/0060915870
A real eye opener – our addiction to acquiring, using and discarding stuff and the effects it has on us as well as the planet.
Par la Présente, nous voudrions vous informer sur la pollution en cours par les pécheurs non informés sur le Lac Tanganyika; et plus particulièrement à Uvira.
Nous voudrions par votre autorisation, les sensibiliser puis les interdire sur la pratique des filets maillants ayant des produits chimiques toxiques dangereux pour la vie des poissons, d’autres êtres vivants et des personnes.
Permaculture défend la pratique des produits chimiques dans l’agriculture pour éviter des graves conséquences socioéconomiques et environementales.
A tous les membres des GEN-Permaculture Congo, vos commentaires sont bien venus.
Permaculture & Plan Africa DRC
By Niki Neave
When the question came up, “How could permaculture be applied on a commercial scale successfully?” it led to an amazing opportunity to meet up with Nico Snyman, a long time South African farmer, and his wife Janie, who are using soil organisms to rehabilitate polluted and damaged soils.
Nico & Texas Grano onions. It was the 5th consecutive trial where the soil is now fertile enough that it does not need GROW AGRA for the time being, only raw material for food for the organisms. The image on the right: a single onion was placed on a side plate with 18cm diameter. These onions are too big for the market, but sweet and tasty. We donated 10 to the church fair where they fetched R4-00 each.
The posters all have the same look and feel and link to the permaculture curriculum to serve as educational resources for teachers wishing to establish “Outdoor Classrooms” and for communities wishing to establish viable organic gardening and food production programmes.
See more on Urban Sprout’s site for a great article about the posters:
http://www.urbansprout.co.za/awesome_permaculture_poster_series_by_afristar
See images of the posters here on Flickr:
http://www.flickr.com/
To get your posters, please contact Nick at: nic@afristar.org.za
http://www.afristar.org.za
We are writing to see if anyone on this network has links to people or organisations that may be interested in setting up or be involved with a group setting up sustainable schools in Tanzania.
Agricultural education is widely accepted as a vital part of economic development particularly for countries with high rural populations. A major problem is that low-income countries just don’t have the money to provide such education free to all those that could benefit from it, or the quality of the education is poor. This has given rise to the development of schools that pay for themselves – self-sufficient farm schools.
Afristar Foundation just received the last copies of the Earth User’s Guide To Permaculture: Teacher’s Notes by Rosemary Morrow. This book is now out of print. We have 28 copies to distribute to African Permaculturists.
The book costs R230 excluding postage.
Please contact nic@afristar.org.za if you would like to order a copy.
This book is designed as a guide to the internationally recognized 72 hour course that qualifies students as Permaculture Design Consultants as set down by the Permaculture Institute.
It provides an enormous amount of detail as it leads step by step through a recommended course structure. However, the teacher should take a flexible approach and adapt the course content to the specific conditions of the local bio region. With advice on teaching aids, topics for class discussion, extensive reading lists and tips on teaching adults, this book is bound to be an invaluable friend to the experienced and novice teacher alike.
ISBN 9780864178008
Binding: Paperback
Pages:160
Dimensions:280 x 210 mm
Released:01/03/1997
Dr Michael Rudolph and Mandla Tshabalala talk about permaculture and the Siyakhana project at TEDx and on the programme, ‘Lunch Box’.

To be held April 6-17th, at Rustler’s Valley, Ficksburg, Eastern Free State, South Africa.
This course delivers an international permaculture design certificate(PDC) curriculum, adapted to South African conditions. These techniques have been developed by South Africans for South Africans with South Africans and have been successfully applied in all South African ecological and social sectors: Local systems that deliver food security, primary healthcare, natural resource regeneration and economic development in rural and urban landscapes.
The course also places an emphasis on personal development within Earth repair methods for sustainability, delivering tools for personal empowerment and change; to live this change in the world today.