STOCKSCH
290P
Permaculture in the Pioneer Valley
Stockbridge
School of Agriculture
University of Massachusetts,
Amherst
Academic Year: Fall 2012
Instructors:
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Ryan Harb |
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Nathan
Aldrich Rachel
Dutton Class: |
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Enrollment: Credits: Meeting Times: |
15 students 3 credits Wednesday, 4:00-5:00pm Friday, 1:00pm – 5:00pm |
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Project:
Offered in affiliation
with the UMass Permaculture Project
Course Overview:
This three-credit course consists of two parts:
1.
A weekly Wednesday lecture series featuring local expert
permaculture designers and educators, and
2.
A Friday hands-on lab (field component) that entails five local
community garden installations, four mornings spent working at the UMass
Permaculture campus gardens, and three field trip days to local partnered
permaculture sites.
Students will meet two times per week, Wednesdays for 1
hour and Fridays for 4 hours totaling approximately 5 hours per week
during the Fall 2012 Semester. Each Wednesday will feature a different
permaculture expert and discussion topic. Every Friday will be spent immersed
in an established permaculture garden site or building a new garden for an
individual or group in the local community.
Additionally, there will be three required Saturday site visits
that students must be able to attend. See course calendar below.
Course Learning Objectives:
This course has six main objectives. Students will:
1.
Learn to
work as a community through implementing six new permaculture gardens: one on
the UMass Amherst campus and five in the local Pioneer Valley community.
2.
Gain
a deeper understanding of local sustainable food production.
3.
Learn practical permaculture skills and appropriate technologies
for ecological design (sheet mulching, contour mapping, solar pathfinder, bioswales, composting, fall planting, elevations tools,
community gardens, winter garden preparation)
4.
Connect
with local permaculture designers and educators around the Pioneer Valley and
learn how to become more involved in local sustainable food production.
5.
Engage
with specific varieties of permaculture plant species that are accustomed to
growing in the northeastern US temperate climate.
6.
Study
permaculture as a movement as it relates to universities, municipalities,
towns, cities and homesteads.
Course Execution:
As this course is part lecture series and part practicum, active
participation in class is an integral part of the learning experience.
Engagement with the materials and with the experience is critical, and class
attendance is mandatory.
Reading Materials (Recommended):
There are
no required texts for this course. All course-reading materials are found on
e-reserves. Selected readings will be posted from texts such as Introduction to Permaculture, Principles and
Pathways Beyond Sustainability, Gaia's Garden, Edible
Forest Gardens Vol. 1 and 2, The Toolbox for Sustainability City Living, and
The Transition Handbook.
Grading:
1)
Attend
Permaculture Immersion Saturday at Sirius Community – 10 points (10%):
The Permaculture Immersion Day at Sirius Community is mandatory as
it will set the tone for our semester and explain the fundamentals and
background of permaculture. The field trip will take place on September 8 at
Sirius Community. See attached sheet for details. Attendance and participation
in this weekend immersion is worth 10
points (10%).
2)
Two Short
Papers – (15 points each), total 30 points (30%):
Students will write two short (3-5 page)
papers during the semester. These papers will be research-based, and explore in
more detail a topic(s) or skill(s) presented either in the lecture series or in
field work / trips.
Sources can include permaculture texts, contemporary research and
news articles, interviews, etc. The first short paper is due by the end of
class on October 10, and the second short paper is due by the end of class on
November 7.
Students will earn 15 points toward their overall grade for each short
paper, for a potential total of 30
points (30%).
3)
Attendance
and participation in all classes (1 point per class) – 20 points (20%):
Attendance and participation is an essential part of this course.
A student who attends all classes will receive 20 out of a possible 20 points (20%). For each unexcused
absence, students will lose 2 points from their overall grade. Each student is
allowed one excused absence (a doctor's note must be provided)
during the course of the semester and can still receive a 20/20 score. A
student who has two unexcused absences will receive 16/20 points, etc. If students come to class more than 5 minutes
late, they will lose 1 point for that class.
4)
Research
Paper – 30 points (30%):
The final in this course is a thorough, well-documented research
paper. The details of this paper, worth 30 points, will be discussed with
students on November 14. Papers should be 4-6 pages, double spaced, in Times
New Roman 12pt font. At least 5 references, properly cited, must be included.
5)
Successful
completion of Course Learning Objectives – 10 points (10%):
A
student’s success is dependent on the success of our community.10 points (10%) of the individual grade
depends upon successful completion of the six group goals mentioned in the
Course Learning Objectives.
Summary of Grading:
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1.
Attend the Permaculture Immersion Saturday at Sirius Community |
10% |
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2. Two
short papers, 15% each |
30% |
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3.
Attendance and participation |
20% |
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4.
Final Paper |
30% |
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5.
Successful completion of the Course Learning Objectives |
10% |
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Total: |
100% |
Tentative Course Calendar:
Key: (Note Meeting
times are Wednesdays 4:00 – 5:00pm, and Fridays from 1:00pm – 5:00pm)
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WORKDAYS IN UMASS GARDENS |
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LOCAL GARDEN INSTALLATIONS |
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FIELD TRIPS |
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IN-CLASS LECTURES |
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W –
September 5 |
Introduction to permaculture. Overview of
permaculture; A vision, design system, global community. Short history.
Lesson about the ethics of permaculture. What is / why permaculture at UMass?
What are the goals of UMass Permaculture? What are the goals of this class? |
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F – September 7 |
Tour of the Franklin, Berkshire, and Worcester
Permaculture Gardens. Lesson on sheet mulching as a low-impact permaculture
technique. Skill: Hands-on sheet mulching experience at UMass
Permaculture Gardens. |
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S – September 8 |
Field Trip #1 Mandatory field trips to Sirius
Community and Hickory Gardens. |
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W –
September 12 |
Who / where is permaculture in Western
Massachusetts? Permaculture in the northeast region? Guest lecture by Jono Neiger, Regenerative
Design Group. Introduce the design process, and our garden installation for
Friday 9/14. |
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F – September 14 |
Garden Installation #1 – Single-family home in
Amherst, MA Lesson on contour lines as an appropriate
permaculture design technique Skill: Hands-on contour mapping at garden
installation site |
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W –
September 19 |
What makes
permaculture gardens different from standard vegetable gardens? Introduction
to permaculture plant species. Guest lecture by Llani
Davidson, Gardens for Change. Introduce garden installation for Friday 9/21. |
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F – September 21 |
Garden Installation #2 – Community residence in
Shutesbury, MA Lesson on Site A&A, location, sun angles and
solar pathfinder Skill: Hands-on solar pathfinder at garden
installation site |
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W –
September 26 |
Further introduction to permaculture plant species.
Guest lecture by Jonathan Bates, Food Forest Farm. Introduce Holyoke backyard
permaculture garden and field trip for Friday 9/28. |
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F – September 28 |
Field Trip #2: Food Forest Farm and Nuestras Raices in Holyoke, MA |
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W –
October 3 |
Social permaculture in action. Community gardens
and cooperatives.
Guest lecture by Lisa DePiano, Mobile Design Lab.
Introduce Montview Farm and field trip for Friday 10/5. |
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F – October 5 |
Field Trip #3 Montview Farm and Goldthread Herbal
Apothecary |
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W –
October 10 |
Opportunities in the field of permaculture. How to
make a living being a permaculture designer and educator. What is happening
in the permaculture movement? Guest lecture by Kay Cafasso,
Sowing Solutions. Introduce
garden installation Friday 10/12. |
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F – October 12 |
Garden Installation #3 – Single-family home in
Amherst, MA Lesson on bioswales as
an appropriate permaculture design technique Skill: Hands-on swale making at garden
installation site |
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W –
October 17 |
Permaculture at UMass Amherst. Why is it being
done? What are the economic, social, environmental impacts? Explain the
mission and goals to inspire other universities and individuals to replicate
our processes. Guest lecture by Nathan Aldrich, Sustainability Coordinator
for UMass Auxiliary Enterprises. Introduce family weekend, UMass Permaculture
workday 10/20. |
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F – October 19 |
NO CLASS or a FIELD TRIP RAIN OUT DATE |
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S – October 20 |
Work at the Franklin, Berkshire, and/or Worcester
Permaculture Gardens. Lesson on how to properly compost food and plant
"waste." Plus planting. Skill: Outdoor composting at Franklin compost bin.
Planting garlic and bulbs. |
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W –
October 24 |
Permaculture at other universities. Where is it
being done (Ryan)? Guest lecture by students from Greenfield Community
College and Abrah Dresdale.
Introduce field trip to Greenfield Community College, 10/27. |
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F – October 27 |
Garden Installation #4 – Greenfield Community
College Lesson on: base mapping and elevation tools Skill: hands-on using elevation |
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W –
October 31 |
Ecological design for municipalities and
towns/cities. Guest lecture by Keith Zaltzberg,
Regenerative Design Group. |
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F – November 2 |
Garden Installation #5 – Permaculture in
Northampton / Holyoke, MA Lesson on: community gardens Skill: hands-on community garden plotting |
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W –
November 7 |
What happens to gardens during this time of year?
How to properly put gardens to rest. Guest lecture by Llani
Davidson, Gardens for Change. |
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F – November 9 |
NO CLASS – FIELD TRIP RAIN OUT DATE |
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S – November 10 |
Work at the Franklin, Berkshire, and/or Worcester
Permaculture Gardens. Lesson on how to properly care for planting beds during
late fall / spring prep. Skill: Putting gardens to rest for the season |
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W –
November 14 |
Summary of resources. Permaculture opportunities
locally, internationally? Local PDC Courses, Part II of this course,
Northeast Permaculture Convergence, other regional convergences,
international permaculture convergence, advanced permaculture design courses,
teacher training courses. Evaluations of this course. Introduce final field
trip for Friday, 11/16. |
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F – November 16 |
Field Trip to Sirius Community |