Permaculture: The Efficiency of 'Food Forest' Growing
This class teaches basic permaculture concepts, to help class participants establish their own urban/suburban household fruit orchard, with integrated vegetable growing. Once these orchard-gardens are established, this approach greatly reduces the labor and costs of growing fruits and vegetables. Both small scale (e.g. urban residential) and large scale (e.g. city parks) examples of permaculture designs will be shown. Stages of permaculture project-design will be outlined, and fundamentals of orchard-garden development and maintenance will be presented. This approach produces a large variety of fruits, nuts, and vegetables; reduces cultivation and weeding labor; extends productivity from early-Spring to early-Winter. (Note: Fall to early- Winter is an excellent time to plant a food orchard). This approach benefits pollinators, wildlife, protection of waterways, and especially people, since it improves household and city food security. Dr. Donna Armstrong is a retired professor of epidemiology, specializing in social/environmental sustainability and community food security. After retiring, she practiced sustainable farming in KY. She now practices permaculture design, urban food growing and community sustainability in Harrisonburg, VA.Please contact our office regarding availability of this course:
540-568-4253
pce@jmu.edu