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Summer PDC with Richard Perkins at PRI Tap o’ Noth, Scotland

This summer sees our second Permaculture Design Course taking place at the PRI Master Plan site, Tap o’ Noth Permaculture, in beautiful Aberdeenshire, north- eastern Scotland. The residential course runs from 17th June until 1st July.

Our inaugural PDC in 2015 was a truly international event. Course participants joined us from USA, Denmark, Canada and Zimbabwe as well as across the UK. Spending two weeks together beginning their Permaculture journey, the course was a wonderful mix of perspectives, experience and knowledge.

kitchengarden&duckpen

When I booked the course I knew nothing about Permaculture. All I knew was that it made sense to me and it could lead to something. I’m so glad I followed my intuition. It really couldn’t have been any better. It may have been short but it was an incredible journey, and it may sound clichéd, but this course does change you.

Stuart, PDC student, Scotland

This year we are delighted to be working with Richard Perkins who will be leading the course, providing over 80 hours of expert Permaculture tuition. Richard is one of Europe’s leading Permaculture designers and educators, having worked and consulted in every major climate zone and taught over 35 design courses worldwide.

Both a certified teacher for PRI and the Permaculture Association (UK), Richard holds an HND in Organic Crop Production and has studied extensively in the fields of Keyline Design and Holistic Management. He is co-owner and director of Ridgedale Permaculture, a pasture and perennial crop based ‘beyond organic’ local food producer and dedicated educational hub in Värmland, Sweden.

At Tap o’ Noth Permaculture our vision is to educate individuals and communities with the necessary skills and knowledge to make ethical and responsible decisions within their own lives; we are also excited to work on providing our local community with seasonal and nutrient dense ecologically farmed produce through a Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) scheme.

Tap O'Noth basemap(7-14)
Tap O’Noth basemap(7-14)

We began designing Tap o’ Noth’s eight acres into a dedicated demonstration site in 2012 and became an accredited PRI Master Plan site in 2014, joining a global network of teaching centres — the first to be established within the UK. Our aim was to give course participants a balanced educational experience, with the opportunity of both classroom theory sessions and the chance to wander through a learning landscape of kitchen gardens, small and large livestock systems, forest gardens, ponds, composting systems, multi-purpose windbreaks and mixed woodland. Being a continuously evolving site offers students a real chance to contribute and learn about the development of a Permaculture project, gaining firsthand experience of what is involved in setting up and establishing an ecologically designed enterprise.

It makes a huge difference being able to step out of the classroom and immerse yourself in a living permaculture.

Miranda, PDC student 2015, UK

shetland cows

This year sees Tap o’ Noth focusing on production of farm produce, having established a small market garden area last year. We also acquired two rare breed, dual purpose Shetland cows to start a dedicated beef and dairy herd, grazed on our mixed pastures. We intend to expand our flock of chickens to provide pastured eggs allowing them to forage for natural foods within our woodland and pasture, following the cattle in a designed leader system. We plan to sell our produce onsite from a farm shop and CSA scheme, providing a weekly box of fresh vegetables and farm produce throughout the year.

pdc students with Tap

Last year’s PDC was hugely successful and we couldn’t have hoped better for such a great and varied group of people to join us for our very first course. We are confident that participants on this year’s PDC will be receiving tuition of a high standard with up-to- the-minute information on innovative ecological design techniques and regenerative farming methods. If you have considered joining a Permaculture Design Course, but haven’t yet taken the leap, this is an excellent opportunity to take the jump and kick-start your Permaculture journey.

pdc16edited-6

For information regarding course content & booking please visit our website www.pri-tap.com

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