Hands-on Permaculture!

SUMMER: JUNE 25-JULY 20         with Al Shay

Hands-on Permaculture: Hort 299, 4 Credits

This course introduces a broad range of job skills that one may use to become marketable as an ecological landscaper. Get your hands dirty with earthworks, surveying, hardscapes, restorative horticulture, bamboo, water harvesting, greywater, mushrooms, compost tea, rotational grazing, hedgerows and more. Woven throughout are tips of the trade on business, sales, codes and project management.

Oregon State University

College of Agricultural Sciences Department of Horticulture

Hort 299 Syllabus: Summer Session June 25 – July 19

Course Name            Permaculture Hands-on Skills

Course Number       Hort 299

Course Credits         4 Credits       

Instructor                 Andrew Millison

Email: amillison@gmail.com

Phone: 541-752-9118

Al Shay

Prerequisite             None

Course Schedule and Assignments: Subject to Change

WEEK 1: June 25-28 Sculpting Earthworks and Hardscapes

Creating a swale system: surveying, grading, heavy equipment operation, water management

Building social area: stone masonry using recycled materials, pathways, stairways, patio, and deck building using a laser plane level.

WEEK 2: July 2-5 Restorative Horticulture

Planting the new swale: soil preparation, planting techniques, mushroom cultivation, propagation, grafting, compost tea brewing, fertility through soil biology

Screening the social area: digging and harvesting bamboo, building a bamboo fence

WEEK 3: July 9-12 Water Systems: Plumbing for sustainability

Install domestic water system: rainwater harvesting cistern, greywater treatment system, rain garden, irrigation, green roof construction from the ground up

WEEK 4: July 16-19 The Artistry of Plant Maintenance

Restore riparian area: pruning any plant and why, invasive weed control, guiding ecological succession, chainsaw/tripod/ladder/power tools use and safety.

 Planting social space: green tower construction, also this week: Rotational Grazing Operation