Permaculture Living - online course
Ready to learn the skills you need to create and maintain household resilience, abundance & community - while living in a world out of balance?Welcome to Permaculture Living - our fully mentored online course, designed to help you start living like it matters - with the Milkwood crew of experts.
Skills to fill your every day with new habits, that create connection and purpose. Because connection and purpose leads us to hope, and hope leads us to action…
Bookings open each season, to our waitlist. The next class opens for bookings on January 13th - and begins two weeks later.
We can’t wait to meet you.
Join the course waitlist
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Permaculture Living is your pathway to living like it matters, one small step at a time.
Inside your 12-week course, you'll learn how to use permaculture thinking, design, skills and habits to transform your everyday for the better, and your future, too. Get ready to create abundance, become more resilient, thrive where you already are, and make some serious climate-positive changes...
What's inside the Permaculture Living course?
So much goodness in here! And all taught with high-quality videos, DIY guides, live Q&As, and personal mentorship for all your Qs. The skills you need to make life better - for you, your household, your community, and our planet, too...
Cultivate Community
Learn simple but powerful strategies for cultivating community in your street and beyond.
Grow Food
No garden? No problem - you can still grow lots! And if you do have a backyard - we'll show you how to get started.
Design for Resilience
DIY energy efficiency hacks, backyard design, sun-mapping, and low-footprint ideas that you can get started with right away.
Ferments + Pickles
We'll show you how to make pickles, lacto-fermented veggies, fruit, fizzy drinks, sourdough and so much more.
Low Waste Solutions
Guilt-free, low-waste solutions and habits for your kitchen, household and everyday life. There's so much you can do to make a difference.
Meet Your Ecosystem
Learn to ID your local wild plants & fungi, learn your watershed, and build your awareness of where you fit into your local ecosystem.
Simplify + Slow
Goal-setting and mentored solutions for a less-stressed, more intentional everyday life - without the fuss, but with more of the goodness you want.
Connect with Country
What is the history of your area? Whose land are you on? How can you can acknowledge and contribute to justice & healing country where you live?
Find Your People
Meet fellow students on the same path - from all over the world - in your friendly & private student community. Ask anything!
Expert Mentors
Got a Q or challenge? We can help. Our friendly expert mentors will answer all (yep, ALL) your questions personally, as you move through your course.
Live Q&As
Join your teachers and mentors for regular chats about whatever you can't quite figure out - from lemon tree problems to life goals! All welcome.
And SO MUCH More...
Keeping chickens, growing mushrooms, seed saving, mending, tending, making friends and making time. We can't wait to show you around, and get you learning..
The fact that you’re here tells us you’re ready to move forward...
You might be:
⇒ A keen-bean beginner who doesn’t quite know where to start, but you DO know that you want to make climate-positive changes in your life, and increase your household resilience while you're at it.
⇒ A city-dweller with no garden, but a real desire to connect with your ecosystem through daily habits in a way that creates goodness for you, and your local community as well.
⇒ Have backyard - check. Now what? What to put where? Chickens before veggie patch? Where should I plant that fruit tree? And how can I shade that side of my house? - All good, we've got you.
⇒ A dreamer who wants to become a doer, but you're still in the thinking phase, because... life. Great! Let's get you goal setting, and learning, and trying small, new ideas and habits. This approach is just as valid, and change-making, as the Big Stuff. Because it all matters. And so do you. So let's get doing.
Any of these sound like you? Well guess what… Permaculture Living might be just right for you.
"I was blown away by the course quality. The warm, chatty vibe, no preaching or judging, the additional materials, and the utter charm of Kirsten and Nick. It's a fantastic mix. "
Karen, Australia
Permaculture Living student
"The video lessons are down-to-earth, the information shared with a definite ‘you can do it’ feel. Support is also super; comments and questions were answered in a flash."
Karin, Austria
Permaculture Living student
"If you are thinking of learning plenty of new skills that will make a difference in yourself and society, I recommend you take the Permaculture Living course!"
Hannah, Australia
Permaculture Living Student
How does this Permaculture Living course work?
Welcome to your self-paced, mentored learning experience...
40+ Lessons
Hands-on skills, permaculture theory & design for your life & community - via a mix of video lessons + DIY guides, with live support from our mentor team
Resources
Alongside each lesson, you get a swag of exclusive resources, plans, and downloads - only available inside this course.
Live Q&As
You'll be in direct discussion with Kirsten & Nick through our regular Q&As - ask questions and get detailed answers - live.
Community
A thriving online permaculture community supported by our expert mentor team, full of students just like you: swap ideas, learn & grow.
Your permaculture teachers
Many generations of permaculture knowledge, 100+ years of combined experience…
Kirsten Bradley
Kirsten founded Milkwood with Nick in 2007. She is an experienced grower, beekeeper, pickler, teacher, learner and community builder - and the author of best-selling books Milkwood and Easy Peasy. She is a bit in love with seaweed, also.
Nick Ritar
Nick founded Milkwood with Kirsten in 2007. Since then, he has led over 2000 face-to-face students through their permaculture design journey - as well as farming, homesteading, parenting and growing a LOT of mushrooms. He's the one on the right (just btw).
David Holmgren
David is the co-originator of permaculture - alongside Bill Mollison. For the last 40+ years David has been considering, designing with, writing about and teaching permaculture principles. David presents the permaculture concept and each of his principles throughout this course.
Yay! - You have a discount code, which you can use when this course opens for bookings.
FAST FORWARD
Turbo-charge your permaculture journey with:
✔ All 'best value' features
PLUS:
✔ 2 hours of personal coaching call time with Kirsten & Nick
✔ Both of Milkwood's best selling books personally autographed by Kirsten & Nick:
The Milkwood Permaculture Living Handbook
+
Milkwood: Real skills for down-to-earth living
AU$949
US$649
“I learned that permaculture envelops not just self-sufficiency, but an entire ethos around how we live our lives. The emphasis on kindness and well-being (both to one’s self and the community), struck a chord.”
— Craig, Australia
“I had worried it wouldn’t be so relevant for me, based in the UK, but because it’s about so much more than just gardening (food resilience, eating, community…) it suits anyone anywhere.”
— Anna, United Kingdom
“I wanted to learn from the source of permaculture and so I chose Milkwood - I’m very glad I did. This journey has helped me so much. I will continue to evolve as I grow from the knowledge and tools learned in this course."
— Marina, New Zealand
"Kirsten and Nick are passionate, know their stuff, love sustainability and are very generous with the information given."
Randall, Australia
Permaculture Living student
"The Permaculture Living course is my favourite EVER online course. It is so well designed, so informative, so amazingly organised and just plain inspiring."
SS, Netherlands
Permaculture Living Student
"I’ve loved the energy and encouragement from the Milkwood team, which made me feel that any step I took was awesome."
Niki, Australia
Permaculture Living student
By the end of this course, you will:
- Have the skills to transform your daily life with meaningful and useful actions, habits and projects - which have far-reaching, positive outcomes for all.
- Understand the 12 permaculture principles and how to use them as daily decision-making tools… to design your garden, kitchen cupboard layout, next job choice, or whatever needs a bit of holistic thinking.
- Know how to apply the permaculture principles in bigger-picture life thinking.
- Have learned about a bazillion new practical, doable skills and ideas. Choose a habit or action that works for you, get that happening, then choose another… change happens at whatever pace suits YOU. No stress here.
- Be empowered with a personalised action plan that you’ve chosen for yourself, to create the abundant life you truly want, one small step at a time.
- Be welcomed into a community of like-minded people, all cheering you on, sharing their own wins and challenges, and helping you succeed. (And we cheer LOUD, just so you know.)
- Be armed to make a positive difference for yourself, your community, and our planet, as a result of this course - our positive student feedback speaks for itself on this one.
“I thought the course might help me with some challenges in my garden; little did I know my whole life and outlook would change. I began to feel empowered to make a difference. I strongly recommend this course to everyone, all walks of life."
— Kathryn, Costa Rica
“I was wrapping up a long and challenging chapter of my life … as soon as the first module kicked off, an anchor was cast in my life. I realised I was acquiring new tools to adapt to an uncertain and rapidly changing world.”
— Mirranda, Australia
"I had already completed my Permaculture Design Certificate, yet this was a fabulous, well-paced and structured course that celebrates permaculture in many forms. Thanks for helping me move forward on my sustainable living journey.“
— Laurie, Australia
Skills for life - all over the world
Permaculture Living is full of essential habits and skills to suit a wide range of lifestyles, no matter where you live. And if you live somewhere that's tricky to grow or do the thing you most want to do, we will figure a solution out with you, personally. Here's our current student map...
Learn the three ethics and 12 principles that underpin permaculture - and how you can use permaculture design thinking to design everything from your kitchen cupboards to your community garden.
You’ll then be ready to define your own personalised goal for this course, to guide your decisions and learnings as you begin to make changes for the better.
Based on permaculture principle #1 - Observe and Interact - this module is all about spending mindful time with our bodies, our homes and the environment around us, and then engaging with those things.
First we will guide you through the theory, and then we’ll show you practical ways to apply this principle to your everyday life, with actions such as:
- Learning to identify local wild plants.
- Researching the life cycle of a product you use.
- Researching & supporting local food producers.
- Investigating your soil.
- Learning about your local waterways.
- + more!
Energy comes in pulses and waves, and then it’s gone. This is why we need to ‘make hay while the sun shines’, or capture that energy for when we need it later.
First, we'll take you through permaculture principle #2 - Catch and Store Energy - and then it’s time for practical application. You might choose:
- Learning preserving.
- Harvesting rainwater at home.
- Making a mini greenhouse.
- Energy auditing your home.
- Growing beans and other storage crops.
- + more!
Permaculture principle #3 - Obtain A Yield - is all about reconnecting to our natural cycles - and also to human, plant, animal and other communities, and, importantly, ourselves.
Practical actions you can learn during this module include:
- Growing your own sprouts and microgreens.
- Starting a herb garden.
- Using what you have to create abundance in your community.
- Doing a work/life balance time audit.
- + more!
In this important module for our modern times, you’ll learn about accepting feedback and self-regulating to apply the brakes when needed.
Then we’ll show you ways to practice permaculture principle #4 - Apply Self-Regulation and Accept Feedback - in your own life. You might choose:
- Calculating your carbon footprint.
- Waste auditing your household.
- Learning to give up an addiction.
- Trying a 3-day locavore challenge.
- + more!
Time to think about permaculture principle #5 - Use and Value Renewable Resources and Services. This principle asks us to reconsider our dependence on non-renewable resources, primarily fossil fuels.
Then let’s put it into action. You can learn about:
- Starting a worm farm.
- Creating your own natural home cleaning products.
- Switching to green energy.
- And even how to re-use your own wee (if you’re game).
- + more!
When embracing a permaculture life - whether that involves food, materials, packaging, processes, or skills - we try to ensure all elements are fully utilised, in a closed-loop.
First, we'll run you through this #6 permaculture principle - Produce No Waste - and then we’ll get into practical actions:
- Repairing and caring for your items.
- Doing a 5-day no-waste challenge.
- Creating a composting toilet.
- Harnessing the power of your food scraps.
- + more!
In this module, based on permaculture principle #7 - Design From Patterns to Details - we encourage you to look at the big picture before focusing on the finer details - an essential step to designing a permaculture life.
Putting this into practice, you might choose actions such as:
- Making a base map of your property.
- Starting a perpetual garden diary.
- Learning about your local climate.
- Finding ways to connect with the traditional owners of the land where you live.
- + more!
As we learn about permaculture principle #8 - Integrate Rather Than Segregate - we take our lead again from nature. We integrate rather than segregate so each part of your system works as part of the whole.
The actions you can choose in this module include:
- Reusing greywater.
- Keeping chickens.
- Taking up guerilla gardening.
- Joining a community garden or permaculture group.
- + more!
Permaculture principle #9 - Use Small and Slow Solutions - sounds gentle but as we'll explain, it’s actually pretty radical. It flies directly in the face of consumerism and capitalism.
To bring this into action in your life, you might choose to learn about:
- Saving seeds and starting your own home seed bank.
- Taking a buy-nothing challenge.
- Baking your own sourdough bread or get on your bike more regularly.
- Actively managing your own temperature.
- + more!
We use permaculture principle #10 - Use and Value Diversity - to build resilience in our local habitat, communities, finances, personal health and in a multitude of other ways.
So, once we've showed you the theory - it’s time to apply this at your place. You will learn about:
- Increasing the health and diversity of your local pollinator population.
- Producing your own homemade probiotic drinks.
- Sharing your garden.
- Eating a more diverse range of food.
- + more!
The ‘margin’ or ‘fringe’ is often ignored - but in fact, it’s a most useful space.
We'll explore this in #11 permaculture principle - Use Edges and Value the Marginal - and then we’ll show you how to put it into practice.
You can choose to learn about:
- Edible seaweed foraging and cooking.
- Mushroom growing and gathering.
- Cooking outdoors regularly.
- Joining your local food co-op.
- + more!
As the saying goes: ‘The only constant is change.’ So in our final week, you’ll learn permaculture principle #12 - Creatively Use and Respond to Change - which calls on you to look forward and embrace the future.
And then we ask you to get political, to help stop catastrophic climate change.
You can also learn about:
- Making a household emergency plan.
- Breaking up with the supermarkets,
- Moving your savings away from fossil fuel companies.
- + lots more.
In this final module, you will revisit your personal goal statement and the action plan you’ve slowly built throughout the course - a deeply useful document you can return to again and again as you contemplate future big decisions.
And thus, you will now be the keeper of a whole swag of new skills and ideas to help the planet, while making life better at your own place too.
Go you!
"I really want to make changes, but..." - sound familiar?
But ... my apartment is too small ... I don't have enough time ... I don't have a backyard ... I'm not fit enough ... I might get it wrong ... I don't quite know where to begin ... I killed my houseplant, so that means I can't grow things ...
Hey. You there. Guess what? Permaculture is for everybody.
You don't need a garden. You don't need stacks of time each week. This is a mindset shift. This is about learning how to see the world and your ecosystem differently - and yourself as a functional, and valuable, part of it. This is about changing your habits, one by one, to become the change you want to see.
This course IS all about new skills and habits that you can use right now to become more resilient, but it's also about creating the world we need, in a world out of balance.
You can be a powerful part of this change, even while going about your normal, everyday life.
We deeply believe this Permaculture Living course (backed by our 30-Day Money-Back Guarantee) is right for you if you’re motivated by any of the following:
- You're keen to learn skills and habits for self-reliance from home.
- You want to become a climate-positive force for action in your home and community.
- You want to learn how to design things with permaculture thinking - for less stress and more abundance.
- You wouldn't mind some mentored help - getting your head around where to start in changing your world for the better.
- You’d love a community of like-minded folks from across the world to learn and grow with you.
If you join us, we will help transform your thinking and your backyard... to create resilience for both your household and our planet – while also ensuring YOU create a life that's truly worth living.
Plus you'll get this bonus extra, to get you going at your place, right away
For students who choose the one-time payment option, we’ll sneak a special bonus into your course hub area - a mini version of our best-selling book Milkwood - for you to download and keep.
This mini book includes how-tos and recipes from all five chapters - The Tomato, Mushroom Cultivation, Natural Beekeeping, Seaweed and Wild Food.
And all in a format you can read anytime, or download and print out, if that’s how you like to do things.
I’m Ready - Let’s Do This »
Bookings will next open for Permaculture Living on January 13th, with class beginning 2 weeks later. We let the waitlist know first.
You'll receive new lessons each week for 12 weeks, but you'll have enduring access to all your course materials - so if you need to move through your course at a slower pace, that's completely fine - our mentors will keep pace with you for as long as you need.
Yes, absolutely! We have folks studying from literally every continent on the planet (except Antarctica).
Our course is designed to be applicable to all contexts - you’ll be able to choose from a wide array of skills and habits to suit your particular situation.
Yes - every 2 weeks we hold live Q&A sessions, where you can ask us questions and get detailed responses (and yes, they’re recorded and you can submit your questions beforehand, if you can’t make the live session).
We also hop into our student community daily, to answer your questions almost as quickly as you can ask them!
We've found that our students get the most out of their experience if they move through the course with a group of peers.
For this reason, you'll receive a weekly package of lessons to work through, each week for 12 weeks.
Yes, you will! We send you a Certificate of Completion as soon as you finish the course.
You will also be invited to join our Alumni on LinkedIn, if you wish.
Please note there is no 'official' accreditation for Permaculture courses, and that this course is not the same as a Permaculture Design Certificate (PDC).
Permaculture Living has several price options, plus payment plans as well - you can find full details here: courses.milkwood.net/permacultureliving#pricing.
We also do Fair Share rates, and scholarships for those who need them - just get in touch, if this is you?
We recommend you set aside 1-2 hours a week to do this course - 30 minutes for viewing, 30 minutes for reading, and 30 minutes for working on your permaculture action plan.
Each week you'll get access to roughly 3 new video lessons. These range in length from 5 minutes to 20 minutes.
On top of that there is additional reading and worksheets which will take you less than an hour to read through and absorb.
Then, there's your action plan to work on, and interacting with the student community - plus Q&A webinars, some weeks.
You can complete each lesson at any time that's convenient to you. Five minutes at a time, or all in one hit.
But..... a big part of your course is about building your permaculture life, one good habit at a time. We want these habits to last a lifetime - so the more work you put into this course, the more change you'll get out of it.
We've made this course for anyone who wants to get closer to their food , their community & their environment. Anyone whose interested in living a healthier, happier life.
There are no prerequisites or required reading. Just bring your enthusiasm.
Everybody who joins the course will be able to ask questions in the comments section in each lesson, and get answered by our team.
You'll also get access to our exclusive student community & our ongoing live Q&As.
So inside the course, you have access to Kirsten or Nick in our regular live student Q&As - where you'll be able to ask anything you like and get all your questions answered.
You also have the opportunity to submit your questions beforehand - and if you can't make the live stream, you can watch the recording in your own time afterward.
Yes, it does! All videos are fully captioned and the cations are searchable.
Lifetime access means you will be able to access this course, and all its resources, for as long as we have it available online.
Milkwood has over 14 years experience of delivering stellar education - and we're not going anywhere, anytime soon.
This is a long-haul commitment for us, and for our family business. No tricks, no fine print. We want you to have access to this knowledge for as long as you need.
Nope! If you can view this page and the video on it, you can access the entire course just fine.
The course is delivered via our special course portal, web pages and email.
You can access your course content (and private community) via any web browser on any laptop, PC, Mac, tablet or smart phone that is connected to a reasonable internet connection.
You don't need any other special applications or memberships to other platforms. You are not required to have a Facebook or Google account.
It's simple and easy.
We'll do our best to make your course the best experience we can. However, it just might not be for you. That’s ok! If you decide that’s the case, let us know.
Notify our team within 30 days of your purchase and we’ll refund your payment. No questions asked. At this point you should be about a third through the course.
- You may request a refund for any reason during your first 30 days after payment.
- You must contact us by email at [email protected] before the end of the 30th day.
- The money-back guarantee is available on both upfront and payment plans.
- Refunds will be provided within 5 working days (often much more quickly).
- That’s it! No catches and no fine print. We want to let you try our course absolutely risk free – that’s how confident we are that you’ll love it!
Please note that the 30 day money-back guarantee applies for the online component of your purchase only. Books, postage or personal coaching calls that have already been supplied as part of the Fast-Forward option are non-refundable unless damaged or similar.
Permaculture living has helped us through our most difficult times...
Yes, we have been there. We know what it's like to establish a vegetable garden in a record-breaking drought. To have zero budget but want to build a tiny house on just a simple patch of earth. We know what it's like to have to 'begin again' and start from scratch in a rental, leaving behind an organic market garden for growing in pots on a verandah in the suburbs.
Most of all, we know what it's like to wake up in the middle of the night, scared for our kid's future, desperate to do something about it. Something that will really help. Something that you can get started with, right now.
AND SO - after years of farming, growing, designing and community organising ... after establishing community rooftop gardens, windowsill herb pots, community swap-meets, protests, bulk-buys and everything in between ... we know there’s a way for you to live a permaculture life.
No matter where you live. No matter what your budget is. You can start living like it matters. And we can help you get there.
We hope to see you inside the course.
~ Kirsten & Nick
“Start where you are, use what you have, do what you can.”
— Arthur Ashe
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