Permaculture Living

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!

We offer Fair Share rates and scholarships to all our courses, for folks who need them.

The process to apply is quick and simple, and all the details are here - Milkwood's Fair Share Program. See you in there!

Bookings will next open for Permaculture Living on 2nd October. We let the waitlist know first.

Then from 20 October, you'll receive new lessons each week for 12 weeks. You 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.