This Medicinal Forest Garden Weekend course at Holt Wood in North Devon is an ideal introduction to the cultivation and uses of medicinal trees and shrubs. This course can help you to identify the potential for growing and making your own herbal remedies in a forest garden. During this course we will cover a range of native and introduced healing trees and shrubs. A practical walkabout will provide opportunities to see and identify these and other medicinal plants growing in a woodland setting. You will hear about the many uses of these plants, from cough cures to painkillers and more. There will be discussion of permaculture design features, and issues in cultivating a medicinal forest garden. You will learn about good harvesting practices, as well as drying and preservation techniques. We will have practical opportunities to harvest bark and other products and show you powdering for making capsules and pills. You will also learn how to make a variety of preparations suitable for body and health care, such as teas, tinctures, hydrosols and balms. Numbers on this course are limited to ensure that there are plenty of opportunities for discussion and questions.

A day course at Holt Wood in North Devon where you can learn about medicinal herbs in historical practice. From medieval folklore to seventeenth-century recipes – join this day course to explore the plants of field, hedgerow and woodland which our ancestors may have used to treat wounds and disease. During this day we discuss historical views of health and illness, see a variety of medicinal plants, and hear about their use in folklore and historical recipes. You will also see how to make a variety of traditional preparations such as poultices and distilled waters.

A day course at Holt Wood in North Devon where you can learn about harvesting and making products from medicinal trees and shrubs. During this day we will consider medicinal harvesting in a forest garden context based on bark, flowers, fruits, leaves and roots of trees and shrubs. You will see a variety of native and introduced medicinal trees and shrubs in a woodland context. There will be sessions on good harvesting practice, drying and preservation techniques. You will also see how to make a variety of preparations suitable for health and skin care, such as capsules and ointments.

A day course at Holt Wood in North Devon where you can learn about medicinal trees, shrubs and other herbs which can be cultivated in a medicinal forest garden context. No experience is needed. This day will be of interest to gardeners, growers, landworkers and woodland managers. During this day we will cover key native and introduced medicinal trees and shrubs and their main identification features and uses. A practical walkabout will provide opportunities to see and identify medicinal plants growing in a woodland setting. There will be sessions on permaculture design, sourcing and propagation of plants, planting and maintaining a medicinal forest garden.

With Emma Clark, Satish Kumar and June Mitchell

Gardening has a profound impact on the heart and soul. There will be talks by Satish Kumar on how we are all connected via the profound spiritual essence that is Nature and how through gardening we can connect intimately with nature; and by an expert on Islamic gardens, Emma Clark, on how gardening may be seen as a sacred art and on the spiritual symbolism of the Paradise Garden. Your experience will also include walks around the beautiful Dartington grounds and Qigong bamboo exercises led by the well-known and experienced practitioner June Mitchell.

Environmental psychology is a specialised branch of psychology which focuses on research and practice in the relationships between people and the physical environment – these can be built or natural environments. The environment influences how people behave, but also people can change the environment. Therefore, environmental psychology is concerned with the impact of the environment on people and the impact of people on the environment.

Introduction to Environmental Psychology is a 3 hour microcourse now available from the exciting new ACS site - LearnHowTo. This is a subscription site comprising hundreds of microcourses which are available to study for a flat monthly subscription. With no study or time limit, or contract term for your monthly subscription - you can cancel at any time - this offers users great value.

Conservation psychology is the scientific study of the relationship between humans and nature, focusing on encouraging conservation of the natural world. It is the understanding of environmental problems using psychological principles. This branch of psychology is commonly applied in zoos or natural contexts and is exemplified by the application of social norms and persuasions or community-based approaches to environmental problems.

Conservation Psychology is a 3 hour microcourse now available from the exciting new ACS site - LearnHowTo. This is a subscription site comprising hundreds of microcourses which are available to study for a flat monthly subscription. With no study or time limit, or contract term for your monthly subscription - you can cancel at any time - this offers users great value.

Learn about the nature and scope of Permaculture. Permaculture is a system of agriculture based on perennial, or self perpetuating, plant and animal species which are useful to man. In a broader context, permaculture is a philosophy which encompasses the establishment of environments which are highly productive and stable, and which provide food, shelter, energy etc., as well as supportive social and economic infrastructures.

Permaculture Concepts is a 2 hour microcourse now available from the exciting new ACS site - LearnHowTo. This is a subscription site comprising hundreds of microcourses which are available to study for a flat monthly subscription. With no study or time limit, or contract term for your monthly subscription - you can cancel at any time - this offers users great value.

Interested to learn about fruit tree grafting?
Have fruit trees that need pruning?

Come to a Grafting & Pruning Workshop by Chris Evans. You will learn about grafting and winter pruning, and take home 2 trees you’ve grafted yourself.

If you have a favorite apple tree in your garden you want to propagate, you can bring along a branch (scion) for grafting – contact Emma for details. Chris is also looking for scion of named varieties for grafting in his fruit nursery so if you need a tree pruning he is happy to exchange this work for some of the branches !

A weekend permaculture course for parents, teachers and other educators to engage children in all aspects of permaculture. Composed of both indoor and outdoor sessions we will learn how to spend times with children which are child-centred and/or child-led.

We will find out how permaculture ethics and principles can be applied to education, in how we speak, the activities we engage in and in the spaces we design.

We will discover some great benefits of outdoor learning, including relevant research, and learn how to create session plans which engage the whole child: eyes, heart, hands and head, through active participation in a session learning about soil.

We will look at different garden designs both in school and home gardens and get involved in practical activity.

We will learn about the different activities that we can do with children and, more importantly, think about how the way we approach the child can enable us to think of infinite possible activities.

This two day training course is the product of the three year European ‘Children in Permaculture’ project in which best practice has been shared across the continent from Finland to Italy, Scotland to Romania:

​“The future of our planet depends on a change of consciousness, in which the people and the resources of the natural world are no longer taken for granted and exploited without considering long term impacts. Supporting children from early childhood to develop a sensitive, compassionate and cooperative relationship with each other and the natural world is a crucial step in generating this new consciousness” (p. 1, The Children in Permaculture Manual; Alderslowe, Amus & Deshaies, 2018).