Distance Education School -Certificate -Study, Learn and Work in Permaculture -Design, Consulting, Education
The course is divided into two main areas, consisting of:
1 The CORE UNITS common to all streams of the Certificate in Horticulture:
(ie. Introduction to plants, Plant Culture, Soils & nutrition, Pests, diseases and weeds and Introductory propagation). These studies provide you with an important broad based understanding of Horticulture which greatly improves your ability to design effective Permaculture systems.
These studies also broaden the employment prospects of graduates enabling them to seek employment in areas such as nurseries, landscaping and garden management. It will give you a neiche that will be valuable for consulting in areas that require natural garden systems and permaculture too.
2. The PERMACULTURE STUDIES
You will be studying Permaculture Systems, Advanced Permaculture and a relevant elective such as Organic plant culture or Poultry.
Enrolment fees do not include exam fees
WHAT YOU WILL DO IN THIS COURSE
- Develop a good understanding of the scientific system of naming plants.
- Discuss some of the aspects which play a part in permaculture.
- Describe how permaculture is different to other forms of horticulture and agriculture.
- Visit an outdoor environment area determine what relationships the living and non‑living things might have with each other.
- Explain contour maps and how this information can be used to estimate potential effects on plant growth.
- Explain weather patterns in your local area. Determine why this knowledge may be important to the permaculture practitionist.
- Explain water within an ecosystem or permaculture garden and its application.
- Describe the differences between the three main types of climate zones (ie: Tropical, Temperate and Desert); and briefly give your views on what major differences would need to be taken in establishing a permaculture system in each climate zone, compared with the other two.
- Explain the importance of trees in a Permaculture system.
- Describe how you would build a no dig garden approximately 10 X 3 metres in size.
- Step by step work through a process of planning changes to a garden to make it into more of a permaculture system.
- Collect and list preplanning information relevant to developing home into a permaculture system
- Write a report explaining the five permaculture zones.
- Create a table listing 50 different pest, disease and weed problems in one column, and an appropriate natural control method for each one in an adjacent column.
- Make a list of companion plants. In one column, list the herb or companion plant.
- Draw a plan for a fruit or vegetable garden which incorporates companion planting.
- Explain briefly each of the companion planting interrelationships you have included in your plan.
- Design a small and simple water garden for use in a permaculture system.
- Design and build an herb spiral.
- Design a vegetable and herb garden based on permaculture principles which would produce enough food to feed you and your family for the entire year.
- List as many different central features as you can think of which could be used in a Mandalla garden
- Outline how to plan and prepare garden zones in relation to animals. Provide step-by-step instructions and accompanying photographs or drawings.
- Contact your state department of Agriculture and obtain leaflets relating to poultry which you are particularly interested in keeping.
- Contact your state department of Agriculture and obtain leaflets (and any other publications) relating to bee keeping.
- In no less than 500 words explain the importance of bees to horticulture and the permaculture garden.
- Develop a 5 year plan for developing a one hectare permaculture farm utilising plants, animals and fish (aquaculture). Use drawings and diagrams where needed to assist in this report.
- Select three different aquatic animals which would be appropriate to grow in a permaculture system. For each one in turn, explain how you would incorporate it into a permaculture system.
- Go to nurseries and agricultural supply companies and inquire about environmentally safe pesticides. Write a report on these products.
- Observe the construction process of a building or structure that involves some type of earthworks (eg, roads, dams, etc).
- Take a photograph of your home or residence. Discuss your residence in relation to designing with consideration to the environment (eg. does it efficiently utilize sun and shade, is it energy efficient).
- Describe the importance of house design in relation to location, eg. tropical region of your locality.
- Contact the local council or health department and inquire about allowable use of waste material in your area. Consider asking about grey water, septic tanks, use of effluent and animal wastes, etc. Write a report to 250 words on the task.
- Contact and obtain information on composting toilets from a manufacturer. Compile this information and use it as a personal reference.
- Contact a supplier of windmills and find out all that you can about the use of these devices for supplying water (ie. pumping from a river, lake, dam, ground water etc). Discover the alternatives available, the costs involved, the applications, operation etc.
- Contact the National Parks and Wildlife department or a conservation body in your locality and obtain as much information as possible on wildlife corridors, conservation, etc. Contact your local council department and inquire about their wildlife corridors, etc. Are they similar or drastically different? Can you think of a reason why there may be a difference?
- For a month period, write down all tasks performed by yourself and anyone who enters your permaculture garden. Submit this work schedule plus a brief report on how it may be possible to improve the time efficiency in the garden.
- Write a report on where you think ‘alternative’ permaculture is heading in terms of main-stream acceptance.
If you want a change, to get your hands dirty and try something new; gain a solid training in Permaculture Design and practices! This course was recently revised to provide even more extensive and solid training for those who want to work in horticulture, especially in the design and care of productive natural garden systems. Graduates may find employment in general horticulture, permaculture design, or natural gardening (eg. in garden/system design, nurseries, teaching, consulting, etc). An excellent starting point for an exciting career in permaculture or sustainable gardening, and the skills you will learn will be valuable for any area of Horticulture too.
FREQUENT QUESTIONS
Why Choose This Course
- Unique course materials (developed by our staff) and more current than some colleges (many reviewed annually); as a result, ACS graduates can be more up to date.
- We work hard to help you understand and remember it, develop an ability to apply it in the real world, and build networks with others who work in this field (It’s more than just serving up a collection of information –if all you want is information, buy a book; but if you want an education, that takes learning to a whole new level).
- Start whenever you want, study at your own pace, study anywhere
- Don’t waste time and money traveling classes
- We provide more choices–courses are written to allow you more options to focus on parts of the subject that are of more interest to you; a huge range of elective subjects are offered that don’t exist elsewhere.
- Tutors are accessible (more than elsewhere) – academics work in both the UK and Australia, 5 days a week, 16 hours a day. Answering emails and phone calls from students are top priority.
- We treat students as individuals –don’t get lost in a crowd. Our tutors communicate with you one to one.
- Extra help at no extra cost if needed. When you find something you cannot do, we help you through it or will provide another option.
- Support after you finish a course –We can advise about getting work, starting business, writing a CV, etc. We can promote students and their businesses through our extensive profile on the internet. Graduates who ask will be helped.
- Support from a team of a dozen professional horticulturists, living in different parts of the UK, and in both temperate and tropical climate zones of Australia.
About ACS
ACS was started in 1979 by John Mason, who at the time was a gardening author, horticultural consultant and lecturer in horticulture at several colleges across Melbourne (in Australia). Over the summer that year John discovered that there were thousands of applicants going to be turned away from horticulture courses at Burnley Horticultural College (now Melbourne University). There were simply too few courses being offered for the number of people wanting to study horticulture in Australia. This situation prompted a move to establish a correspondence course at Burnley; but after months of unsuccessful lobbying for support from government; John wrote a course, and with help from a colleague at Council of Adult Education, marketed it.
Standards were originally set in line with what were seen to be the standards of Australia's top horticultural college; and over the years, those standards have never been reduced. This makes our courses longer and more demanding than some other colleges; but it has also led to us building a credibility that stands tall in the horticulture industry across the world.
In the early 1990's John started visiting the UK and becoming involved with the horticulture industry there. Around the mid 1990's ACS began offering RHS courses, and in 2003, John was formally recognised for his contribution to British Horticulture by being made a fellow of the Institute of Horticulture. ACS, as a school, established an office and staff in the UK in 2001, and has expanded considerably since then. Today it is formally affiliated with five other colleges in the UK (including Warwickshire College); all of who license and deliver ACS courses.
A team of leading horticulturists work for the school's horticulture department, including 12 faculty members in both the UK and Australia
How You Study
- As soon as you enroll, we send an email to explain it all.
- We direct you to a short orientation video (downloadable over the internet) to watch, where our principal introduces you to how the course works, and how you can access all sorts of support services
- You are either given a code to access your course online, or sent out a CD or course materials through the mail (or by courier).
- Work through lessons one by one, each lesson typically having four parts:
- An aim -which tells you what you should be achieving in the lesson
- Reading -notes written and regularly revised by our academic staff
- Set Task(s) -These are practicals, research or other experiential learning tasks that strengthen and add to what you have been reading
- Assignment -By answering questions, submitting them to a tutor, then getting feedback from the tutor, you confirm that you are on the right track, but more than that, you are guided to consider what you have been studying in different ways, broadening your perspective and reinforcing what you are learning about
- Other - Your work in a course rarely stops at just the above four parts. Different courses and different students will need further learning experiences. Your set task or assignment may lead to other things, interacting with tutors or people in industry, reviewing additional reference materials or something else. We treat every student as an individual and supplement their learning needs as the occasion requires.
- We provide access to and encourage you to use a range of supplementary services including an online student room, including online library; student bookshop, newsletters, social media etc.
- We provide a "student manual", that is a quick solution to most problems that might occur
Recognition
- ACS has a highly respected international profile: by employers and academics alike. People are more aware of us than many other distance education schools –just do a search for “horticulture distance education courses” and see what comes up on the internet; or search for ACS Distance education on Facebook or Linked in, and see how many connections we have compared to other colleges.
- Recognised by International Accreditation and Recognition Council
- ACS has been educating people around the world since 1979
- Over 100,000 have now studied ACS courses, across more than 150 countries
- Formal affiliations with colleges in five countries
- A faculty of over 40 internationally renowned academics –books written by our staff used by universities and colleges around the world.
Extra Books or Reference Materials
- The course provides you with everything that you need to complete it successfully.
- Assignments may ask you to look for extra information (eg. by contacting nurseries, visiting gardens or searching the internet), but our school's resources and tutors are always available as a back up. If you hit a "roadblock", we can quickly send you additional information or provide expert advice over the phone or email; to keep you moving in your studies.
- Some students choose to buy additional references, to take their learning beyond what is essential for the course. If a student wants to buy books, we operate an online bookshop offering ebooks written by staff at the school. Student discounts are available if you are studying with us. The range of e books available is being expanded rapidly, with at least one new ebook being written and published by our staff every month.
- See www.acsebook.com for ebooks (available in pounds stirling). We also sell books through our Australian bookshop (selling in Australian dollars) at www.acsbookshop.com
