Hello, in this post I want to tell you about my impressions from my PDC course in Greece this spring. Signing up for the course, I wanted to learn more about how to grow healthy plants, create a sustainable ecosystem, build with earth materials and generally learn more about permaculture.
Traveling through beautiful Greece was a real adventure. And the farm of our new friends and permaculture teachers is located at the foot of Mount Ossa and near Mount Olympus. Where titans and gods met and fought their battles.
The first days of our course focused on the social aspect of permaculture. Something I hadn’t really thought about. How to communicate, how to solve problems and in general how to take care of each other and help build a healthier and more harmonious society. And this is essential for the changes we want to see to happen.
The theory is interwoven with many games and jokes and wonderful examples. I had the opportunity to feel the peace and ease of life built in this place, as well as to communicate and connect with interesting like-minded people from different countries.
Next, we continued with the composition of the soil. Here I must draw your attention to how important healthy and fertile soil is for our plants. I would compare it to the health of our gut. In the same way as we need beneficial microorganisms to digest food and have a strong immunity. Therefore, it is important to mulch, not to mechanically process the soil excessively and to enrich it with compost and beneficial microorganisms!
We also paid special attention to mushrooms and mycelia. I had no idea how useful and necessary they are. It’s amazing what connections the mycelium forms underground. I recommend the movie Fantastic Fungi.
We looked at the water cycle and how to store, use and purify it.
We learned about various low-tech solutions and the reasonable use of natural energies and construction with natural materials. We even built a clay oven in which we baked great bread!
We continued with fruit forests, agroforest, three guilds … , which were put into practice and on the farm. We felt like we were in a biodiverse oasis surrounded mostly by almond plantations.
And biodiversity is the key to maintaining the healthy balance of a system!
We ended up with different terrains, zoning and overall permaculture design.
The whole energy of the place is captivating. The COB team is very organized and dedicated creating a very light and friendly atmosphere. And the food… mmmm delicious!
Thank you COB Team Greece! It was so good that when I got back I needed an extra 2 weeks of adaptation.
Thanks also to Green School Village for helping me to participate in the course and experience permaculture!
