Intro to Permaculture
Begin your permaculture journey with us!
Audience: Adults, Teens
Duration: 1.5 hours
Level: Beginner & beyond
Whether you are new to permaculture or you are familiar with it and want to get more practical experience, this workshop is for you! Permaculture is a design system that combines indigenous wisdom, observations from nature, and modern technological advancements to create systems that enhance human wellbeing while continuously improving the environment.
Permaculture designs are not only sustainable, they are resilient and exist in a reciprocal relationship with the land. This workshop will teach you how to apply permaculture principles to your home or land to grow food while improving the soil so that future growing seasons are plentiful. We will also cover topics beyond the garden including rainwater catchment, renewable energy, and much more. These systems can help you save money, increase your self-reliance, and heal the planet.
This workshop will give you a better understanding of what permaculture is, what it does, and how you can implement various permaculture design systems at your home or business to become more eco-friendly, self-sufficient, and even lower utility bills.
Intro to Permaculture
$27 per person
$50 for two people
June 7 | September 6| 10:30am – 12:30pm
James (Jim) Matalik
Jim joined Bending Oak in the fall of 2019 and became the Farm Manager in Spring of 2020. He is responsible for the continuing development of the 25-acre educational farm including the off grid infrastructure, fruit & nut orchards, food forest development, hoop house plant propagation and visitor facilities. Jim has extensive training in permaculture including the Permaculture Design Course with Bill Wilson of Midwest Permaculture, Advanced Permaculture Design with Peter Bane, and Restoration Agriculture with Mark Shepard. Jim is a trained and certified Arborist and has over 20 years’ experience in landscape design and operations with a primary focus on habitat restoration using native plants and trees.
Jim holds an undergraduate degree in sculpture from Kent State University and has extensive experience working with different mediums including metal, wood and clay and has a love for architecture . He grew up in rural Pennsylvania which was the catalyst for his love of the natural world. Jim plays guitar and lives in Kent, Ohio with his partner Melissa where they cultivate permaculture principles in their backyard homestead with a variety of small animals and two very loud human children- Olivia and Hayden.