Internship Curriculum List

Permaculture Institute Asia (PIA) –  Internship  COURSE

This syllabus below shows the list of available course topics that can be covered during the internship. All subjects can be addressed over a 3 month internship. For shorter internships only partial topics on the list will be covered. We ask you identify the most important subjects to you, make a list and rate from 1 to 3 the importance to you of the topic, then give that list to us on arrival. We will do our best to cover them by rating, but certainly cover them during the 90 day period. Material is subject to addition and deletion and is dependent on time, interest and availability of materials, animals, instructors, seasonal weather, etc.

INSTRUCTORS  – Howard Story PRI Asia and PRI Australia PDC Instructor.   Click here for TEDx talk

OBJECTIVE:    At the end of the course, the student will be versed in the 14 chapters of “Permaculture a Designers Manual”  by Bill Mollison. The student will have practical experience running, designing, managing a Permaculture project and farm site. The student will be familiar with the care and propagation of plants and animals. Will be familiar with budgeting time and resources for projects and maintenance and will learn how to manage volunteers.

RESEARCH PROJECT:  At the end of each month the student will present a permaculture presentation on one of the following topics of their choice (agreed in advance).

Course topics:    Most days are classroom in the AM and then shift to hands on by Noon each day.

  1. Animal Systems, feeding, care and production
    1. Forage, panage and other free feeds
    2. Holistic management and principles
    3. Waste product management and use
    4. Routines
    5. Processing
  1. Alternative energy systems
    1. Biogas
    2. solar power
    3. solar hot water
    4. rocket stove and wood stoves
  1. Composting
    1. 18 day hot compost
    2. 60 day cool compost
    3. Other composting methods
    4. Humanure and compost  toilets
  1. Mulches cutting and application
    1. Local inputs
    2. Where to find mulches
    3. Uses for mulches
    4. Application, amounts and thickness
    5. When to and not to mulch
  1. Forest types and food forests
    1. Prepare the food forest area
    2. Planting procedure
    3. Planting density, placement and niches
    4. Ratios of climax to support species
    5. Chop and drop: principles, coppicing and
    6. Maintaining the food forest
  1. Biological resources
    1. What are biological resources and how are they used
    2. Rotation of biological resources
    3. Material Stewardship
    4. Closed loop systems
  1. Nursery and garden
    1. Establishing a nursery
    2. Shade vs  hot houses and climate
    3. Watering and care
    4. Potting mixes
    5. Plants and when to plant out into garden
    6. Pest control and management
    7. Temperature management methods
    8. Garden maintenance
  1. Seeds, seedlings and propagation
    1. Seed saving
    2. Seed management
    3. Planting methods, times
    4. Transplanting seedlings
    5. Grafting
    6. Planting out into the garden
    7. Watering and care
    8. Composting and fertilizing
  1. Water
    1. Water Resilience
    2. Water Management
    3. Collection, storage, costs, methods, stategies
    4. Keyline point
    5. Dams and swales
    6. Design implementation in gardens, food forests, urban environments and larger scale
    7. Water – slow, stop, soak and spread
    8. Erosion control

10. Soils – “we owe our existence to a few inches of soil and the fact that it rains”

    • Soil, carbon sequestration, water resilience
    • Improving soil
    • Composting and mulching
    • Hugelculture
    • Chop n Drop
    • Cover crops
    • Green manures
    • Nitrogen fixation
    • Plants and guilds
    • Soil food web
    • Soil life forms
    • Horizon and parent materials

11. Earthworks

  • Water resilience design, drought proofing
  • Planting out after earthwork
  • Observation of water flow
  • Designing erosion prevention and control
  • Planting out for erosion prevention

Types of plants for erosion control

12. People volunteer management and skills

    1. Level setting expectations
    2. Routine
    3. Training volunteers
    4. Organizing tasks and people
    5. Talents and encouragement
    6. Liaising between volunteers
    7. Schedule and tasks
    8. Changing volunteers
    9. Tours

13. BioFertilizers

  • Making biofertiliser
  • Brewing the brew
  • Spraying applications

14. Worm farms and soldier fly farms

    1. Worm farms and soldier fly farms: set up and maintenance
    2. Regular feeding
    3. Worm compost and worm “juice”
    4. Methods of use
  1. Building, maintenance, repair and improvement
    1. Maintenance and repair of  structures
    2. Solar passive, principles and methods
    3. Recycling materials
    4. Cement when to use
    5. Natural materials
    6. Water collection
    7. Solar power and roof material
    8. Fencing and other structures
    9. Maintaining the property with minimal expense
  1. Aquaculture and aquaponics
    1. Aquaculture, growing flora and fauna in dams and ponds
    2. Produce and plants
    3. Fish and other water creatures
    4. Small scale aquaponics
    5. Cycling water and nutrients within aquaculture and aquaponics
  1. Resource gathering and storage
    1. Second hand materials for future or immediate use
    2. Sourcing materials in the local area
    3. Finding storage space, storage methods on minimal budget
    4. Wood, rock, local materials and second hand
    5. Bricks, recycled, home made, second hand
    6. Other local materials and their use
  1. Machine maintenance and repairs
    1. Mechanics and maintenance
    2. Finding out what is wrong with a machine
    3. Oil change and other fluids that need replacing
    4. Work space
    5. Pulling machines apart to look for an issue
    6. Putting machines back together the right way
    7. Maintenance on machines
  1. The right tools for the job
    1. Using the right tool for the job
    2. How to know what is the right tool
    3. Returning tools after use
  1. Tools, types, names, uses, maintenance and repair
    1. Types of tools – hand vs powered
    2. Names of tools
    3. Maintaining your tools
    4. Tool repair
    5. Oiling, sharpening and modifying
  1. Produce, harvesting, preparing, storage and preserving
    1. Harvesting produce
    2. Processing and storage
    3. Freezing, sun drying, preserving
    4. From garden to plate principles
    5. Harvesting
    6. Stimulating continuing growth of annuals
    7. Managing the harvest, knowing when to harvest what
  1. Meat production
    1. Processing chickens, turkeys, pigs, cows, frogs, insects
    2. Cuts of meats
    3. Storage and freezing
    4. Gutting, what to use and what not
    5. Checking for parasites in organs
    6. Uses of offal and bones
    7. Uses of fat
  1. Working animals ie: dogs, draft horses, draft ruminants, water buffalo
    1. Working, managing and controlling working animals – dogs
    2. Discipline and rewards