PDC PermacultureStart the free mini-course

GROWING FOOD / DESIGNING WITH NATURE

Grow food you trust.
Create abundance
where you live.

Discover how permaculture can help you grow food, build living soil and design productive spaces that work with nature. Start with the free introduction, build your skills with Russell’s practical video course, or explore the forthcoming full online PDC with Russell Manning and Chris Hill.

Start the free mini-course Explore the beginner course

Get a feel for Russell’s teaching before choosing a longer course.

RUSSELL MANNING & CHRIS HILL Co-teachers of the forthcoming full online PDC

Young plants in nursery trays in the foreground, with a group learning among the trees behind them.
A glimpse of in-person learning · Online courses below

A FREE INTRODUCTION

Start small.
Explore the possibilities.

Experience Russell’s teaching and begin exploring what permaculture could mean in your life.

The existing free mini-course introduces permaculture through videos. Take that first look, then decide whether you would like a more structured foundation.

Start the free mini-course

Get a feel for Russell’s teaching before choosing a longer course.

About the free introduction →
Sunlight catching steam rising from a heap of leaves and garden compost.
Photo: Andrew Dunn · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Unchanged.

FREE TOOL / COMPOST COMPANION

Less guesswork.
More life in your soil.

Not sure what your compost needs? Find a practical next step, explore composting methods and keep a simple pile journal.

Explore the free compost app

Free to use on your phone or computer. No subscription.

PRACTICAL BEGINNER COURSE / AVAILABLE NOW

Turn your garden into
your own farmers’ market.

Permaculture Design Step by Step

Build the understanding to grow food for your family and design a productive garden that works with nature. Learn with Russell through six chapters and under ten hours of video.

A practical next step after the free introduction. Separate from the forthcoming full PDC.

FOOD YOU KNOWSOIL YOU CARE FORDESIGN WITH PURPOSE

THE POSSIBILITIES BEGIN CLOSE TO HOME

Imagine what
you could grow.

Herbs by the kitchen door. Vegetables for the table. Fruit trees that bring shade as well as a harvest. A space that gives more back to the people who care for it.

Perhaps you want to feed your family, make better use of a garden or plan for land you hope to have one day. Learning how plants, soil and water work together can help you choose a thoughtful place to begin.

You do not need a farm to start. You need curiosity about what is possible where you live.

Grow for your tableCare for living soilPlan for your place
A group listening to an outdoor presentation of hand-drawn site designs.
Design thinking and learning together · In-person learning

LOOK AT THE RELATIONSHIPS

Good design starts with understanding your place.

Sun, water, soil, plants and people are connected. Permaculture helps you understand those relationships and make decisions that suit your space, climate and goals.

Where does the water go when it rains? Which places catch the morning sun? What can you realistically care for? These questions help turn an appealing idea into a decision with a reason behind it.

Unsure where to start?

Begin by observing a place you know. Notice what changes through the day and what you would like it to provide. The free mini-course is a way to explore the thinking before choosing a bigger commitment.

FORTHCOMING FULL ONLINE PDC

Learn permaculture with Russell Manning and Chris Hill.

An established teaching partnership with around ten Permaculture Design Certificate courses taught together, Russell and Chris are bringing their shared experience into an online PDC. Learn to connect permaculture principles with practical design decisions and apply them wherever you live.

Meet your teachers

ONLINE PDC / CO-TEACHER

Russell Manning

Russell Manning

Russell is a qualified permaculture instructor through the Permaculture Research Institute. He brings his experience of teaching PDC courses into a practical approach to understanding and applying permaculture design.

Originally from the UK, Russell has a degree in plant biology and trained with Geoff Lawton. His teaching experience includes Love Grows in Colombia. He is particularly interested in birdwatching, medicinal plants and bringing permaculture into education.

ONLINE PDC / CO-TEACHER

Chris Hill

Chris Hill

Chris is a permaculture instructor whose everyday life reflects the principles he teaches. His farm, Finca Sin Fronteras in Colombia, is also where he and Russell have taught PDC courses together.

Born in Wales, Chris studied engineering and brings extensive practical experience with wood, stone, earth and metal. His interests span mechanics, solar installations and gardening. Finca Sin Fronteras is a living school dedicated to sustainable living, organic farming and permaculture.

Having taught around ten PDCs together, Russell and Chris bring a shared teaching approach grounded in practical experience.

PRACTICAL EXPERIENCE / COLOMBIA

Rooted in shared teaching experience.

Finca Sin Fronteras, Chris’s farm in Colombia, is the setting for Russell and Chris’s shared in-person PDC teaching. Their forthcoming full online PDC brings that experience to learners wherever they live.

The online course does not include a farm visit, residential stay or in-person workshop.

Meet Russell and Chris →

Explore their forthcoming online PDC →

Hands pressing earth into a wall within a bamboo framework.
Practical learning reaches beyond the garden.
A group walking through dense planting along a garden path.
Observation in a living landscape.

Photographs show in-person learning. Outdoor participation is not included in the online courses.

FROM A FIRST LOOK TO A WIDER UNDERSTANDING

Choose your next step.

Three distinct offers.
Start wherever makes sense for you.

01 / GET A FEEL FOR IT

Free mini-course

A video introduction to what permaculture is and how it could fit into your life. Experience Russell’s teaching before choosing a longer course.

Free introductionStart the free mini-course

02 / BUILD YOUR FOUNDATIONS

Permaculture Design Step by Step

Turn your interest into a plan for a productive garden. Russell’s six-chapter video course explores soil, trees, water, patterns and practical growing, in under ten hours.

Paid practical course · US$197Explore the practical course

03 / EXPLORE THE WHOLE DESIGN

Full online PDC

Learn with Russell Manning and Chris Hill. A broader permaculture design education, based on the established 14-chapter framework of Bill Mollison’s Permaculture: A Designer’s Manual.

In developmentExplore the planned PDC Waitlist registration is currently unavailable.

BEFORE YOU BEGIN

Room for your questions.

Do I need land to begin?

No. A rented garden, balcony or familiar community space can be a place to start observing. Learning how to read a site can also help you make better decisions before choosing land.

Is permaculture just about growing food?

Food growing is one way in. Permaculture design also considers water, energy, buildings, climate, people and how the parts of a place work together. The planned full PDC follows the wider 14-chapter framework.

Do online courses include outdoor activities?

These are online courses. The photographs show in-person learning; outdoor participation is not included in the online offer.

Which course should I start with?

Try the free mini-course first to experience Russell’s teaching. Permaculture Design Step by Step is the paid practical course: six chapters and under ten hours of video. It is separate from the full PDC. The full online PDC is still in development.

Will the ideas suit my climate?

Local conditions matter. The value of design thinking is in asking what suits your sun, rainfall, soil and goals, rather than assuming a technique will work everywhere.

YOUR NEXT STEP CAN BE A SMALL ONE

See what could grow
from a little understanding.

Start the free mini-course

Start with the free mini-course. Decide where to go from there.