Let’s Get Dirty Certified Permaculture Course

NGOZI, Inc. in partnership with the Department of Parks, Recreation & Enrichment, the Mayor’s Health, Wellness and Recreation Initiative will host its first intensive (72) Seventy-two hour Certified Permaculture Design Course. The goal is to create and develop an urban agriculture institution using Permaculture as our guidelines.

Registration is now open for Let’s Get Dirty Certified Permaculture training, August 4, 2012 through October 20, 2012. This nine week intensive hands-on training and classroom presentations will be another method in re-skilling our community in health and wellness. Eight hours on Saturdays 9 a.m. - 4:30 p.m., Twenty five various community members, students, teachers and at-risk youth will give up their weekends to study urban agriculture, recycling, waste management, land and water conservation and a whole lot more. A Graduation Ceremony will culminate the program with newly trained permaculture practitioners.

We are also seeking sponsorships to support our youth between the ages of 15-25. This age group is the most forgotten and committing most of the crimes in our communities, says Rafiyqa Muhammad who is the sustainability administrator for the Let’s Get Dirty certified program. The cost of re-skilling our youth is much cheaper per person than incarcerating them. These certified practitioners will be able to start their own green business or live a more sustainable life style. Using this type of program could help reduce unemployment rates, reduce crime, teach new skills, and provide valuable information on living a healthier life.

Benjamin Weiss is a certified permaculture teacher, designer and an organic farmer from Lancaster County. He will be facilitating all phases of the certified course. He has studied natural building & permaculture at The Farm Eco village Training Center in Tennessee, urban agriculture at Growing Power in Wisconsin, and received his permaculture teacher training at the Central Rocky Mountain Permaculture Institute in Colorado.

Reservoir Park, 19th & Whitehall Sts. in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania 17103 will be the main training location. Parking is available. Deadline for class registration is July 14, 2012.

Let’s Get Dirty Certified Permaculture Course Outline May Include:

August 4, 11, 18, 2012
  What is Permaculture
  Pattern Understanding and the Importance of Observation
  Concepts, Themes and Methods of Design
  Trees and their energy transactions
  Water and soils
September 1,8,15, 2012
  Earthworks and earth resources
  Various Climate Factors
  Gardening and Small Scale Farming Ideas in Permaculture
  The Humane Use of Animals in Permaculture Systems
  The Built Environment
October 6, 13, 20, 2012
  Strategies for Thinking Globally – Acting Locally
  Design Exercise for the Course
  Certification information & Ceremony
  Permaculture – continuing one’s education

Cost for Full-Certified Permaculture Course is $500.00 per person which includes training, certification, graduation ceremony, and educational materials. $65.00 per person, per course Non-certification is for those who cannot participate in the full nine weeks.

Current sponsorships include Capital Blue Cross, Pennsylvania Council on the Arts, Cultural Enrichment Fund. Payment plans are available, meals and transportation are own your own. For application or more information contact Rafiyqa Muhammad, Sustainability Administrator @ rafiyqam@aol.com or 717-343-6881.

Two workshops coming up!

First week of February:

Hugelkultur is an ancient form of sheet composting developed in Eastern Europe. It uses woody wastes such as fallen logs and pruned branches in order to build soil fertility and improve drainage and moisture retention. (http://kerryg.hubpages.com/hub/Hugelkultur-Using-Woody-Waste-in-Composting)

Two (2) Hugelkultur workshops. All Workshops will start promptly at 11:00 am and run until 3:00 pm.

February 4, Saturday & Sunday 5, 2012 at Reservoir Park 20th & Whitehall Street. (Turn left @ stop sign, drive up hill into park) Allison Hill, Harrisburg, PA. 17103

Workshop fees: $20.00 per person. (4) four workshops $60.00 Check or money order to: Ngozi Inc. You may pay the day or workshop.

Can’t come but would like to sponsor a youth? Contact us for more information. All proceeds support Urban Agriculture Programs. 

Instructor: Rafiyqa Muhammad, Ngozi Inc., Eco Village Director

Third week of February:

Vermiculture is a fun and easy way to turn your food scraps into natural fertilizer for your indoor and outdoor plants and flowers. It is a way to speed up the composting process, and you can do it right in your home--and there is no odor!

This four-hour class is open to everyone! If you are 10 years old (or younger) you must have a legal guardian with you. Each person (or child & guardian pair) pays only $20, and you will take home a worm bin with worms and instruction book.

Expect to get dirty--we will be handling worms--so dress appropriately!

When: Saturday, February 18, 2012, from 11 am to 3 pm at The Boys & Girls Club, 1227 Berryhill Street, Harrisburg, PA 17104. Cost: $20.

Class size limited to 10 people (or child/guardian pairs), so call early to reserve your space!

Register by February 11, 2012 by contacting Rafiyqa at 717-343-6881, rafiyqam@aol.com OR Susan at 717- 805-3612, lunzie1@gmail.com.

Instructor: Susan Norris of Transition Harrisburg.

Our next meeting....

Transition Harrisburg will be gathering at Ngozi Studio, next Thursday, July 29, from 7 to 8 pm.

Because of the number of people interested in moving Harrisburg towards sustainability, we are now meeting every two weeks instead of once a month. As we keep meeting and forming actions, groups and ideas, we will create a local movement away from "business as usual" to a more healthy and interdependent community.

With Transition Harrisburg acting as a "hub" for the greater Harrisburg area, we work together, forming coalitions with other groups and individuals who are also working to bring their lives more in tune with the planet's natural systems.

Ngozi Studio is located at 933 Rose Street, Harrisburg, PA 17102. Phone 717-343-6881. Ngozi is located behind Messiah Lutheran Church. It is a small warehouse with green trim. Come in the door and follow the signs.