Farm School MIA to offer the foundational
Building the Small Farm course for Spring Semester
January 18 - April 11, 2016
Classes will be held one weekday evening and one weekend morning for 12 weeks.
Learn Permaculture-based Urban Sustainable Agriculture!
This is specifically designed for people wanting to start viable urban farms in small spaces.
The Curriculum
The fall semester stretches over 12 weeks it contains over 84 hours of instruction and skills learning. We meet weekly in a classroom on weekdays (3 hours) and on we meet on Saturdays (4 hours) on an urban farm for skills-based learning. The topics included are as follows:
• Orientation: the greater everglades foodshed;
• Ecology and Botany;
• Permaculture;
• Whole farm design;
• Site assessment & planning;
• Designing for yield;
• Crop planning for market;
• The nursery;
• Propagation;
• Growing living soil;
• Water harvesting/irrigation;
• Designing for resiliency: working with pests, weed & disease;
• Harvesting & farm record-keeping;
• Post harvest handling & pricing;
• Connecting with farmers’ markets, restaurants, and food hub
Locations
- Weekday classes are on Mondays in Miami (Coral Way & 21st ave).
- Weekend classes will be held at urban farm sites throughout Miami
Days and Times
- Mondays from 6:30p - 9:30p
- Saturdays from 8am - Noon, on some weeks, Fridays from 2p - 6p.
Tuition Options
- Pay in full at discounted price $1,350 for the semester;
- Pay half $700, $700 November 1st.
- Pay $300 now and $300 x 4 monthly payments.
Hint, it's cheaper to pay in full!
About the Teachers
Carolina Alzate is a dedicated Permaculture Designer and Educator who hold a vision to redefine concepts as they have been instilled in us, rethink the basic behaviors in our daily lives, and most importantly, regenerate the earth that maintains and sustains our communities. Her work in Permaculture and background in Anthropology and Agroecology has led her play an integral role in pioneering organizations and businesses within the Greater Everglades Bioregion such as Earth Learning, Urbaneco Development, and Amerikua Permaculture. Currently, she is the Executive Director at Fertile Earth Foundation, a not-for-profit organization with a focus on composting education and the inherent human behavior that we are recuperating to live in a Fertile Earth for generations to come.
Thais Thiesen is a designer, farmer and activist who has been working to restore balance to the earth for over a decade one project at a time. She received her PDC in 1999 at La’akea Community Farm in Hawaii from Douglas Bullock. She studied Landscape Architecture at the University of Florida and is pursuing a Masters in Environmental Science in Agroecology at FIU researching sub-tropical perennial polyculture systems. She helped organize and lived in intentional communities in Pennsylvania, Hawaii and North Carolina where she practiced the art of intensive gardening, raising goats and chickens, harvest preservation and non-violent communication. Her specialties include edible landscaping, perennial crops, and permaculture design. Thais is a partner in the design/build firm FoodScape Designs.
Mario Yanez is has been an ecological farmer since 1996 and began his Permaculture Practice in 2010. He has designed, started and successfully operated several small and midsized farms, as well as sveral local food ventures/projects (farmers markets, food hub, food preservation, edible plant nurseries). Over the last decade, he has creatively taught ecology, ecological farming/gardening, food systems, and Permaculture. Mario is a partner in the design/build firm FoodScape Designs.
