Sustainable Gardening

Teacher(s): Mette Skamris

Lessons: 4 /week

Sustainable Gardening – Design and theory

Globally, biodiversity and ecosystems are under pressure and risks of collapses and extinctions of animal species are increasing. One of the main reasons for this development is industrial mono-culture farming systems, where only one kind of plant, crop or livestock is produced in large scale in an area, often relying heavily on inputs such as chemical fertilizer, energy, pesticides, water and seeds.

In this Folk High School Sustainable Gardening Class you will learn how to develop sustainable designs for gardening and farming systems. You will get a good understanding of the dynamics of nature, nutrient cycles, biodiversity and the permaculture principles, which we will apply in our designs.

We will work with planning and preparing the next gardening season in the IPC Garden, and we will do practical work (outdoor and indoor), such as mushroom growing, composting, seed management, gaining nursery skills and building birds feeding-stations.

Sustainable Gardening – Applied

Sustainable food systems are essential for human survival, but many kinds of food are not being produced in a sustainable way and hence animals, ecosystems and fellow human beings suffer.

As in Sustainable Gardening 1, you will learn about alternative agricultural forms, and you will take part in implementing garden designs at International People’s College and learn how to work in and maintain a garden.

We will work with the permaculture principles, small construction projects, e.g. permaculture beds and walkways, management of invasive species, harvest and eating, bees and honey production, propagation and nursery work.