The permaculture design course has been the foundational hallmark of permaculture education for the past four decades. Permaculture brings together food production and ecological restoration, helping gardeners, farmers and land stewards see how we can create solutions to food inequality, climate change and the ecological crisis. Through permaculture we can all learn to care for the earth, care for other people and do it with justice and equity. With a deep understanding of nature and ecology, permaculturists develop human managed systems to grow more food, support more biodiversity and make positive impacts in their communities. Our permaculture course is taught as a partnership with Three Sister’s Permaculture, Garfield Community Farm and Larkspur Design with certification through the Permaculture Institute of North America.
Learning to map a design takes place in the second half of the course.
Pay Deposit Now to Reserve Your Spot
Beginning in 2024 our permaculture design course has been spread throughout the year with a monthly weekend intensive, usually on Saturdays. Each year’s cohort includes eight to fifteen students committed to finishing their PDC in one calendar year. Instead of doing 80 hours of classwork in an intense two week course we’re spreading the classes throughout the year, giving students time to read, experiment, learn and ask questions between classes. We believe this model for the PDC will create better learning and teaching environments and it will allow students to go deeper into the practices and theory of permaculture throughout the course. The thirteen classes listed below will usually take place on the forth Saturday of each month. Some classes include a full day on the previous Friday and extend throughout Saturday. By completing each of the classes students will complete all other modules necessary to receive their official permaculture design certification through the Permaculture Institute of North America. The lead teachers of these classes are John Creasy of Wild Indigo Guild and Garfield Community Farm, Darrell Frey of Three Sisters Permaculture and Elizabeth Lynch of the Three Sister’s Permaculture..
All photos are from previous courses, permaculture related field trips or of Garfield Community Farm.
Integration of energy production, food and native plants!
Native and edible food forest design and implementation at Garfield Community Farm
The Total cost of the Permaculture Design Course is $2000 minus financial aid. A $200 deposit can be paid any time before January 10th of 2026 with $450 due in February, April, July and any remainder in October. Financial Aid may be applied for and could cover significant portions of the cost for those in need. Students will share a design at the end of the course that may be for their own yard, house or farm property or may be done for someone else’s property. For students looking to use permaculture design professionally, a portfolio quality design may be completed by the end of the course.
Class Schedule
Apprenticeship Volunteer Hours - Throughout the year students will track at least ten hours of work at a local permaculture or urban farm site. These hours are easily done on Thursday evenings at Garfield Community Farm or in collaboration with Larkspur Design.
Design Preparation Hours - Throughout the year students will work on their final projects. Darrell Frey, Elizabeth Lynch and John Creasy are available throughout to meet one-on-one via zoom or in person for consults.
March 28, 2026, 9am to 5pm - “Get to know one another” and Introduction to Permaculture In this class we’ll review the principles of permaculture, as laid out by Bill Mollison and David Holmgren. We’ll consider John’s slightly modified version in the Wild Indigo Guild’s Permaculture Booklet.
April 25, 2026, 9am to 5pm - Methods of Design (Zones, Sectors, etc.) Darrell Frey
April 26, 2026, noon to 5pm - Permaculture and Soul-Care with John Creasy Permaculture designs can only be as good as the inner permaculture of its human designer. In these times of stress, anxiety, political unrest, climate catastrophe, and so much more, we need to prioritize our emotional, spiritual and mental health. Permaculture can help! John is a certified spiritual director and ordained minister along with his 16 years of permaculture experience. Together we’ll try some practices and consider how our wellbeing and bring wellbeing to others and the natural world.
May 23 - 9 to 5pm - Understanding the Design Process with Elizabeth Lynch: .In this class Liz will lead us in the design process including client interviews, deliverables, etc.
June 27 - 9 to 5pm - Water Harvesting and Mapping with John Creasy and Elizabeth Lynch
June 28 noon 5pm - Soil and Compost with Darrell Frey
July 11, 9am to 5pm - Food Forest Design and Practice with John Creasy and Darrell Frey Garfield Community Farm has become a well known and developed temperature climate food forest. This day’s teaching will begin with Darrell Frey’s teaching on the history of indigenous food forests and his experiences around the world in many different food forest designs. John will lead a tour of the Garfield Farm food forest with hands on activities throughout.
August 29, 9am, to 5pm 2026 - Permaculture, Climate Change, Disaster Preparedness, Wilderness survival We’re not preppers, but we’re as equipped and ready as we can be for whatever may come. Every permaculturist should consider how they will take care of themselves, their family and their neighbors in times of need. We will consider how our designs can help us be ready for a warming planet, sudden impulses of extreme weather, and the emergency when we may need to help others survive a natural disaster.
September 19th 9am to 5pm - Urban Permaculture Homesteading and field trips to local sites with John Creasy Each year the tours of local permaculture sites are highlights of our course. This year’s sites will include amazing urban gardens, beautiful suburban landscapes, use of chickens and goats in the city, and much more.
October 24th 9am to 5pm - Season Extension and bioshelter design - Darrell Frey Darrell wrote the book on bioshelters, literally, you should buy it. His expertise in greenhouse design, especially bioshelters, is unmatched. We’ll explore the workings of the Garfield Farm bioshelter and get into simple greenhouse designs from Darrell’s book including poly tunnels, cold frames, cloche containers, bale-house design and more.
November 7th 9am to 5pm - Community Permaculture with John Creasy and Friends The Garfield Community Farm staff will lead a day of digging deeply into the social permaculture of the farm and our work. As a community farm we work with hundreds of students, thousands of volunteers and neighbors and many customers every year. How is the farm a community Greenspace and a productive farm operation? How does the farm manage “earth care, people care, and fair share?
November 21st 9am to 5pm - Permaculture and Sustainable Income Generation - John and Alyssa Creasy As permaculturists we have to get creative to make ends meet. But in our creative endeavors we learn that the ends really can meet if we work hard and build community. In this class John and Alyssa Creasy describe their work as urban farmers, flower growers, arts and non-profit leaders.
December - Design presentations and certificate celebration
Questions or to become a member of this year’s cohort, contact John Creasy, larkspurdesignpgh@gmail.com
