Twice/month on Saturday mornings, 9:30 AM to 12:30 PM
August 9, 23; September 13, 27; October 11, 25
Enrollment, payment, and refund policy appear below course announcement.
FLOATING TUITION PRICE: As of July 15, tuition price is $60 per month (two sessions) if paid at least a week prior to the first session of any given month. Up to four months may be paid in advance. Single-session price as of July 15 is $35 (if space is available). Tuition price may change at any time and is expected to go up or down to manage enrollment numbers. The price stated on my website may not be accurate. Price can be locked in if paid in advance; refunds not given if price is reduced after prepayment.
Call or email Darren Butler to sign up:
allnet@pobox.com
818.271.0963
Hands-On Gardening, Permaculture, and Self-Sufficiency
The most common request I receive from students is that they learn best by DOING and want more hands-on experience to develop skills they can’t get from lectures. To address that need, I’ll be mentoring students from 9:30 AM to 12:30 PM, two Saturdays per month while we actually design, tear-down, build, plant, install, harvest, and otherwise work and have fun at a small organic farm, Dragonfly Ranch, in Topanga.
What do you want to learn? Dozens of projects are available. Examples include biointensive planning, design, and planting during late summer for hot-weather crops and for fall/winter harvest (yes, there are veggies you can plant this time of year); food forest design, preparation, and installation; ecofriendly terracing using stumps and rocks to make new beds; growing to seed and saving seeds; and permaculture retrofit of a front yard area. We may be building and testing various designs for solar water sills, cookers, showers, and food dryers. Many other projects are expected.
Do you want to transition to serving clients? Tackle design, installation, and maintenance projects under the supervision of an expert, from pruning to grafting, from site measurement and analysis to species selection, or be part of the group that interviews the homeowner and gathers data for a permaculture design. Want to learn how to grow food in So Calif during late summer, fall, and winter? Join the biontensive-planting activities; we may be putting in heat-tolerant edibles, including some that aren’t usually grown in home gardens like moth beans and sorghum, and will be planning and installing a fall/winter vegetable garden. Want to learn the incredibly valuable skill of ecofriendly terracing? Start by measuring grade, angle of slope, and drawing a basic topographic map.
A large number of topics will be covered as projects progress, from gathering technical data to sheet mulching, from swaling to client relations, from pruning to seed saving, from companion planting to soil acidification.
Dragonfly Ranch is a certified organic farm. Our practices will go beyond what is required to maintain such certification into ecofriendly, sustainable, hyperorganic methods.
Space is limited; contact Darren Butler to reserve your attendance. Tuition price may change at any time and may be adjusted either up or down to manage group size. Up to four months’ attendance may be guaranteed in advance at the current rate with full prepayment. Note that I’m keeping costs low because the work you’ll be doing is expected to pay approximately half of your tuition. I plan to keep sessions fun, educational, and free of drudgery, but please come expecting to work.
Course difficulty: 1 to 8 out of 10. Open to anyone reasonably fit and able to do mild to moderate physical work who wants to learn new skills.
Course dates: July 26; August 9, 23; September 13, 27; October 11, 25. Saturdays from 9:30 AM to 12:30 PM. Dates from November onward will vary and are expected to be announced at least two months in advance. Sessions may continue after 12:30 PM on some days, and may be held on consecutive weeks during some months.
Course location: Greenleaf Canyon in Topanga. Access is from Topanga Canyon Blvd, and requires driving more than mile through difficult, narrow, bumpy, sometimes unpaved private and variably maintained roads, with steep dropoffs beside the road in some sections. The site is accessible to normal street vehicles but these must be driven slowly and cautiously.
Course fee: $60 per month (two sessions) if paid in full a week prior to the first session of any given month or $35 per session or on the day of (if space is available). Tuition price may change at any time and the price stated on my website may not be accurate. For those interested, attendance to 24 sessions (one year equivalent) qualifies students for a certificate of completed apprenticeship with Darren Butler. Priority for enrollment will be given to regular attendees.
Reading List (required for a certificate only): TBD, if any.
Darren Butler is a Consulting Arborist, Ecological Designer, and Landscape Specialist. His recent projects include designing and developing food forests in residential landscapes, which are forest-like systems that produce food with minimal maintenance once established. He has appeared on several episodes of "Weekend Gardening" for a large international television audience as an expert horticulturist and landscaper, on NPR radio, in newspapers, and other media. He has taught Sustainable Landscape Design and Diagnosing Plant Problems for the University of California Master Gardener Program in Los Angeles, Small-Space Food Gardening at Descanso Botanic Gardens, and worked with the Getty Villa to develop a gardening-related workshop. He holds many landscape- and plant-related certifications and licenses. In 2007 and 2008 he developed curriculum for and taught certification programs in Sustainable Biointensive Gardening and in Edible Landscaping. He currently serves on a statewide Steering Committee for all University of California Master Gardener programs, and is a speaker at the upcoming 2008 University of California Master Gardener Conference. He has been gardening since childhood, and developing expertise in Southern California gardening since 1996.
Comments from prior students:
"I have been profoundly influenced and very inspired by everything you said throughout your lessons. In particular, I’ve learned and gained so much, especially in such a short period of time! Not only can I use the knowledge I’ve taken away from your courses in all areas of my garden, but many aspects of my life as well!"
"Darren is just so knowledgable. This is a crucial part of the
owner's manual for Planet Earth."
"Darren is an outstanding teacher. He integrates real life to
gardening. He's down to earth, full of laughs and personality. His
enthusiasm is infectious."
"Wow! The idea that so many things are just soil in another temporary
format is pretty powerful. Darren has thought more than any other
person I have ever met. The class was awesome."
"I got so much out of this! Packed full of information that was
immediately usable to me. I love listening to this guy! He knows so
much and is so humble about sharing what he knows. He knocks my socks
off."
"If you want to change your perspective on the world and get deeply
in touch with the Earth, come to this class!"
Enrollment, payment, and refund policy:
Half tuition must be sent to reserve enrollment, with the remaining half due by the first day of class. If full tuition is not paid by the second class, attendance is expected to stop until payment is completed. Full refunds less $50 will be available until seven days before the first session. No refunds thereafter except for cancellation by the instructor. If tentative details change after enrollment has been paid, full refund is available until three days before the first class if cancellation is based upon the change(s).
Payment is by check, cash, or money order and should be sent to Darren Butler, PO Box 920434, Sylmar CA 91392-0434. Contact me if you prefer to pay with a credit card via the internet.
Courses are rated as to my best guess about difficulty from 1 to 10
with 1 being appropriate for absolute beginners and 10 for
accomplished experts.
Courses not guaranteed to carry. Some courses fill up quickly. To avoid
disappointment, please do not delay.
An EcoWorkshops certificate of completed apprenticeship is available.
