Registration is now open for our Permaculture Design Course
March 2025 – December 2025
Lead Instructors:
Tamara O’Brien
Tamara O’Brien is permaculture and native garden designer. She has a Permaculture Design Certification and does consulting work where she fills many roles: garden facilitator, ecorestoration consultant, grant reviewer, mentor, coach and pollinator advocate. She is the founder and director of a nonprofit for pollinator awareness, Plant it Further. Their mission is to educate the public on the importance of native pollinators and their relationships with the native plants they have coevolved with. Tamara is also the co-founder of the Western Pennsylvania Area Wild Ones Chapter. She served three terms as president and is now Program Director and Symposium Chair.
Tamara has had a life long relationship with Earth care, not just hiking the woods in Western PA but also spending her summers visiting her mothers family in Hungary on their third generation biodynamic farm. There she spent many hours playing in the fields and picking vegetables with her family to take to the farmers market. Tamara started her college education at The University of Pittsburgh but moved to Hungary in her junior year to finish her studies at The Corvinus University in Budapest. While she was mostly taking business classes she also took some classes in biodynamic farming. After college she worked in the family business managing multiple day spas and making the organic skin care products they used in the spa. It was not until 2020 that Tamara began her second career in Eco-restoration and Permaculture consulting; but she was always deeply connected to the natural world around her, understanding the value of growing her own food and supporting local sustainable food systems. She planted her first permaculture garden in 2007 on the 8 acres she lived on at the time. She has created many different growing spaces since then, always embracing the opportunity to consult and design functional, regenerative spaces. Tamara is also a lifelong learner and very passionate about sharing the knowledge she acquires with others.
Darrell Frey
Darrell Frey has been a permaculture consultant and teacher since 1987. He earned a BA in Sustainable Community Development from Prescott College and holds Diplomas of Permaculture Site Design, and Permaculture Education from The Permaculture Institute of North America (PINA). He currently sits on the board and serves as the treasure for PINA. He is a lifelong learner with a strong background in horticulture, natural sciences, regenerative systems and permaculture design. He has extensive practical experience in small business management, homesteading, construction and project management.
Darrell’s permaculture journey began after reading an interview of Bill Mollison in Mother Earth News Magazine # 63 in November of 1980, and subsequently reading Permaculture One and Permaculture Two. In 1982 Darrell attended a weekend Permaculture workshop at Stonyfield Farm in New Hampshire, where he asked Bill how to bring permaculture to Western Pennsylvania. Bill encouraged Darrell to pursue his ideas to develop what became Three Sisters Permaculture Farm and Bioshelter. After six years of intensive self guided study of permaculture, Darrell completed a permaculture design certification course in 1986. He facilitates workshops and delivers keynote presentations on permaculture design, perennial polyculture management and ecological land use planning, and has been a sustainable community development consultant and permaculture teacher for 30 years. Darrell writes extensively about the principles involved in regenerative, organic agriculture and is the author of Bioshelter Market Garden: A Permaculture Farm. He also co authored The Food Forest Handbook.
John Creasy
Rev. John Creasy is the founder of Garfield Community Farm and the Farm’s Executive Director. He is also a Pastor at The Open Door Church, a missional church community in the Pittsburgh neighborhood of Garfield. Since its inception Garfield Community Farm has been a place of experimentation around sustainable urban food production, ecological restoration and community activism. There John teaches Permaculture courses, delivers talks and provides educational opportunities for everyone who comes to Garfield Community Farm to learn and grow.
In 2024 John launched a new endeavor called Wild Indigo Guild which is designed to help congregations connect appreciate the natural world and take action onclimate change and biodiversity. John lives with his family a mile from the farm in Stanton Heights where they practice permaculture in their 90 year old home with rainwater collection, solar power, off grid heating and a backyard food forest. In addition to farming John and his wife Alyssa create music together as This Side of Eve.
In Person Guest Instructors/Tour Guides:
Jake Kristophel ~ https://fallenaspenfarm.com/about
Adam Haritan ~ https://learnyourland.com/
Greg Boulos ~ https://www.blackberrymeadows.com/community
Dylan Lew ~ https://www.ecotonerenewables.com/about
Laurie Maglietta ~ https://extension.psu.edu/programs/watershed-stewards/about
Christina Joy Neumann https://www.co-nectar.org/mission
Virtual Instruction:
Tamara O’Brien
Darrell Frey
Mitch Rawlyk ~ https://www.mitch.earth/
Nick Liadis ~ https://birdlab.org/
Jared Rosenbaum ~ https://wildplantculture.com/about
This design course is for you if you are a farmer, grower, business owner, backyard gardener, land steward, budding designer, changemaker or just a human being passionate about holistic earth care practices. Whether you are just beginning your journey into the world of growing or you have been tending the Earth for many years, all levels of knowledge are welcome.
Learn to design gardens, farms and landscapes following the same principals nature uses to create healthy and abundant plant communities. Observing patterns, rhythms and shapes that occur naturally and bringing these functions into our system designs.
Learn ways to incorporate holistic earth keeping practices that have been utilized by indigenous people, eco restoration specialists, organic farmers and eco conscious landscape designers. Dive deeper into the local Western Pennsylvania pallet of native plant ecotypes and learn how to utilize them in designing systems that benefit plant, animal, insect and human life. Working with native plants to increase pollinator activity and thus also increasing desired yield.
Learn how to use permaculture design principles to create any number of interconnected, regenerative functioning systems. Thinking beyond the landscape into building design, company structure, community based decision making, and many other human systems.
Upon completion of this 72 hour course and final project you will be issued a Permaculture Design Certificate recognized by PINA (Permaculture Institute of North America). Course must be paid in full and course work/hours must be completed in 2025, but allowances will be made for those needing to present the final project at a later date in May of 2026.
In person schedule:
March 22nd ~ Garfield Urban Farm 11am-3pm
Introduction to Permaculture Design Principles
We will learn how to observe, plan and implement designs that are ecologically sustainable, function with regard to the natural world around them and invite plant, animal and human life into the spaces we are creating. This will be your first lesson on mapping and how to get creative with the process.
April 19th ~ Fallen Aspen Farm 11am-4pm
Native Plants of Western PA
We will learn how to utilize native plants in Food Forest Production and in Agroecology.
Rather than relying on the typical Permaculture plant pallet, that is not actually native to our Western Pennsylvania landscape we will go over the many different options you have to use in your design that can perform the same functions while also supporting our native pollinators.
May 17th ~ The Lodge at Waters Edge 11am-8pm
https://www.thelodgeatwatersedge.com
Community Care, Self Care and Fair Shares ~ How to Create Balance
This day will be centered around restorative practices that invite you to find balance and mindfulness into our lives and our design practices. We will hike together, experience a cacao ceremony with reiki sound healing, move into light (optional) yoga, spend time observing the birds that fly through the gorge, make a meal together and enjoy a drum circle around the fire.
We will also learn to invite nature into our design philosophy, learn to perform water testing and learn about community driven business models.
June 21st ~ Garfield Urban Farm 11am-4pm
Soil Health and Working with Amendments
This class is all things soil. We will cover growing organic content in your soil, how to backyard compost effectively, how to test, different ideas for building soil health, compost teas and more. We will have a visit from Ecotone Renewables Dylan Lew to share about Soil Sauce and how their product not only helps plants grow but tackles community food waste. We will also learn about biochar, how it is made and the amazing benefits these tiny carbon hotels can bring to your growing sites.
July 19th ~ Witchazel Natives (Sarver PA) 12-3pm Blackberry Meadows Farm 3:30-5:30pm
Planting, Directing, Mapping and Harvesting Water
This class focuses on the different ways we can plant water where we want it, set up systems to capture rainwater, harvest water runoff, and redirect water to benefit the land, animals and the humans who share the landscape. We will start in Sarver with a visit from Christina Joy Neumann of CoNectar, she will teach honey beekeeping basics and share vital habitat requirements for a healthy colony to thrive on your property. We will then practice water mapping on the hilly property that moves water very well. From there we will move 8 minutes down the road to Blackberry Meadows Farm where we will learn how they redirected water from an underground spring to keep pastures dry and have a constant source of water for the farm.
Plant water and grow healthy soil!
August 16th ~ Wolf Creek Narrows 11am-4pm
The Forested Landscape
This class will be led by Adam Haritan. We will learn about the interconnectedness of the forest and all the organisms that live together in a symbiotic harmony. We will learn about indigenous land care practices, simple tree and plant community identification and learn about mushrooms and the mycorrhizal system that feeds and supports all healthy ecosystems.
September 20th ~ Fallen Aspen Farm 11am-4pm
Animal Care, Rotational Grazing, Deer Management
In this class we will have the opportunity to see rotational grazing in practice, learn how animals doing what animals do helps restore balance to the land, see how pig behavior helps create habitat for indicator species to thrive, and witness the love and care that goes into raising healthy animals to create a local sustainable food system looks like.
October 18th ~ Fallen Aspen Farm 11am-3pm
Yes, the class day got shorter ~ and we will be studying phenology, how it relates to design strategies, how to use cues from past and current weather patterns to design for climate resilience, and how to plan for disaster prevention. We will also spend time planting trees for the ever growing food forest at Fallen Aspen and hear about different ways to engage with the community and local organizations to steward the land that is not our own personal property.
All our ancestors stewarded the lands they lived on, all our ancestors understood the interconnectedness of us all and saw value in caring for the land in and around their communities. We all need to steward the land we live on for ourselves and future generations.
November 15th ~ Garfield Urban Farm 11am-3pm
Less Tangible Permaculture Principles
What does Permaculture look like in business, in city infrastructure, building design, in community planning? We will hear from some local experts and city planners about projects that have been designed with a holistic whole system approach. We will also learn how to bring permaculture philosophies into our everyday life so that we can start to be the change we want to ignite in the world.
December 6th ~ CoNectar in Millvale 11am-3pm
https://www.co-nectar.org/mission
Closing gathering with Final Project Presentations
This will be our last gathering. We will have a short class on the non native but wonderful honey bee. We will enjoy another sound healing with a tea and honey ceremony while we express gratitude for the Permaculture work we get to do in this world. Everyone will present their final project ~ technology will be available if your project is on the computer.
Cost for course is $2200.00
$1100.00 due upon registration
$1100.00 due by June 1st 2025
*$200.00 discount if paid in full at registration.
Please reach out to plantitfurther@gmail.com if cost is prohibitive ~ Plant it Further has provided some funding for partial scholarships.
* All virtual sessions will be the 1st or 2nd Wednesday of the month from 6-8pm , lectures will be recorded and you will receive slides but attendance is strongly suggested.
* Light lunch will be provided for all in person Saturday sessions.
* May 17th class will have light lunch and farm to table dinner provided.
* There will be light hiking involved in this course and all Saturday sessions are outdoors.
* Water refill stations will be available at all classes other than Wolf Creek Narrows ~ please plan ahead for enough water that day.