It stands for Permanent Agri(culture). It’s an ideology that can be used as a guide when making major sustainable improvements to all areas of our life including our homes, our communities, or our work situations. This ideology offers human beings a way to harmonize with our environment, symbiotically.
Many people first hear of permaculture in a gardening or farming context. But the terrain of permaculture extends far and wide, to include all other areas of human activity as well. Transportation, energy, building, manufacturing, business and finance, social organizations — you name it.
Another aspect that is not so much at the forefront that we believe is highly potent is social permaculture. We believe that an important element of permaculture is being able to facilitate a safe space where all people, marginalized communities, all genders and orientations feel empowered to restructure existing societal frameworks while regenerating ecosystems.
The Earth is a living, breathing entity. Without ongoing care and nurturing there will be consequences too big to ignore.
If people’s needs are met in compassionate and simple ways, the environment surrounding them will prosper.
Take what we need, share what we don’t, while recognizing that there are limits to how much we can give and how much we can take.
“This course change my life from a very deep place in my soul. It gave me the courage to believe in the Earth’s future and my ability to help.”
“I am inspired to steward the Earth more than ever. Even though I have been organic gardening and bio-dynamic gardening for years, I have never felt closer to Mother Nature.”
“This class equipped me with the confidence to utilize the knowledge and realize I already have a great knowledge base and can do what I’ve set out to do! I’m ready to get busy! It has also made me realize that I have a passion for teaching!”
Taelor Monroe is a mother, permaculture specialist, environmental advocate and health coach. She is deeply passionate about helping others heal their relationships with their bodies, themselves, each other, and the Earth.
Educating people about regenerative permaculture practices and design is Taelor’s personal way of seeding food sovereignty, happy soil, and strong communities for the future.
She initially got into permaculture in 2011 as a response to learning how most food is created in industrial farms using toxic chemicals. Growing our own food helps people come together, share resources, and become independent of (or at least less reliant upon) the system. She began growing her own food and “living the permie dream” in an intentional community she co-created in San Marcos, TX called Sacred Roots.
In the Fall of 2014, Taelor earned her permaculture teacher training certificate from Theron Beaudreau. She started doing publicity for the Austin Permaculture Guild, a business that promotes permaculture design courses. It wasn’t long before Taelor was co-running the guild, which she has been managing ever since.
Taelor also helped initiate Central Texas’ Permablitz events with Kirby Fry in 2013. As lead organizer for three years, she planned the monthly events, organized 100+ volunteers, designed the plans, organized the plants on site, and helped install berms, swales, and food forests at schools, churches, community centers, and individual properties.
For a year and a half, Taelor lived on site at the Whole Life Learning Center, studying under master permaculturist Caroline Riley. Together they co-designed the transformation of the property into the flourishing food forest it is today. Taelor helped double the size of the food forest, managed the 10K gallon rainwater catchment system, took care of the animals, and coordinated all the volunteer events that took place on site during her residency there.
To date, Taelor has helped hundreds of clients with assessments, digital designs, and installs of food forests, veggie gardens, rainwater catchment and more. Her success has her currently looking to expand her crew! They recently completed a full permaculture design for Hamilton Pool Vineyards, adding an impressive one acre organic farm to their expansive vineyards.
As a certified health coach, Taelor naturally uses food, herbs, and intentional practices to further help people with their health. Taelor’s work in the world is generating empowered healthy people, thriving communities, and beautified sustainable spaces in her wake.
When she’s not gardening or cooking nourishing meals, she is likely out dancing at live music shows or spending time with her family. You can contact her directly at
or (214) 448-6428.
Caroline Riley is a Texas native who grew up in the garden and free ranging on the Texas gulf coast with her family. She discovered permaculture design while living in Colorado in 2004 and soon incorporated the ethics and principles into her Montessori classroom as a foundation to learn from nature with youth. She completed her first PDC through Austin Permaculture Guild in 2009. She has since studies with Jude Hobbs, Warren Brush and Geoff Lawton.
Caroline founded One World Permaculture in 2010 with the mission to connect and serve people worldwide through the study and practice of permaculture design ethics and principles. OWP collaborates and inspires to create integrated regenerative community, ecology and economy. This project took her on world travels connecting with communities in need through permaculture design projects and evolved into local design and consultation work in Austin, TX.
In 2011 she and her husband founded the Whole Life Learning Center in Austin, TX which is where she currently focuses her creative efforts. This site is an example of permaculture in action. Over the years as the learning center has grown and matured, so have the permaculture systems in place including animal systems, a beautiful forest garden and farm space, the outdoor living classroom and Mutable Earth Botanicals. Mutable Earth Botanicals is a seed to apothecary herbalism practice and small scale plant nursery offering community and clinical herbalism.
With a passion for experiential learning and creative design, Caroline instructs Permaculture Design Courses through Austin Permaculture Guild and herbalism classes through Sacred Journey School of Herbalism. Her goal is to create a unique learning opportunity for her students from her vast experience.
When not at the learning center Caroline can be found with her husband and two children while enjoying the retreat of her South Austin homestead. Contact Caroline at
caroline.riley.carberry@gmail.com
or 512-217-0661
Holistic Site Design & Install Services:
What are your hopes and dreams that you want to accomplish at your property? Do you work at a business that wants to take a step beyond landscaping and add more truly regenerative elements to their property? Then this is the service for you!
Hire Taelor for an initial consultation to discover and document the strengths, opportunities, weaknesses, and threats to your property. During this walk around the property, your specific wants and needs will unfold. Solutions will then be introduced to holistically solve any problems presented during the consultation. If you also desire an integrative design of the space, together we will map out the perfect homestead, community, and/or education center. We will make sure all essential elements including food, water, energy, and/or shelter are represented.
Service Fees:
If you want to become a professional in the permaculture design and install world, this is the class for you. Learn how to use Adobe Illustrator to create detailed, professional, digital permaculture design maps. You will also learn how to create your own permaculture landscaping business, and specific methods of permaculture design, assessment, and application.
Course Start Date: May 5th, 2023
Format: Fridays, 10am-12pm & 1pm-4pm; 1/2 of the lessons on Zoom, 1/2 of the lessons in Person
Location: New Austin Permaculture Guild Location in Del Valle, 78617
Cost: Sliding Scale $600-$1,100
May 5th, 10am-12pm, Zoom: Methods of Permaculture Design, Flows & Sectors, Permaculture Design Principles
May 5th, 1pm-4pm, In-Person: Learn how to assess and observe the flows of water, wind, cardinal directions, soil, microclimates, sun/shade, existing plants, plumbed water, gutters, erosion and more.
May 12th, 10am-12pm, Zoom: How to find contour lines and digitize, how to utilize google earth, using a drone for footage, digital soil survey, 1st Illustrator lesson
May 12th, 1pm-4pm, In-Person, Learn how to conduct a permaculture design consultation, Goals & Solutions, SWOT Analysis, Specific design strategies, Business structure-clients, deposits, designs, installs
May 19th, 10am-12pm, Zoom: Importing the land survey, tracing the survey, how to create a base map, how to digitize flows and sectors
May 19th, 1pm-4pm, Zoom: Apply design strategies on your map, plant placement, digital bed creation, making pathways, best strategies for install
May 26th, 10am-12pm, In-Person: Present the digital design you created to your fellow classmates, and share what you've learned
May 26th, 1pm-4pm (or later ) In-Person: Install a design element onto the Cultivate property, Potluck, Graduation, & Party!
During this design workshop, we will lead you through the phases from assessment of the site, what the opportunities and weaknesses of that particular property are, how to address and use these weaknesses as resources, which design elements to implement, how to portray these design methods digitally, and then finally to the phases of the installation process.
Registration has closed.
*Pre-requisites: Must own or have regular access to Adobe Illustrator during each zoom class. You do not need to specifically have received a Permaculture Design Certificate, but knowledge and direct experience with permaculture design and application is a must. Please email or call Taelor if you are confused about any of these requirements. *
To register for this course, submit your $300 non-refundable deposit below. This course is sliding scale, and follows a payment schedule. Your 2nd payment of $200 will be due on April 28th, and your final payment of $100-$500 will be due on your first day of class.
There is one scholarships available for this class. Please email Taelor at taelor AT austinperm DOT com to submit your letter of intention and why you think you should receive this scholarship.
Dates: June 8 – June 12, 2023 (Inquire via email if you can only attend Saturday & Sunday)
Location: Del Valle, Texas at the new 2nd Location for the Austin Permaculture Guild
Cost: Sliding Scale $500-$1,000
We are so excited to be hosting this introduction to Cob and Permaculture Workshop! It is located at the new 40 acre property that is the new 2nd location of Austin Permaculture Guild in Del Valle. You will receive an introduction to permaculture design and practice, and we will build a cob bench and earthen floor. A perfect project for beginners and experts alike! This is a great foundation in natural building, but also has plenty to offer for those who know their stuff already.
This workshop will help you figure out when/where it is appropriate to build cob benches, ovens, and buildings. The main benefits of cob versus conventional building is the natural materials that are far greater for our health, most materials we are able to source locally, and there is a lot more artistic and beautiful designs that come from this type of building.
Natural Building and Permaculture Hands-on Experience:
This workshop covers the full design process using permaculture techniques and hands-on cob building practice. This is a unique opportunity that will give you hands-on knowledge so you will have the building blocks to create your own cob bench, oven, floors, and structures from earthen materials. We will also talk about the flows of water and drainage, to make sure you have the proper tools for planning out these natural systems.
Each workshop day is from 9:30am-4:30pm, with breaks and an hour break in the middle for lunch. Camping is available with natural shade, but the site location is only 15 minutes east of downtown Austin. This event will also be catered with locally sourced lunches (included in the ticket price)! Please let us know on your intake survey if you have certain dietary preferences/restrictions.
Location: Cosmos Ranch – Del Valle, TX 78617
Course Dates: June 8-12, 2023
Our Summer 2023 Permaculture and Cob Workshop is currently open for registration.
We provide a sliding scale tuition format. YOU choose the best amount within the range provided that works for your budget. We have found that this format supports accessibility to these offerings.
To register please submit your $250 deposit through the Buy Now button below. After you have submitted your deposit, please fill out our form that auto-populates after you leave PayPal. Please reach out with any questions.
TUITION FORMAT
The tuition rate for the 5-day workshop is $500-$1,000. You can make your $250 deposit below.
Tuition for Saturday and Sunday only is $250. You can pay in full below.
SCHOLARSHIPS
We offer reparation scholarships for this workshop for our BIPOC community. These full ride scholarships require no payment in exchange for taking the course. If you would like to apply for this please submit a letter of intention attached in an email addressed to Taelor at taelor AT austinperm DOT com.
The natural building portion of this workshop will be taught by Jessica Shockley. Jessica is a professional natural builder from Austin Texas. She has worked on over a dozen natural building projects in Texas and Mexico ranging from cob benches, and ovens, to two story homes. Jess has experience building with various different methods and materials such as hempcrete, adobe, and strawbale but her specialty is with cob. Before she began building, Jess studied Environmental Geoscience at Texas A&M University. After graduating Jess tried out various field biology jobs, traveling to Alaska to work on fishing boats, the gulf of Mexico to work on seismic vessels, and at home mapping caves. Her true passion, however, is in natural building because of the many problems it inherently solves. Her only goal now is to help others find the tools they need to live a more sustainable and connected life.
Taelor Monroe of the Austin Permaculture Guild will be teaching the Introduction to Permaculture Design and will also be the site host and course organizer. Taelor is a mother, permaculture specialist, environmental advocate and health coach. Her work in the world is to empower people, build community, and beautify sustainable spaces along the way through education and implementation of permaculture design and practices. She runs the Austin Permaculture Guild, and has been a pillar of the permaculture community in Central Texas for over a decade.
Facilitated by Caroline Riley and Taelor Monroe
Austin, TX and the surrounding area is unique in that we are home to many mission driven organizations working to build sustainability and community. This course is designed to connect the participants with many local organizations with an array of missions so that you can continue your permaculture practice and outreach for years after you’ve completed this course. We are also committed to learning real hands-on practices so that you feel confident in building a garden, growing your own food, and getting the resources together for a wide array of restorative projects. Students will finish this course with a toolbox of design techniques and strategies as well as connections with organizations and people who can help guide them towards new opportunities to learn, volunteer and work in various fields of interest related to sustainability.
Required reading: Gaia’s Garden by Toby Hemenway.
This course includes virtual learning and hands-on guided lessons from facilitators Caroline Riley and Taelor Monroe. It features hands-on learning activities, including your final site design project. Each lecture will have additional readings for reflection and additional resources for personal extensions. The final design project sites are chosen from students’ properties. Each student will create a conceptual permaculture design map and choose at least one dedicated area to solidify in all of the details needed to implement. For more details about the content and schedule, scroll down this page.
Online Only 5 Week Course
Online 5 Week Course: Tuesdays & Thursdays 12:00pm to 3:00pm
Take it from anywhere, all classes recorded
Personalized follow up activities to deepen understanding on each module and support your design process.
Opportunities to connect in person and volunteer weekly at Whole Life Learning Center.
Full Permaculture Design Certificate Course
Online 5 Week Course + Weekly Hands-On in Person Sessions
Take it from anywhere, all classes recorded
Personalized follow up activities to deepen understanding on each module and support your design process.
Permaculture Design Project and Certification
Weekly Hands-On learning every Saturday 10:30am-3pm
PERMACULTURE DESIGN COURSE SCHEDULE
Day 1 – Tuesday, September 5, 2023 12:00pm-3pm via Zoom
Intro to Permaculture, Ethics and Principles of Permaculture
Day 2 – Thursday, September 7, 2023 12:00pm-3pm via Zoom
Permaculture Design Methods
Day 3 – Saturday, September 9, 2023 10:30am-3pm at Whole Life Learning Center (78748)
Intro to Permaculture design mapping, Intro to design project to design your own property, a friend’s/relative’s property
Day 4 – Tuesday, September 12, 2023 12:00pm-3pm via Zoom
The Living Soil
Day 5– Thursday, September 14, 2023 12:00pm-3pm via Zoom
Earthworks, Ponds, Berms & Swales, Rain Water Catchment, Grey Water, Black Water
Day 6 – Saturday, September 16, 2023 10:30am-3pm at Cosmos Ranch (78617)
Earthworks & Hands-on Soil
Day 7 – Tuesday, September 19, 2023 12:00pm-3pm via Zoom
Vegetable Garden Design & Companion Planting
Day 8– Thursday, September 21, 2023 12:00pm-3pm via Zoom
Food Forest Design, Medicine Garden Design, & Herbalism
Day 9 – Saturday, September 23, 2023 10:30am-3pm at Whole Life Learning Center (78748)
A day with the Forest Garden – Propagation
Day 10 – Tuesday, September 26, 2023 12:00pm-3pm via Zoom
Design Methods in Practice
Day 11– Thursday, September 28, 2023 12:00pm-3pm via Zoom
Natural Living & Natural Building
Day 12 – Saturday, September 30, 2023 10:30am-3pm at Cosmos Ranch (78617)
Hands-on building with Cob!
Day 13 – Tuesday, October 3, 2023 12:00pm-3pm via Zoom
Animals in design, Sustainable Food Systems
Day 14– Thursday, October 5, 2023 12:00pm-3pm via Zoom
Invisible Structures & Design Presentations
ONLINE COURSE COMPLETION
Day 15 – Saturday, October 7, 2023 10:30am-3pm at Whole Life Learning Center (78748)
Sharing Circle, Design Certificates & Ritual of Completion
Locations: Whole Life Learning Center – 10801 Old San Antonio Rd, Austin, TX 78748 and Cosmos Ranch – Del Valle, TX 78617
Course Dates: September 5, 2023 – October 7, 2023 (exact dates shown above in schedule)
Our Fall 2023 Permaculture Design Certificate Course is currently open for registration. The online lectures portion of this course is scheduled on Tuesday and Thursday afternoons, 12:00-3pm, over 5 weeks.
Hands-on learning days are every Saturday from 10:30am-3pm. More hands-on time will be available every Friday at Whole Life Learning Center.
REGISTRATION AND TUITION
We provide a sliding scale tuition format. YOU choose the best amount within the range provided that works for your budget. We have found that this format supports accessibility to these offerings.
To register please submit your deposit through the Buy Now button below the format you choose. After you have submitted your deposit, please fill out our form that auto-populates after you leave PayPal. Please reach out with any questions.
SCHOLARSHIPS
We offer reparation scholarships for this workshop for our BIPOC community. These full ride scholarships require no payment in exchange for taking the course. If you would like to apply for this please submit a letter of intention attached in an email addressed to Caroline Riley at mommacaroline AT gmail DOT com.
ONLINE ONLY TUITION FORMAT
The tuition rate is $500-$800 for the online lectures only. A $200 non-refundable deposit is required to secure your spot.
ONLINE + HANDS-ON SESSIONS: FULL PERMACULTURE DESIGN CERTIFICATE COURSE
The hands-on portion of this course is open. Please click the Buy Now link below to register for the FULL Permaculture Design Course.
The tuition rate is $800-$1200 for the online lectures + hands-on sessions. A $300 non-refundable deposit is required to secure your spot.
A donation to the Austin Permaculture Guild means more outreach in all areas of our organization. We get to host more workshops, have more community building events, sponsor events and other non-profit organizations
Austin Permaculture Guild is a societally supportive platform meaning it is our main goal to help Austin thrive by growing in environmental awareness and action. We do this through our education courses, supporting our local neighbors grow food, and by creating an outlet that connects people to regenerative organizations.
Membership Tiers and Perks included (this is a tax deductible donation):
**These perks are based on a yearly membership commitment. They can be taken away at any point in time if a member decides to cancel their membership before a year’s worth of contributions.***
**All donations made in partnership with Whole Systems Network**
Whole Systems Network: A national nonprofit dedicated to funneling funding to environmental grassroots causes. They do this by hosting events, providing educational trainings, and managing an online resource platform. Our main goal is to help livelihoods thrive within the movement. We are a fiscal sponsor of the Austin Permaculture Guild.