The Permaculture Design Certificate gives a good overview of permaculture principles and practice, with an emphasis on design. At Northey Street City Farm, we include significant hands-on practical experience as well. This course is simply the best way to learn how to design your sustainable garden and property.

$1190 per person full fee, $890 concession.

Contact us on 07 3857 8775, 9 am to 4 pm, Tuesday to Thursday for bookings.

More information on the Courses and Workshops page, or email infor@nscf.org.au

Northey Street City Farm has commenced a 26-week training program for people aged 17-24.

• Be part of a team learning permaculture through hands-on experience with organic gardening, tree care, irrigation, propogation and bush tucker in an outdoor classroom setting.
• Assist in landscaping and construction on diverse projects, involving training and experience in the use of power tools, concreting and basic fabrication.
• Gain experience in food production, including prant propagation, planting, maintenance and harvesting through to cooking and preserving.
• Participate in bush protection and regeneration, including erosion control, planting and mapping.
• Learn a wide range of nursery skills.

To find out if you’re elegible for this valuable work experience opportunity, visit the Max Employment website.

Saturday 8 May

Growing Healthy Vegetables
(9am to 12pm)
Learn about seasonal selection, crop rotation, companion planting and other ways to get the best out of your edible garden.

Establishing and Maintaining a Vegetable Garden
(1.30pm to 4.30pm)
Learn how to build, plant and maintain “no-dig” vegetable gardens.

Thursday 13 May

Sustainable Housing and Renewable Energy
(9am to 12pm)
Reduce your greenhouse gas emissions through good design and appropriate technology.  Essential for designing a new house, or retrofitting your existing home.

Sustainable City Living Walking Tour
(1:30 to 4:30pm)
Be inspired by visiting permaculture gardens and sustainable buildings in the inner city suburbs.

Saturday 15 May

Cheese making for cheese lovers
(1.30pm to 4.30pm)
Learn the ancient secrets of preserving milk by making your own ricotta and Indian paneer cheeses. An enjoyable afternoon of hand-on learning followed by a tasting session of local cheeses.

To book or learn more information, please contact us or download a booking form.  Or why not give the gift of sustainable living to a loved one with a Workshop Gift Voucher?

Northey Street City Farm’s Education Team is seeking a part-time supervisor for its Green Jobs Corps Program.

Read full job description and application details.

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Willing to go the extra mile to achieve sustainable living? Northey Street City farm offers a broad range of long- and short-term courses to learn the necessary skills.

• Grow fruit and vegetables sustainably
• Design and develop permaculture sites
• Select and use appropriate technology
• Keep chickens, bees and worms
• Reduce energy and water use
• Build local food systems

We are still accepting bookings for the following courses beginning in February.

Organic Gardening Course (Horticulture Certificate 2)

Identify garden plants and propagate your own; understand and improve your soil; composting and worm farming; manage pests and diseases; design your garden for delicious, year-round harvests; visit other community and home gardens.

Begins Tuesdays 2 February (late bookings accepted)

Booking information

Permaculture Design Certificate

The Permaculture Design Certificate gives a good overview of permaculture principles and practice, with an emphasis on design. At Northey Street, we include significant hands-on practical experience as well.

Every Thursday from 25 February to 3 June

Booking information

Accredited Permaculture Training Internships

For those who wish to gain in-depth practical experience in sustainable gardening and orchard care, and become competent permaculture practitioners.
Approximately 600 hours of practical training will lead to a nationally-accredited Level 3 Certificate in Permaculture.

24 February to 5 November.  Wednesdays 9 am to 4.30 pm, Thursdays 9 am to 4.30 pm and Fridays 9 am to 2 pm.

Booking information

Looking for something smaller?  Stay tuned for news of the single-day workshops on offer in 2010.

We’re delighted to announce construction of the new education building is now complete.  Here are some photos of the final stages:
Stay tuned to nscf.org.au for upcoming launch details!

Click on any image for a larger version.

City Farm seeks to build a durable, robust and iconic community building to meet its education needs and to embody the Organisation’s Permaculture-based philosophy and spirit.

Designed as a public showcase of smart, best-practice sustainable design, it is set to become one of the greenest small public buildings in Australia, and will set a precedent in terms of innovative sustainable design in subtropical Brisbane.

This includes cutting edge features such as the ‘meadow roof’, which uses the latest green technologies to deliver a thin-section, intensively planted cover.  We believ

e that this is the first time this technology has been employed in Queensland.

Other examples are the passive solar design, the use of timbers sourced from certifiable sustainable forests, or alternatively, recycled timbers, utilising straw as a durable building component and introducing earth render as a low embodied energy thermal mass element.

Construction commenced in early 2010.

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Participants in the July 2009 Cob Oven Building workshop displaying their handiwork.

Searching for a sustainable, green and thoughtful gift this festive season? Why not buy a friend or loved one a City Farm Workshop Voucher? Available for either $50 (one half-day workshop) or $85 (one full-day or two half-day workshops), vouchers allow the recipient to choose any workshop from our 2010 program.

The 2010 workshop schedule will be posted on the web site as soon as all dates are confirmed. In the meantime, take a look at our 2009 Workshops to see the huge variety of classes on offer each year.

To buy your vouchers, simply contact us or print out an order form.

As part of Brisbane’s Active Parks program, Northey Street City Farm is offering the following free workshops during our Sunday Organic Markets. Each week you can enjoy a new activity, from family yoga and planting to Bollywood workouts and African dance. Come along and try something new this weekend!

All activites are free and no bookings are required.
Activities will begin at 9:30am each week at the stage area.

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The Tree demonstrates the grounding principles of Northey Street City Farm, our main structures, our main activities and the fruit we bear.

View full PDF chart >>

A message from Karen Shapcott, Arts Coordinator at Northey Street City Farm:

Dear Teachers,

Northey Street City Farm would like to inform you about the exciting Earth Art Project currently being featured at the farm.  Local Brisbane environmental artists  are attempting to create the World’s Longest Painting Made from Mud on Newspaper.  Using newspaper, flour glue and paint made entirely from mud, we are creating a biodegradable, non-toxic and recyclable artwork to show the community just how easy it is to be creative and environmentally friendly.

View the World’s Longest Mud Painting in Progress

The record attempt was started in March 2008 and is currently 350 metres long. It is envisaged that it will reach over 500 meters in length by the finish date of 21 March 2009.  The artwork will be displayed in its entirety on this date at our Earth Art Festival.  This record was originally set in Austin, Texas in 2007 at a length of 111 meters, so NSCF has well and truly set a new record!

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