Education and Tours
Jump on one of our regular offerings...
We usually run one four day Introduction to Permaculture course a year in the July school holidays and two weekend Food Forest Workshops, at King’s Birthday weekend and again late winter/early spring. Seed Sowing workshops are usually in spring and autumn, the latter being part of a longer propagation workshop which can be combined with the food forest course for a three day weekend. We also run Start Your Own Edible Garden Workshops for beginners at various times. Tours of the whole farm are usually offered through Spring.
Or talk to us about how we can help....
We can also tailor courses, workshops and tours to your specific needs. Whether you are a business, kindy, school, community garden, marae, group of home gardeners or mums with littlies, let us know your wishes and we can arrange times, content and costs to fit.
Your Tutor / Host
Kia ora, I am Jo Duff, and I have been teaching permaculture, sustainability and gardening courses since 2005 for organisations such as Environment Centre Hawke’s Bay, Taruna Organics & Biodynamics Certificate, the Building Biology & Ecology Institute and Lotus Holistic Centre. I taught horticulture at Eastern Institute of Technology (EIT) for four years, and have run courses and workshops here at Kahikatea Farm since 2010. I love to share what we’ve done on the farm over the last 20 years, what works and what doesn’t, and allow others to share their knowledge so we can all learn together. I have a background in teaching and teacher training (Bsc Hons Linguistic & International Studies, Dip. TESOL, Cert. NCALNE). I studied Organic and Biodynamic agriculture in Melbourne and have done two PDCs (Permaculture Design Certificates), studying under Morag Gamble at Crystal Waters Ecovillage, and Geoff Lawton in Taranaki. In 2019 I studied Syntropic Agroforestry with Permadynamics in Northland and in 2020 I completed a Certificate in Kai Oranga – the practice, protocol and language of growing healthy, ‘clean’ food according to Māori tradition.
One of the best courses I have attended, A balance of theory and practical. Jo is an excellent teacher who shares her knowledge and wisdom freely
Dr Melva Martin
