Permaculture Designer, Amanda Harris, and renowned Sintropic Agriculture teacher, Namaste Messerschmidt, are hosting their second annual four day Agroforestry and Permaculture course at Playa Viva from July 31, 2024 - August 4, 2024.

We will blend permaculture principles with sintropic agroforestry theory and techniques to discuss, understand and install a 1/4 hectare food forest in the Juluchuca Watershed. We will work with Don Gabriel, a local regenerative farmer in our community, as well as with the local Women's Cooperative, to design an agroforestry system that meets their specific production needs. 

You will learn techniques and practices to take home to any climate around the world, focusing on designing based on natural patterns and the regenerative management of food production at every strata layer. We will analyze our one year old agroforestry plantings from last years course; get our hands dirty harvesting, and sharpen our scissors to actively learn how and when to prune various species; as well as look at how we move from small-scale plantings to resilient regional and global food systems. 

To regenerate the land and our communities, we must first take care of ourselves; and a course at Playa Viva would not be complete without daily yoga practices on giant platforms with ocean views, and delicious homemade meals from organic, farm-fresh ingredients throughout the day. Come get your hands dirty in the field with us! 

We invite you to join us for this dynamic experience on July 31 - August 4, 2024; which will be taught in both English and Spanish. Every spot reserved and purchased by our Playa Viva community will open a spot for a local agriculturist to participate, as well! 

Arrive early! Spend the full day at the Playa Viva hotel and settle into your home for the weekend. We will begin the course around 4pm with an opening circle and an opportunity to meet members of the Playa Viva Permaculture Team, as well as the community members with whom we are collaborating for the course. 

Our first full day in the field is to remember and learn the patterns of nature. We will discuss how elements move in and through an ecosystem; how to plant and harvest water in a landscape; how to plant seeds and plants today that feed and nourish your garden or system for years to come. 

We will ask big questions like: What role does your community play in the work we do? How can we engage our communities to be their own eco-agents? How and where we can share what we learn in new spaces and create dialogue around the change we are here to plant? 

We will head into the town of Juluchuca and begin work on Don Gabriel's land. Today includes pruning big trees, chainsaws and machetes, organizing material and laying out the plant patterns in the space, sitting and learning at the foot of a tree to remember the patterns discussed the day before; and dancing to Brazilian music while we sweat, dance, hoe and map the land. Bring your garden gloves and high energy! Yoga at the end of the day to stretch it all out. 

Back to the field for the planting day. This is where all the hard work of yesterday pays off; and where we plant much more than just a few seeds and plants in the ground.

We are planting the framework for a regenerative community; we are engaging women and men in Juluchuca to regeneratively manage their own watershed; we are inviting each of you to take these new seeds of knowledge and science back to your communities to be grown there, too. 

Sunday is for you. You will receive a lot of information over the first four days together. You will take notes, do the practical work, ask questions, and have so many new questions bubbling up. Soak it in before you rush back to real life. Sit by the ocean with Namaste and me. Journal from your favorite spot along the private beach. Move slowly, eat slowly, talk with new friends. Let's make sure this is just the beginning, not the end of anything. 

We can't wait to receive you and learn by your side.