What better way for PDC students to learn about earthworks than to do it, and this month Earthworks and Water modules were offered towards a PDC course for the first time? The modules included the usual theory component of the PDC but being very visual and involved in the design and construction of the real on-site project meant learning was accelerated, really beneficial to students learning. An access road was constructed as well as swales, a sediment control pond, a level sill spillway and various drains. The students learned how to survey and most importantly link all the earthworks together in the usual permaculture systems method. It was a PDC and Earthworks course all in one – a fantastic way to learn! Still to come are the chinampas and yet more swales in future courses.
