AN IN-DEPTH 10 DAY EARTH HARMONY PERMACULTURE WORKSHOP
21 November – 2 December 2024
BY TIM WIGLEY | TERRA-KHAYA | HOGSBACK
When we are free of the illusion that we are separate from nature, only then can we apply techniques such as Permaculture design, which we will explore in this workshop, in a life-enhancing way.
“We must recognise that the only effective programme available as our primary guide toward a viable human mode of being is the programme offered by the Earth itself.” Thomas Berry
We, as a global Western society, have lost our way. This retreat, which I have been running for the last eight years, is designed to help us explore “a way through the woods’’ by Reconnecting with the Natural world.
Once we make this connection there arises from deep within a natural harmonising with Nature where we become one with the Earth’s regenerative capacity. When we are able to live in this life-enhancing way, able to sustain ourselves without harming the planet – to literally live without harm – then life becomes a celebration.
Tim Wigley
The focus of the workshop is to help us reconnect with nature at a deep level. Tim will take us on a beautiful journey, whilst focusing on transmitting his deep love for nature.
Over the ten days of this retreat, we’ll immerse ourselves deeply in Nature. We will experience how effortlessly connecting to the natural regenerative processes can be. It is Nature deeply at work. It endlessly takes place unseen and unknown around us. Slowly imbibing this understanding over these days, allows you to make a paradigm shift, one that will motivate you to work with a sense of your solid connection to the Earth. From this strong place of love and cooperation, we learn to work with Nature in a co-operative way, and not the usual exploitative one that is the current global paradigm.
This is a 10 day live-in retreat offering…
o Early morning gentle warm-up exercise
o Walks around the centre and further afield into the forest and grasslands
o Times of silence every day
o Teaching/sharing ideas/discussions
o Learning basic Permaculture principles and design concepts
o Learning by doing: Implementing “Design Concepts” appropriate to the Centre: e.g. making swales/planting banana circles and raised beds on contour / planting herbs/vegetables/trees/mushrooms…
o Making compost, soil inoculants, and effective enzymes
o Watch and discuss appropriate short films
o We also draw on complementary disciplines: Allan Savory’s Holistic Management; ideas from Japanese farmer/philosopher Masanobu Fukuoka, and others.
11 NIGHTS ACCOMMODATION AT TERRA-KHAYA WITH ALL MEALS
- Inclusive of refreshments and 3 vegetarian meals per day
- Double/Twin Room R6300.00 per person sharing
- Dorm Beds R5450.00 per person
- Camping R4000.00 per person
- Private Room R9350.00 for 1 person only
BREAKFAST AND LUNCH FOR 10 DAYS, EXCLUDING ACCOMMODATION
- Inclusive of vegetarian breakfast, lunch & refreshments.
- Excluding accommodation
- R2100.00 per person
- Dinners at Terra-Khaya optional extra @ R130.00pp
Payment for facilitators on the Retreat is based on a gratuity / dana system. Students are encouraged to contribute what they can afford or what they feel they would like to offer towards the facilitation.
Tim Wigley
It was this love for nature that in 1980 drove Tim to seek ways of farming with nature rather than working against nature, the way industrial agriculture does. Shocked into action by the damage he saw being done to the soil by the use of agricultural chemicals, Tim spent the next twenty years establishing his farm Ikhwezi Lokusa into a highly advanced Permaculture system that has been an inspiration for people who have visited there from all over the world. Later another crisis of conscience drove Tim to focus on sharing Natural Farming with people in villages in the former Transkei and Ciskei. This crisis was also inspired by a love of nature. When Tim saw the environmental degradation occurring in the areas where he was working, he was driven to resign his job as a development coordinator, and form Earth Harmony Innovators. This work has seen the establishment of resilient and productive homesteads in a number of rural villages.
Shane Eades – Earth Guardian at Terra-Khaya
It was in 2007 that I first came to Terra-Khaya with an army of chainsaw yielding, alien-invasive destroyers and clearing team. Two months and a whole lot of cash later, we had conquered the wattle invasion (well at least we thought so). On return, six months later, the wattle was growing back, thicker, faster and thirstier. For a while, I was despaired and broken until it dawned on me, one icy winters day that the only way to rehabilitate the land into a place of diversity was to work with nature and not fight it. The wattle was here for some reason and the only way to proceed in the rehabilitation of Terra-Khaya was to find a way to connect, to celebrate and to work with all that is nature. This was the real start of my deeper relationship with the land, and so we both started to heal.
Chardonnay Vickers, a KZN farmer who is committed to growing healthy food for her children says: “Going through this extraordinary journey with Tim is more than a privilege; I truly feel it is a calling. Tim works from a very authentic place within and has a heart-felt understanding of nature and how she works. It is essentially this which makes learning what Tim teaches a spiritual practice. I felt connected, motivated and
most of all completely able and confident about my next move towards natural living. This course reminds you of your inner wisdom and helps you tap into it.”
Seebena Prescod a student from the United States says: “Tim’s course forced me to consider my place in the world. It helped me to reaffirm why I was interested in growing food. It is a wonder and inspiration to see Tim light up when he talks about his experiences – both in the past, and the continued joy of
learning from observation…. I feel excited to make magic and mistakes, and confident in the foundation I developed during the course. I have found no other Permaculture course that explores humanity’s place in nature so deeply, and is led by someone who can easily be both a mentor and friend. I highly recommend Tim’s course.”
A participant on one of the Earth Harmony workshops said: “I see now that Natural Farming is not just another technology but a way of life”. And this is the essence of Tim teaches us, in creating a deep appreciation for nature and the way ecosystem processes work.
