News & Events
Forest Garden & Crafts Day with Susannah Hall
Thursday 4th April 2024, 10am–12:30pm and 1:30-4pm
Edible Landscapes London, Finsbury Park
Come along for fun making cool felt pots and bags out of wool. Felting wool is an ancient craft that provided our ancestors with warm clothes, shoes, rugs and even tents. In this workshop you will learn about the unique quality of sheep’s wool which means it turns into felt and get hands on making felt pots or bags. We’ll be using wool from the Jacob’s sheep at Kentish Town City Farm as well as some that has been naturally dyed. Please book your place via Eventbrite.
Gardening with Nature sessions at Cecil Sharp House
Friday 5th April, Friday 19th April, 11am-1pm
Cecil Sharp House, 2 Regent’s Park Road, London NW1 7AY
Come and join these Gardening with Nature sessions at the permaculture garden. We will be planting salad and edible flower seeds for the summer, checking the irrigation, wicking reservoirs and mulching. Cecil Sharp House is a Permaculture Learning and Demonstration Site (LAND project). If you’d like to come along please RSVP to info@permablitzlondon.com
Investigating biodiversity in your garden
Saturday 6th April, 2pm-5pm
Kentish Town City Farm, 1 Cressfield Close London NW5 4BN
Are you an urban grower? Do you want to learn more about the creatures in your garden ? Join this Capital Growth training session at Kentish Town City Farm to learn more about the creatures that make up your garden ecosystem and how to create more habitat for them? Join Susannah Hall from Permablitz London and ecology experts in a mix of theory and practical activities at Kentish Town City Farm. More info and booking at the website. Flash sale: use code SPRING50 to get 50% off.
Battersea Arts Centre Permablitz
Sunday 7th April, 10am-4pm
Battersea Arts Centre, near Clapham Junction
This is the final of a series of permablitzes to install the community garden at Battersea Arts Centre. The garden is a thank you from Battersea Arts Centre to the local community who so generously helped after the fire in 2015. At this permablitz we will be planting perennials, making bee hotels for solitary bees, planting summer bulbs and herbs. We will also plant seeds for summer salads for people passing to pick on their way home and annual flowering plants to provide colour and food for pollinators. Mini workshops will include:
- A presentation about the permaculture design for the garden
- How to make bee hotels and who are the solitary bees that will use them?
Lunch will be provided and there will be activities suitable for all, including children – everyone is very welcome!
Booking Essential: If you want to come along you need to let us know so we know numbers for lunch, which is provided, and we can give you all the specific details. Book your place by emailing: communitygarden@bac.org.uk
Dream Big, Take Small Steps: The Story of Sol Haven with Sammuel Yisrael
Tuesday 9th April, 6:30pm-8pm
Online
All big dreams are rooted in a purpose and Sol Haven’s is to grow community well-being through a profound reconnection with nature. Sammuel and Natasha from Sol Haven, run a sustainable permaculture farm and an educational rejuvenation centre engaging over 500 people each year to nurture stronger communities, enable individuals to lead healthier and more active lives, hone essential life skills, combat social isolation, and instil the confidence required to face life’s challenges. This event is free to Permaculture Association members and £6 to non-members. For booking see the event page
City and Guilds Level 1 Award in Practical Horticultural Skills
Starts Friday 12 April, ends Friday 24 May 2024, 10.30am – 4.30pm
Hawkwood Plant Nursery, 115 Hawkwood Crescent, Chingford, E4 7UH
Run by Organic Lea, this course is for those who want to gain basic horticulture skills. The course is designed to build basic and technical skills for anyone who is thinking about working as a gardener or who wants to enhance food production knowledge for the home environment. You will be studying in our community market garden environment with a blend of classroom guided learning and practical tasks to practice techniques and seek guidance when needed. More information and booking at For more details and booking see website
Twilight Bat Watching Walk
Friday 12th April, 6:45pm-8:30pm
Forest Farm Peace Garden, Hazelbrouck Gardens, Ilford IG6 2XL
Join our experienced guide as we walk through the garden looking for bats in the night sky. There will also be a chance to spot newts in the pond and uncover lizards as they sleep. More details and book tickets at the event page
Gardening with Nature – Martine Drake
starts Saturday 13th April – 3 sessions
Edible Landscapes London, Finsbury Park, London N4 2NQ
Martine Drake is a permaculturist with a degree in Agricultural Botany. Her previous Gardening with Nature courses have sold out at ELL and we are excited to host her in 2024. She has come to realise that understanding plants as being like people makes gardening easier and more likely to succeed.
Session 1 : Saturday 13th April 11am-4pm, Session 2 : Saturday 20th April 11am-4pm, Session 3 : Saturday 27th April 11am-4pm
For more information and booking details see the event page
Become a buddy volunteer!
closing date Sunday 13th April
Forest Farm Peace Garden, Hazelbrouck Gardens, Ilford IG6 2XL
Forest Farm Peace Garden is looking for new buddy volunteers to join our team! We are a community garden project in Hainault and run an ecotherapy programme on Wednesdays and Fridays for mental health recovery.
To find out more and apply, please fill in the application form on our website, and email it to: mirjam@forestfarmpeacegarden.org by Sunday 13th April
Buddy volunteers are at the heart of what we do and make a huge difference to the people we support. Buddy volunteers provide support in the garden for people referred to our service and help with the general running of the sessions. Becoming a buddy is an opportunity to gain skills and hands-on experience in support work and social and therapeutic horticulture as well as learning more about gardening and permaculture.
Hackney Herbal workshops in April
start Saturday 16th April
Join Hackney Herbal for their programme of workshops that show you how to use herbs in a creative way:
Saturday 16th April, 3pm-5.30pm – Herb Walk at Hackney Marshes – Hackney Marshes Pavilion, Mandeville St, London E5 0SW
Saturday 13th April, 2pm-5pm – Herbal Wellbeing Masterclass – Hackney Herbal CIC, Unit 16, Celia Fiennes House, 8-20 Well St, London E9 7PX
Sunday 14th April, 2pm-5pm – Grow Your Own Herbs Masterclass – Hackney Herbal Garden, The Trowbridge Centre, 1 Trowbridge Rd, London E9 5LD
Sunday 21st April, 2pm-5pm – Herbal Wellbeing Masterclass – Hackney Herbal CIC, Unit 16, Celia Fiennes House, 8-20 Well St, London E9 7PX
Sunday, April 28, 11am-12:30pm – Herbal Tea Blending Workshop at Pophams – Pophams Home, 197 Richmond Rd, London E8 3N
For more details and booking see website
Introduction to Permaculture
Course opens 16 April 2024
online
Begin your permaculture learning journey here! Learn the foundations of permaculture design with a highly experienced teacher, on this online Introduction to Permaculture course you’ll get a basis for how to apply permaculture in your life and make your own designs. Aline lives permaculture – a certified educator who has dedicated her life to demonstrating the impact of permaculture to others. You cannot learn permaculture better than from someone who has embodied it to this level! Fee £130, more details and booking see the event page
Container Gardening
Saturday 20th April, 10:30am–3pm
The Victorian Walled Garden, Ecolocal, The Lodge, Honeywood Walk, Carshalton SM5 3NX
Do you want to make good use of an otherwise wasted area of paving? Do you only have a small courtyard or balcony in which to grow? Or perhaps you are renting and not able to make permanent changes to the outdoor space? Growing in containers is an excellent way to make the most of the space available. In this one-day workshop our RHS qiualified tutor will cover everything you need to know to keep your containers looking great and productive all year. Price: £35. More info and booking at the event page.
Create a school food growing space
Friday 26th April, 11am-3pm
Mandeville Primary School, Oswald St, London E5 0BT
Join us for this in-person training on setting up a food-growing site in your school. Tailored for educators, public health officers and anyone interested in growing in schools and community spaces, explore Hackney School of Food’s dedicated food-growing space, learn through interactive activities and gain practical insights into setting up and sustaining your own food-growing site. Organised by Capital Growth, more info and booking at the event page
Permablitz at Cecil Sharp House
Saturday 27th April 10am-5pm
Cecil Sharp House, Camden
Part of Capital Growth’s Good to Grow week, this permablitz takes place 10 years after the first permablitz at Cecil Sharp House, the Grade II listed building where the annual London Permaculture Festival is held. We will be adjusting the fruit tree guilds in the entrance bed, installing wicking reservoirs in the new planters and creating a series of wildlife habitats: bee hotels, hoverfly lagoons and earwig hotels. Mini workshops will include:
- Designing a fruit tree permaculture guild
- the benefits of wicking reservoirs
- top flowers for bees and other pollinators
- creating bee hotels, hoverfly lagoons and earwig hotels
RSVP Essential: if you want to come along you need to let us know so we know numbers for lunch, which is provided, and so we can give you all the specific details. Contact us at info@permablitzlondon.com letting us know you want to join the Cecil Sharp House Permablitz.
Organic Food Growing Course
starts Saturday 27th April for 6 weeks
Carshalton Community Allotment (Access between 33-35 Colston Avenue) SM5 2PW
If you are just starting out, or would like to get some more detailed knowledge of organic food growing, then this course is for you. Over 6 weeks you will learn everything you need to know to confidently grow your own fruit and veg. Over the six weeks you will get hands on experience as well as theoretical knowledge and the support of an experienced tutor. Price: £85 for the course. More info and booking at the website
Our Right to Grow Summit: a gathering of London food growers
Saturday 27th April, 1pm-5pm
Roots and Shoots, The Vauxhall Centre, Walnut Tree Walk, London SE11 6DN
This Capital Growth event, hosted in partnership with Incredible Edible and the Hackney Union of Gardens, is your chance to join other campaigners, policy experts and community growers grappling with barriers to urban food growing in London and work together to chart a course towards a more vibrant and sustainable future, and to explore how we can build a citizen’s Right to Grow on London’s public-sector land. More info and booking at the website
London Permaculture Design Course – Creating Resilient Communities
Starts Saturday 27th April, 10am for 6 weekends
Story Garden, Ossulston St, London NW1 1DF
The Permaculture Design Course is a 72-hour often life-changing experience, accredited by the UK Permaculture Association. Over the period of 6 months we will come together as a learning community to explore practical and creative solutions for building resilient neighbourhoods and designing abundant eco-systems. We will discover how we can work with, rather than against nature to fulfil our human needs whilst caring for the earth and the people.
The course has a strong practical emphasis on ecological and social design thinking and how this can be applied in different parts of our lives and society. The Permaculture Design Course also offers us the opportunity to face the predicaments of climate breakdown and the biodiversity crisis and form our own healthy response to these challenges.Price £780 – £390, much more info and booking at the event page
Growing Herbs and Edible Flowers
Tuesday 30th April, 10am–1pm
The Victorian Walled Garden, Ecolocal, The Lodge, Honeywood Walk, Carshalton SM5 3NX
Learn how to propagate and grow your own tasty herbs and edible flowers to add flavour and vibrancy to your meals. Filling our outdoor spaces with herbs and edible flowers adds welcome scent and colour for us and benefits our urban wildlife too. Created and delivered by our RHS qualified tutor, the workshop includes lots of information and a pot of cuttings to take home. Price: £24.00, more info and booking at the event page
Forthcoming events
Growing Food in Small Spaces
starts Wednesday 1st May
online
In this hopeful course, centred around empowering you through food sovereignty you’ll learn how to apply regenerative practices and permaculture techniques to design and grow a garden that optimises the time and energy you put in, in order to produce high yields of delicious, nutritious food. Our next Growing Food in Small Spaces course is supported by expert permaculture educator Abi Mordin. Fee £135, more details and booking at the event page
Three Acres And A Cow
Thursday 2nd May, 7pm-9:30pm
Cecil Sharp House, London
Three Acres And A Cow connects the Norman Conquest and Peasants’ Revolt to contemporary issues via the Enclosures and Industrial Revolution, drawing a compelling narrative through the people’s history of England in folk song, story and poem. Come and share in these tales as they have been shared for generations. Tickets £15, £10 Under 30. More information and booking at the website
Grow Back Better – Permaculture Design Course
starts Saturday 11th May for 6 weekends
Hawkwood Plant Nursery, 115 Hawkwood Crescent, Chingford, E4 7UH
London’s Permaculture Design Course offers positive design for your life, your community and your world by empowering the genius inside all of us! Running during 2024 at OrganicLea’s Hawkwood site in Chingford, this course is about regenerative learning, enabling individuals, organisations and communities to come together over six weekends to create empowering solutions to the real world challenges we are all facing in these times of change. The course will be taught by Graham Burnett (Dip. Perm Des) and some great guest teachers. Full cost £590 for 12 days. Note that we are able to offer a strictly limited number of subsidised/bursary places for people on lower incomes. For lots more information and booking see the event page
Permablitz London Design Guild – Introduction to Permablitz Design
Starts Monday 13th May
Cecil Sharp House, Camden and Kentish Town City Farm NW5
Permaculture designers from Permablitz London Design Guild are holding another Introduction to Permablitz Design series focused on creating designs for forthcoming permablitzes that will take place at a variety of sites across London. All welcome: suitable for experienced designers, gardeners and complete beginners. Please note: the previous series was over-subscribed.
Each session is free and runs from 7pm to 9pm on the following dates: 13th May, 20th May, 27th May, 3rd June, 10th June, 17th June, 24th June, 1st July, 15th July, 22nd July
Pre-booking essential: if you would like to come along you will need to have attended 2 permablitzes beforehand. Please email Kayode or Susannah to register at info@permablitzlondon.com
New Book from Permanent Publications
The Basics of Regenerative Agriculture: Chemical-free, Nature-friendly and Community-focused Food by the late Ross Mars – Australian permaculture teacher, designer and elder.
This book serves as a guide for those seeking a profound understanding of regenerative design principles, offering practical insights and techniques to implement sustainable methodologies on the farm, smallholding and even the back garden. Tailored for a diverse audience, it caters to farmers, agricultural practitioners, home-growers and anyone engaged in where their food comes from.
Buy the book here
The new issue of Permaculture Magazine is out!
Gift Earth Care This Mother’s Day
Permaculture Magazine ensures you keep informed of the best ideas, advice and inspiration from people who are working towards a more sustainable world.
Subscribers receive FREE digital access to every single issue and exclusive subscriber only discounts! Call them on 01730 776 582 or visit Permaculture Magazine
21st Century Permaculture Radio
Archive programmes available at https://www.mixcloud.com/21stcenturypermaculture/
Brighton Permaculture Trust
Head to the Brighton Permaculture Trust. Check out their website for news of courses, events and Permaculture by the sea. They are running a number of Online permaculture, Eco Build, and gardening courses. See the website for more details and booking.
London Permaculture Network – Interactive Project Map
The London Permaculture network has launched a map of permaculture, and permaculture-friendly projects in London. Go to https://www.londonpermaculture.com/map/ to see it. Use the map to guide yourself around the projects in your local area, and the whole of London.
This map is still being developed, and we would love your project to be included! If you would like your project added to the map please contact us at info@londonpermaculture.com
How do I get events and webinars in the newsletter?
If you want your webinars, offline & online events, and announcements to be in the London Permaculture Network newsletter (sent out at the start of each month), please email them to us, at info@londonpermaculture.com before the 15th of the month, and they will go into the next month’s newsletter.