This is a one day introduction course to Permaculture Practices Connect to our Well Being
This Course is being delivered by John Metcalf-Permaculture Designer, Teacher and Regenerative Soil Practitioner and Hosted by Monica Knight of Monica Knight Designs at Treetops.
The pillars will be Permaculture Ethics (Earth Care, People Care, Future (Fair) Care) & Principles (which are essentially universal ethics and principles), Soil & Human Health, Abundance & Community.
This is an interactive course for anyone who wants understand how the the ethics and principles can be applied to our gardens and our lives. How healthy soil is the foundation for plant, animal and human health. How we can design our garden to partner with nature and use the garden to see our own lives in a new way.
Some Content of the Course:
- INTRODUCTION TO PERMACULTURE AND ITS ROOTS
- APPLIED ETHICS & PRINCIPLES
- SOIL & GUT HEALTH & EMOTIONAL WELLBEING
- PATTERNS AND CYCLES
- THE CREATIVE MINDSET
- WHAT IS A HEALTHY ECOSYSTEM
- MICROCOSM-MACROCOSM THINKING
- CO-CREATING COMMUNITY
- HUMAN HEALTH IS OUR CONNECTION WITH NATURE
This Course is for YOU if you want
- to learn how to grow nutrient dense food
- to build healthy soil-the key to healthy plants & HUMANS
- How self care is People Care & Earth Care
- to find/contribute your purpose to your community
- to be more self-sufficient
- to build resilient systems to save money, time and worry about the future
How Will it Work?
This course is going to be an in person course held in the beautiful gardens of ‘TreeTops’ in Rayleigh, hosted by the lovely Monica Knight, who has been kind enough to open her garden space for these courses.
- Dates: 24th June, 18th July, 22nd August 2026
- Cost £50
- Times: 10-3pm
- Lunch Provided from the Garden
- Interactive & Inclusive
- Practical Takeaways to implement
- Basic Soil and Design Plan to prepare your garden for Spring
Benefits
There are a number of benefits to using Permaculture in your garden, as well as healthy, nutritious and abundant food. Using Permaculture in our Gardens we can also create improved physical, mental, emotional, spiritual and social wellbeing.
The
‘REGENERATIVE PDC’
Starting in September 2026
The ‘Regenerative PDC’
(Garden a Life of Abundance, Connection & Well Being)
This is a 70+ hour Permaculture Design Certificate course with in person workshops, video’s, workshops, webinars, Q&A’s and Mentoring in which we will explore the different pathways towards living a Regenerative Life.
- This course can be taken as fully online or part in person/part online
The pillars will be Permaculture Ethics & Principles (which are essentially universal ethics and principles), Holistic Regeneration, Health, Abundance & Community.
The Course will be a ‘fully certificated’ Permaculture course
The course will be merging Permaculture & Regenerative Practices & Feature real people making real change in regenerating minds, bodies, land, and communities
The vision is for the course to be applicable in real time, into your garden, growing space, your home, your well being and community.
There will be interviews from people in the UK who are creating their own Regenerative Life in different ways, so you can create of your own journey towards regenerating your land, your life and your community.
How will this work and what is the content?
Some Content of the Course:
- GROWING NUTRIENT DENSE FOOD
- CREATING AN HOLISTIC LIFE OF GRATITUDE & HEALTH
- REMAINING GROUNDED AND PRESENT WITH MEDITATIVE PRACTICES
- HOW TO GROW PEST & DISEASE RESILIENT PLANTS
- REGENERATING & BUILDING SOIL
- HOW TO BUFFER AGAINST CLIMATE SWINGS
- UNDERSTANDING THE CYCLES OF SELF-SUFFICIENCY
- HOW TO PREPARE: STEPS TOWARDS CREATING ABUNDANCE
- DEVELOPING THE MINDSET OF RESILIENCE & ADAPTATION
- CO-CREATING COMMUNITY THROUGH YOUR PURPOSE
This Course is for YOU if you want
- to learn how to grow nutrient dense food
- to build healthy soil-the key to healthy plants
- to find ways of building community
- to find pathways of healing yourself holistically
- to find/contribute your purpose to your community
- to set up self-regulating eco systems
- to be more self-sufficient
- to build resilient systems to save money, time and worry about the future
- to learn how to make your own biological garden amendments
How Will it Work?
With weekly video’s showcasing regenerative practices around the UK we will dive deeply into the content each month in the webinars with Q&A. Then 2 weeks later we will have an interactive workshop 1-2 hours, where we will explore the content in more depth with actions.
As we progress through the weeks, we will build and iterate upon the previous content, workshops and actions and start connecting the dots and see the cycles and patterns so you can build an holistic understanding.
By observing these cycles and patterns has allowed me to create a blueprint for these workshops and have enabled me to learn many different disciplines. You can also do the same! Once you understand how these cycles and patterns are created, you can become more connected and live more regeneratively.
Each workshop will have interactive and practical exercises contained within it, so you start taking actions to imbue the lessons into your daily life.
What is the purpose of life? It is connection: Connection to ourselves, our loved ones, nature and the universe. Who are the happiest and most fulfilled people on Earth? They are the ones who are living their purpose, who are deeply connected to nature, are balanced in mind, body and spirit and understand that they are connected to everything else in the universe.
You may have experienced that when you are anxious, nervous or worried this can have cascading affect on other areas of life. You may get emotional, or have some physical manifestation and view a particular situation or person in a different way, than if the anxiety wasn’t there.
Another aspect of the course, will be ‘Self-Care’. If we can’t take care of our own health and wellbeing then how can we grow a garden and contribute to our community? Self-Care begins with our inner life, how we see the world and how we interact within it. We can look at this within the following aspects.
ASPECTS:
There are a number of aspects to ‘Self-Care’ and I will draw upon my own experience, learnings from my teachers and my own research and study.
- Physical How we use our bodies and care for them in an holistic way connecting them to the natural world and seeing the mutual benefits of the biological and chemical between healthy plants and healthy bodies
- Psychological How to build a strong and flowing mindset that synergizes with the cycles of nature that supports our values and beliefs and allows us to develop an enthusiastic and determined perspective.
- Emotional How to let go of the old habits and behaviours that prevent you from following your chosen path and creating new healthy ones that are aligned with your authentic self
- Spiritual How to connect to nature, god, the divine or the cosmos and trusting your inner life. Listening to your intuition and releasing feelings of unworthiness or inadequacies.
- Social How you can share your passion and gift with your chosen community, and base your life on contributing to the whole while simultaneously strengthening your desire towards fulfilment and contribution.
The course will be based on permaculture principles and the following universal aspects which can be applied both practically to our environment and circumstances and also within our inner world, to our understanding and comprehension of life. This is what will make this course different and unique from others.
WHERE SCIENCE & SPIRITUALITY CONVERGE
These are a guideline of principles and methodologies that can be applied and will really support the learning and application of the practical actions and will help when you have to make the transition to living a more regenerative life. They are not compulsory and you can take and leave whatever you wish. All I am inviting you to do is consider them as tools to help you.
The holistic approach is essential to a Regenerative life. Without this holistic perspective then we are prone to lose sight of the purpose of life.
The unseen in life is always working underneath the surface. Nature is constantly surprising us, this is nothing new. Our ancestors would have felt these interconnected workings within their daily rhythms and seen the manifest in the wonders of nature. Modern science has started to demonstrate just how fundamentally everything is deeply connected and the micro to macrocosm patterns are replicated and scaled in continuous cycles. Many people throughout our time have been famed for seeing the unseen.
These Regenerative principles within this course can be applied at any scale, in any situation and in any garden. It is the healthiest, most abundant and permanent pathway towards creating balance and harmony in our food systems, economies and culture. It allows us to connect to our roots and prepare for the future with confidence and adaptability.
Tier 1 £444
- Monthly Webinar Workshop
- Hours of Course Videos and downloads
- Monthly newsletter/blog direct to your email
- Access to closed telegram community group
Plus
20% off Permaculture Designs, Soil Management plans and Creative Mindset Coaching.
Tier 2 £666
- All of tier 1
and
- 60 minutes of Group Coaching (3-4 in a group)
PLUS
- 20% off my other services: Permaculture & Ecological Design, Regenerative Soil Management Plans, Creative Mindset Coaching
‘Intro to Permaculture‘ Course
Testimonials
“John’s 2 day permaculture course was great. His knowledge and passion for permaculture made the course very enjoyable and I took away a lot of ideas to implement in my own garden” Rob
“Thank you for a brilliant 2 day course. All your hard work paid off. It was very informative, enjoyable and I’m sure we’ll all take a lot from it. Great company and a wonderful setting with lovely hospitality. Always interested in any other courses” Christine
“As a novice to Permaculture I found it was very well guided and explained from ethos to application. I learnt so much from it and feel it’s a good start to an important wasy of practical living. Many thanks and best wishes” Ann
The course is £100 for 2 days. Which includes:
- Lunch on both days
- Tea/Coffee
- Use of facilities
- Brief tour of Garden
- Interactive workshop experience between 10-3pm
- Garden Plan to implement for 2026
















