Free online Permaculture Design Course

FREE PERMACULTURE DESIGN COURSE
Complete Online Self-Paced Program
Learn from World-Class Instructors

Complete 72+ Hour Permaculture Design Certificate Course Covers:

• Natural building construction
• Pattern observation and site analysis
• Renewable energy and appropriate technology
• Reading the land and natural cycles
• Rainwater harvesting and conservation
• Soil regeneration and land restoration
• Passive and active solar design
• Food forests, trees, and garden design
• Greywater considerations and system design
• Business and financial permaculture
• Waste recycling and treatment
• Urban permaculture for sustainable cities
• ...and much, much more!

Course Instructor: Larry Korn (translator of Fukuoka's book One Straw Revolution) and other world-class teachers.

William and Catherine Christmas Caganers

Christmas in Cataluna sees the addition of two new Caganer figurine figures for your christmas nativity scene,

  Prince William and Catherine (Duke and Duchess of Cambridge).

Here they are shown wearing their wedding outfits, and having assumed the position of the pooping caganer.

See previous post on Obama Caganer here to learn about the tradition of this fertility symbol.

Caga Tió - Christmas in Catalunya, Spain

Caga Tió - Christmas in Catalunya, Spain

Christmas is coming and the poop logs are in the shops click on the link above the photograph to read about them

Diversification in Catalunya - El Litoral overfishing and mass tourism

Diversification in Catalunya - La Sureda Cork forest

Diversification in Catalunya - Farmers creating landscapes

Diversification in Catalunya - River Ebro

Minerals of Catalunya

Grup Mineralògic Català

minerals catalans

En aquet apartat intentarem donar a conèixer els millors exemplars de la mineralogia catalana, a través d' un treball de recerca de col.leccions particulars, públiques, i de treballs de camp.

Aquesta secció està oberta a tothom que hi vulgui aportar la seva col.laboració.

In this great section we will try to present the best examples of Catalan mineralogy, through a research paper from private collections, public and fieldwork.

This section is open to anyone who wants to bring their collaboration.

Domestic animal breeds seen in Catalonia

If you are touring the Catalan countryside you may have wondered about the breeds of animal you see on the hills and pastures of the region. If so you may like to visit the website of the

Department of Animal and Food Science where Jordi Jordana Vidal has an interesting well presented page.

New Vineyard in the Emporda

I collected wood from last years vine pruning, from the floor of of a vineyard in the D.O. Emporda wine growing district at the foot of the hills behind the Costa Brava coast.

After a couple of weeks in grit and compost you can see roots forming at the base of the vine wood and that the buds are beginning to break. It will be a while before Carol treads the grapes or we can invite you to a tasting!

Fiesta de Navidad -Mediterranean Garden Spain

Mas Sol i Vent - Catalunya

Jan and Steve have bought a Finca in the Terra Alta region of Catalunya. They are a resourceful couple and are developing a Mediterranean Garden despite the fact that their large plot came without either a water or power supply.

                           

As well as their garden blog Mas Sol i Vent (More sun and wind) about their horticultural exploits, they have a second blog which reveals how utilising new technologies they are now harvesting power from both the sun and the wind Back to basics on a Finca. 

If you are contemplating buying that home in the sun you will enjoy reading about the challenges that Jan and Steve have had to overcome. They are willing to share their new found knowledge by welcoming visitors who wish to become familiar with the lifestyle.

Guará Catalá

Guará Catalá - the Catalan donkey appears everywhere as the emblem of Catalunya.

In 2006 it even appeared on the menu, in the village of Sort at their local dining club.

Hard working and intelligent though stubborn, the breed characteristics of the Guará Catalá are those espoused by Catalans themselves. Though one Catalan friend told me he keeps an Andalusian donkey because it is better natured than the local animal.

The donkey it is reputed can go three days without water, and carry a payload of 100 kgs. on it's 500kg body. This is a tall breed up to 165 cm. Used to graze the forest floors they played a vital role in preventing forest fires.

Allen Carr, in his penguin book - The easy way to enjoy flying states; 'that more people are killed each year by donkey kicks than by flying'.

It is estimated that there were 50,000 working animals in Catalunya though there are today around 130 most of those on a sanctuary near Barcelona which is run by the Gassó family who have won awards for conserving the species.

The Catalan drink 'BURRET' was named as a derivative of 'burro' donkey in Spanish. Here is the recipe,

Coffee liqueur pored over several cubes of ice in a tall glass
top up with cola

and then sip slowly.

Gardens open to public in Spain

If you are travelling though Spain and would like to visit gardens which are open to the public, the link I have published below will take you to the Garden visit web site which contains international listings too. They feature 56 public gardens in Spain with links to the web site of the corresponding garden.

In the coming months I will try to visit gardens not on that list, which are situated in our region of Catalunya, and show though postings those worth a visit. If anybody has any suggestions for garden visits please leave details by adding a comment to this post.





Gardens open to the public in Spain, as listed by Garden visit.com