I've been wanting to take a dry stacked stone wall building course for a long time now but haven't been able to find a venue for such a thing in the USA. There seem to be loads of classes in Canada, but that's been a bit difficult to manage for one reason or another. Does anybody know of places that offer classes in the United States?

Joe, Thanks for asking! Plant biosecurity refers to putting practices and measures in place to protect the safety of our farms and food supply from intentional and unintentional harm. It includes information about argoterrorism, past plant epidemics, means of transmission even protecting farms, orchards, and vinyards from theft and vandalism. Additionally, it gives the farmer some tools to help prepare, respond, recover, and mitigate these events. I looked at the course myself yesterday, and it is very interersting, it gives a producer a lot of information but is easy to read and easily understandable. I hope this answwers your question. Nikki

November Permaculture Design Course at The Panya Project, Chiang Mai, Thailand Teacher: Chris Shanks Dates: November 5 - 20, 2007 Costs: $750 (registration before October 1) $950 (registration after October 1) This 16-day Permaculture Design Course will be focused on regenerative design for all climates. Taught by Chris Shanks, the course aims to give a well rounded education of all aspect of permaculture theory and practice. Participants will come away from the course motivated and excited to design and implement using permaculture principals and ethics. The Panya Project, nestled up against the 5th largest national park in Thailand, hopes to be an active member of the national and international sustainabilty movement. Set on 25 rai (10 acres, 4 hectares) of what used to be a monocrop mango plantation, the project is actively regenerating the land through a heavily planted tropical edible food forest. The community at Panya hopes to continually get closer and closer to full sustainability, while at the same time expanding their own knowledge, wisdom and joy through the process. We are excited to host this course, learn from the broad experience of Chris Shanks, expanding our own knowledge of natural systems as well as providing the space and opportunity for others to learn as well. Come and join us in learning about what we believe is one of the most powerful methods for regenerating the health and abundance that is natural to this planet. Learn how to design and implement interactive systems that use natural forces and natural systems as their guide. Now is the time to act! Lets actively create the world we want! Come join us!! Chris Shanks has practiced permaculture in the Americas and beyond for almost ten years. Chris works as the co-Director and farm manager of Project Bona Fide, Isla Ometpe, Nicaragua(www.projectbonafide.com). Bona Fide is a 46 acre permaculture farm that was started in 2002. The farm is an educational center and community anchor that supports many social and reforestation program. Bona Fide itself has planted its 46 acres with more than 20,000 tree in its reforestation efforts. Bona fide features all manners of sustainable systems, food forests, nurseries, gardens, and natural buildings. Chris also divides his time between the Bahamas and Orcas Island, Washington State. In the Bahamas Chris co-founded the permaculture educational curriculum at the Island School/Cape Eleuthera Institute (www.islandschool.org and www.ceibahamas.org) and has worked on the implementation of the campus master plan for 5 years. On Orcas island Chris has worked closely with the Bullock Family homestead and educational center building capacity in regards to their sustainable systems and educational facilities (www.permacultureportal.com). Chris also works as a permaculture designer in the professional realm where he serves as a project manager, designer, and chief horticulturalist for Whole Systems Design (www.wholesystemsdesign.com). In Nicaragua Chris works as a consultant and project manager with business people dedicated to green development and and eco-tourism. He develops master plans and does site analysis, designs food and water systems as well as gardens and nurseries. He also likes dogs, mangosteens, motorcycles, and durians. Learn more at our website: www.panyaproject.org Contact : Chris Dawkins panyaproject@gmail.com Here is a link that might be useful: Panya Project

Correction, THUR nites, sorry for the confusion... they both start with a T, right? lol