Author name: Jack Spirko

Today we are officially launching The Back Yard Cover Crops and Soil Secrets Course at Home Food Systems.  When I first began creating this course I expected it to be 3-4 chapters but as I began creating the syllabus and constantly considering the “buy why” question to everything I was building into it, it quickly grew to 9 chapters.

At this point I can confidently say, this is a PhD level course at the knowledge level, but it is absolutely 100% approachable for anyone.  It empower you to determine exactly what to do based on your climate, context and goals and when exactly to do it.

Here is just some of what you will learn in this course….

• The six functions of soil and how we ignore 4 of them to our own detriment
• The 5 spheres of the soil and how to identify them
• The composition of “ideal soil” and how to build it
• What no one ever told you about the carbon and water cycles
• Why you really can’t build soil with out help from plants
• Why we can never fix run off and erosion with riparian areas
• Why we can’t even have a complete water cycle without soil biology
• How to get off the “cocktail of the cides” and grow the most healthy and nutrient dense food possible
• How to increase soil fertility annually with low to even no inputs
• How to adapt the six core principles of Regenerative Agriculture to your own backyard
• The 17 best cover crops for fall/winter
• The 15 best cover crops for spring/summer
• The Sweet Sixteen of flowers for summer interplanting
• How to convert seeding specifications to your gardens square footage
• Exactly how to formulate your own seed mixes that match your context, goals, climate and timing

This Course Covers Everything You Need to Know

When I started building this course I realized very quickly why experts asked questions like “what mix should I use in climate xyz for fall cover” are always quite long and never end with use these 5 plants.  The key is context and how it relates to strategy, tactics and techniques.

The truth is every situation is different which always leads to what?  The favorite answer among Permaculture and RegenAg teachers, “it depends”.  Of course if you have direct access to an expert and they have the time together you can figure out all the things “it depends” on together.  But you know what I call that?

Dependency!  So I built in an entire chapter on context that gives you the critical 7 questions to ask.  Once you have those and an understanding of the differences between….

• Strategy
• Tactics &
• Techniques

Along with the other information in this course you won’t ever need to ask anyone again, “what seed mix should I use”.  You will be able to determine plant timing, species, method and seed volume that will exactly match your needs.

Get Started Now

You can sign up for the course and start taking it right away.  Every chapter is outlined in video complete with power point slides.  We provide a copy of the deck along with other course materials.  At the end of every chapter is a quiz to help you reinforce your leaning before moving on.

After the last chapter there is a comprehensive final exam, once completed you will receive a printable certification of completion of the course.  Long term this course will also contribute to what we are calling for now a PPDC (Practical Permaculture Design Course) and in fact will be one of the required courses for completion of this larger certification.

We have seen far too many people spend a lot of money to obtain a PDC, give up two weeks of time for the intensive 80 hour course or perhaps complete it online.  While a PDC has tremendous value it is more of a macro over view of design rather than a practical curriculum of actual doing and food production.  What we are building is a far more hands on approach to things.  One that can be taken al-la-carte if you only want to learn specific things or combined for a very intensive PDC that focus 100% on what is actually practical and doable in the back yard of most people in society today.

So whether you want to obtain a PPDC in time or just learn to grow more food with less work and inputs in your own back yard check out the The Back Yard Cover Crops and Soil Secrets Course today.

Video Overview of the Course