Talk: 9th October > ‘‘Permaculture design for a garden – creating natural niches”
Permaculture gardens and policultures – there are no plagues in the garden!
Biography
Since childhood Silvia Floresta has had a huge passion for country life, plants , seeds , animals and people !
She studied botany, soil regeneration and worked in the natural park of Sintra in Portugal for a few years where she learned lots of skills, from plant propagation, seed collection and conservation, recognition of pests and diseases in plants (tree). And she learned historical gardening .
She works with about 900 species of natural flora of the region (sintra) in which half of them are Mediterranean, and about 10% are plants worldwide are found only in one area, the rest are endangered species, which are in the Serra de Sintra, favorable conditions for their survival.
One of her main jobs is to collect and save seeds of endemic and highly endangered species.
She has started a project to permaculture gardens in schools in 2008 and since then has worked with schools in her community .
During this journey she was giving training in various areas related to sustentability, conservation and collection of seeds, vegetable gardens on balconies, permaculture in the kitchen (ferments, …), composting, permaculture for children and schools, natural soap, Urban permaculture, and various do-it-yourself workshops.
She got involved in various projects of community gardens in some towns near Lisbon .
She also became involved in the project Campanha das sementes livres and developed some workshops related to collection and conservation of traditional seed varieties and helped collecting traditional seeds with the farmers.
Among those things I was studying for the PRI Australia, where I did an internship of 10 weeks:
Permaculture Earthworks Course, Permaculture Project and Aid Workers Course, Permaculture Design Certificate Teacher Training Course, Permaculture Urban Landscape Design Course, Compost Soil Biology Natural Fertilizer Course, Detailed Design and Consultancy, Surveying, Earth Works, Aid Project Establishment, Farm Forestry, Nursery Systems, Animal Systems, small to large, Fencing systems, Main Crops, Food Forests, Fuel Wood Production, Kitchen Gardens, Urban Systems, Garden Agriculture, Architecture Design, Energy Systems, Waste Systems, Aquaculture, Community Group Establishment, Composting systems
She then developed several permaculture courses in Portugal, along with other teachers.
Silvia is a permaculture activist and a mom!
She has a passion for seeds, and she believes that the future of traditional varieties is in its preservation and freedom of all seeds! So she began her journey into the world of permaculture!
“The best legacy I can leave to my children is a healthy planet!”, she says.
She is currently involved in several Permaculture projects in Portugal where she develops design, consultancy and training in permaculture.