Certificate in Self Sufficiency

When you grow your own food, generate your own energy, and work from a home office or farm for your livelihood, the so-called "costs of living" largely disappear. You become untethered to the work-earn-spend consumer economy and thrive, instead, in a more locally centered, self-sufficient economy in which monetary income is less essential for a rich life.

It can be a life changing and liberating experience to learn how to provide for your own needs and the needs of your family and better still, getting paid to provide and advice and site recommendations to others also interested in becoming Self Suffiecient.

Self sufficiency is not an "all or nothing" proposition; and in reality, we will never be totally independent for one reason: it is in our nature to be social, and we all need to interact with other humans in order to be psychologically fulfilled.  Many of the tutors in this course have however shown through their own lives that it is possible to grow your own food, produce your own energy and make many of the things you need in your day to day living.

When you study Self Sufficiency through Learning Cloud you are learning from people who are both academically trained (in things like farming) and who are applying aspects of self sufficiency to their own daily lives.

Why do this course?

• To become more self sufficient in your own life
• To help others become self sufficient, perhaps teaching or maybe by developing a "green" industry business.

What is covered in the Modules?

Core Modules:

Self Sufficiency I covers ten lessons which develop your understanding of self sufficiency, food and nutrition, and making the right decisions about changes in lifestyle; as well as showing you how to do a whole range of practical things such as mud brick building, making crafts, growing fruit, vegetables, herbs, and other crops; raising poultry, sheep & goats, extending the life of clothing, conserving energy, recycling, simple home medical care and first aid, and lots more.

In Self Sufficiency II you learn to be self sufficient with your food. You learn about nutrition and how to balance your diet, as well as how to produce, process, store, and use different types of food. This includes berries, nuts, milk, cheese, eggs, bread making, preserves, & dried food. Cooking, freezing, drying, bottling, making bread, planning a vegetable garden to give produce all year round, and lots more are covered over ten lessons.

Elective Modules

Only four of these are studied.

Alternative Energy

This course has eight lessons as follows: 

1. Problems & Energy Sources
2. Understanding Energy
3. Generating Electricity
4. Electricity Storage and Use
5. Non Electric Systems
6. Energy Consumption
7. Energy Conservation
8. Converting to New Systems

Mud Brick Construction

1. Scope of Mud Brick
2. How to make a mud brick
3. Planning and Site Works
4. Legal Considerations
5. Foundations
6. Laying Bricks
7. Doors, Windows, and Roofs
8. Finishes
9. Services
10. Other types of Earth Building

Permaculture Systems  

The course is divided into eight lessons as follows:

1. Permaculture Principles
2. Natural Systems
3. Zone & Sector Planning
4. Permaculture Techniques
5. Animals in Permaculture
6. Plants in Permaculture
7. Appropriate Technologies
8. Preparing a Plan 

Advanced Permaculture  

There are ten lessons in this module as follows:

1.  Evaluating Design Strategies
2.  Understanding Patterns
3.  Water
4.  Earthworks
5.  Humid Tropics
6.  Dry Climates
7.  Temperate to Cold Climates
8.  Planning Work
9.  Costing
10. Sustainable Systems

Sustainable Agriculture

 Eight lessons:

1. Introduction: Scope, Nature of Sustainability
2. Soils
3. Water
4. Land care: Weed control, Tree Management, Pest and Disease, Fire, etc.
5. Financial Sustainability
6. Broad Management Strategies
7. Enterprise Selection & Management: Plants
8. Enterprise Selection & Management: Animals

Poultry

 There are eight lessons as follows:

1. Introduction: Terminology, Breeds
2. Nutrition
3. Diseases In Poultry
4. Layers
5. Broilers
6. Incubation
7. Brooding
8. Record Keeping, Economics & Marketing

Organic Plant Culture

The ten lessons are as follows:

1. Introduction - Gardening styles, basic organic procedures, etc.
2. Plant Culture
3. Understanding Soils
4. Fertilizers and Plant Nutrition
5. Soil Management
6. Pests & Diseases
7. Mulching
8. Seeds - Collecting, storing & sowing
9. Vegetable Growing in your locality
10. Fruit Growing in your locality.

Herb Culture

Lessons cover:

1. Introduction to herbs, definitions, uses. Classification of herbs; use of a botanical key.
2. Cultural Techniques...planting, soils, drainage, feeding, mulching, composting, pruning.
3. Propagation Techniques...propagation mixes, growing structures, cuttings, seed, separation & division, layering.
4. Identification of plant health problems...pest & disease, frost, heat, water stress, etc.
5. Processing & Use of Herbs
6. Harvesting & Storage
7. Mentha species:Peppermint, spearmint, applemint, wintermint, pennyroyal, corsican, ginger mint etc.
8. Lavender (Lavendula varieties) & thyme (Thymus).
9. Assorted Lamiaceae varieties:Lemon Balm, Hyssop, Rosemary, Bee Balm (Monarda), Basil, Savory, Marjoram, Sage.
10. Artemisia species...Southernwood, Wormwood, Tarragon, Mugwort.
11. Miscellaneous Asteraceae: Chamomile, Tansy, Safflower, Costmary, Yarrow, Calendula, Dandelion etc.
12. Parsley, Coriander, Dill, Caraway, Angelica, Cumin, Fennel, Lovage, Sweet Cicely etc.
13. Chives, Leek, Garlic chives, Tree onion, Welsh onion, etc.
14. Garlic
15. Rosaceae (Rose, Burnet, Strawberry, blackberry, etc)
16. Miscellaneous: Lemon grass, Lemon verbena, Bay, Sorrel, Dock, Juniper, Horseradish, EveningPrimrose, etc.
17. Scented Geraniums; Australian Natives, Eucalyptus and Others
18. Companion Planting
19. Natural Pest Control:Herb sprays, biological control, etc.
20. Landscape Design Principles and Practices: How to draw a landscape plan
21. Home Gardening With Herbs; Cottage gardens, hedges & borders, tubs, baskets, kitchen gardens, herb lawns, herb indoor plants.
22. Public Landscaping: Historic herb grdens (Knot gardens etc), herbs for low maintenance & colour in parks..etc.
23. Establishing & Operating a Herb Nursery: Open ground vs container growing, nursery layout, potting soils, pots and labels,marketing, etc.
24. Establishing & Operating a Herb Farm:Soil Preparation and management (plastic mulch, organic mulches, cultivation), row cropping.
25. Evaluating Herb enterprises, assessing market demand. Deciding how to proceed.

Starting a Small Business

There are 12 lessons in this course:

1. Introduction to Small Business
2. The Business World
3. Your alternatives - different types of ventures
4. Marketing
5. Planning
6. Basic Bookkeeping
7. Sales Methods
8. Budgeting
9. Developing a 12 month business plan
10. Implementing a business plan
11. Reviewing progress in a new business
12. Improving profitability

Bush Tucker Plants

 Learn to identify, grow and use Australian Indigenous Plants for Food.  There are many Australian plants that are edible, and even some that are in very high demand as foods throughout the world.  The Aborigines lived off the land before white civilization came to Australia. Plants contributed significantly to their diet. Many of these native plants are worthwhile growing ‑ others might not be.  There are many different types of bush tucker foods, including:

• Nuts and seeds (eg. Acacia, Macadamia, bunya nuts)
• Drinks (eg. hot teas, infusions of nectar laden flowers, fruit juices)
• Flavourings (eg. lemon scented myrtle)
• Berries (eg. Astroloma, some Solanum species)
• Fruits (eg. quandong, Ficus macrophylla, Syzygium)
• Vegetables
• Wattle seeds ground to produce ‘flour’
• Plant roots ground to produce a paste or flour

For more information on this course, please request your free course information pack.