Food Forest Course Portugal

Join us at Keela Yoga Farm for our food forest and agroforestry permaculture course in Portugal.
A food forest is a man-made forest that provides lots of food. It can fit in a back garden or a larger field. It combines trees, shrubs, vegetables, and perennial plants. It is highly diverse and the most sustainable way to grow food.
Join us and learn about the various ways to plan and plant a food forest. We have planted different methods since 2017 and will show you the pros and cons of each method. You will also experience how to manage and maintain food forests, which is essentially gardening.
Join the residential course and experience community living on a permaculture project. Enjoy daily yoga and meditation practice in the beautiful Portuguese countryside!

Aerial photo of two of the food forest after 2 years at the end of summer in 2019.

Food Forest & Agroforestry Course 2025 Dates

Our food forest course is now combined with our Permaculture in Practice Course (PIP) as most of the skills taught in our food forest courses are used more widely than in a food forest, so please book this via the PIP course booking page.

This course follows a 2-week Permaculture Design Course (PDC); join the PDC and food forest course combined and get a €150 discount

€500 residential (with three meals and yoga)
€150 discounts from low-income countries for volunteering during the course or Keela PDC certificate holders or Portuguese residence

Accommodation Costs

Your own tent: Free
Rented tent with (proper) mattress and bedding: 100 EUR
Caravans: EUR 150
Click here for accommodation information

Click here for information on our food forests

Your Hosts

Laurence Manchee

Your teacher Laurence has been running food forest courses since 2017. Students learn and build the food forests at Keela Yoga Farm. Laurence has managed the permaculture farm since its inception in 2017. Laurence also teaches permaculture workshops, sustainable living workshops and natural building workshops.
After attending many courses including PDCs and food forest courses, Laurence realised that most courses don’t actually teach you the practical aspect of gardening and creating a food forest so created this course for people who want practical hands-on experience in permaculture gardening and food forests. Laurence runs the course to give you hands-on experience in all aspects of designing, installing and maintaining a food forest. This is not a demonstration but a real-life experience of what it would be like if you had to do it for yourself.

Click here for information on our food forests
Click here for photos from our March 2019 one month course
Click here for photos from our October 2018 one month Course
Click here for photos from our March 2018 one month Course
Click here for photos from our November 2017 one month Course
Course Outline
All these topics will be included in the one week course:

Learn and eat from the existing food forests:
- Chicken-managed food forest
- Guild and polyculture mixed food forest
- Restoration Agriculture food forest (for sheep)
Design and help to expand each of the above food forests
Learn how to draw to-scale drawings for design and planning
Implement the design for a new food forest at Keela Yoga Farm
Learn about the food soil web, how to make organic fertilisers and how to cultivate microbiology for the soil
Discover how to properly research trees and their companions
Learn how to design guilds and a food forest
Plant trees and guilds in the food forest
Propagate perennials to plant into next year’s food forests (how to get free plants)
Learn how to design, select, buy and install irrigation systems
Plan and perform earthworks for water catchment, swales and ponds with a tractor
Learn how to graft trees trees
Learn how to prune trees
Daily Yoga Class