*** (20/02/2015 10:52)
Bit disorganised. Not a lot of planning went into the course. Hosts communication skills are lacking.

A list of "Specific learning outcomes" would be good.

It is shameful that they take money for this.

*** (18/10/2017 18:28)
You will see some very positive reviews of Permaculture Eden and some very negative ones. (Here's another negative one for instance: permacultureedenreview . WordPress . com). The reason for this is that you experience hinges utterly and completely on the mood of the hosts, Fiona and Steve.

I did their 3 month apprenticeship in the summer of 2017 and I can say whole heartedly that their courses are inferior and lazy. If you want first hand experience working on a farm, go WWOOFing or do a WorkAway; both free, equivalent experiences. If you want a formal education on these subjects, contact your local university for part time and short courses; the prices will be cheaper. If you want to learn a specific skill, buy introductory equipment and learn through trial and error; you will be replicating the quality of their courses perfectly.

*** (04/09/2017 22:38)
I paid 2200€ in order to get an „apprenticeship“ with the duration of 3 months on one of the most developed permaculture farms of the world - according to what they tell about themselves on their website.
I left their farm after 2 months because I was very disappointed about what permaculture looks like after 15 years of work on site and how they are dealing with people their.
When I went there, keeping in mind that it’s one of the worlds best examples of permaculture I saw that „permaculture“ is not even able to nourish just 5 people. They bought cheap supermarket food (not organic) for you instead, giving you the feeling you’re eating too much at the same time.
When I made mistakes with the machines I were meant to be taught by Steve it occurred that he blamed me not to have listened to him. When I asked all the other students they agreed that he didn’t tell us. He told me if I cause damage I have to pay for it - even though in this case it would have been out of a lack of information given to us! When I wanted to use a tool and he weren’t able to find it he was clearly angry and made me responsible to clean the workshop until I find it.
Other things Steve told me I would learn there he wasn’t even sure about how to do himself so consequently there were more failure (especially with forging) then necessary. The last month I would have actually spent there I spent instead at other, seriously organic farms where I was cleared up about the wrong information I got there, that’s how I can be sure about him making mistakes there.
They make it quite obvious that this whole apprenticeship-„offer“ is about getting money not actually about teaching other people about permaculture - so effectively the practical part is mostly about weeding, pushing the wheel-barrow and other boring, non-educative tasks … even tasks that obviously (!)are against the basic principles of permaculture. For sure I know that doing also tasks like weeding etc. are part of a farm life but paying almost 25€ a day I expected to actually get a lot of useful information, practicing permaculture in a profound way.
Instead I spent my time on a site where they have a potable water source - but don’t use it. They are proud of their solar panel for heating the water which is not at all properly working. They burn sometimes their plastic waste and even the very effective dry toilets are just for the students while they have their own apparently flushing toilet in the house.

If you seriously want to learn about natural building or permaculture, go wwoofing (or similar) or buy 2 or 3 books and you will be smarter and more optimistic about our future than after spending time there (Steve keeps on telling that in the next 2 years two thirds of humanity will die because of crop failure).
No wonder that just very few of their around 350 former PDC students actually continued practicing the permaculture way (according to what he said). None of the 3 students stayed until the "apprenticeship" was actually over ...

Last time I did a course, I presented my work to industry professionals and it changed my career completely. This time, I can't even fill an hour talking with amateurs about the course content.

Edit: Since writing this review, I've received an email from Steve reviewing me negatively in return. No attempt has been made to address any of my issues or make this situation better. I'll link his review when it's up.

Steve is convinced that the majority of people are lazy and has phrases like "20% of people will do 80% of the work" and "I hate people who eat but don't work" which he rattles off at the start of a course to make it clear that you are obliged to work now that you've been fed; to prove that you're not one of the lazy ones. If he does get the impression that you're lazy, he dismisses you. His treatment of you becomes rude, terse and quick to anger. You will receive less help on your projects, he will correct your work without explaining what was wrong and he will not hesitate to tell you that you don't know what you're doing. This is not how I expect to be treated by someone to whom I'm paying large sums of money to teach and feed me.

As an apprentice, the little learning that was there in the courses, vanishes completely. Your daily tasks will be chores that you would be better off doing on your own land or as a paying job. They won't benefit you at all. Don't go here.

For further reviews just google permaculture eden review.

Shortly before I arrived, their website was updated to include the phrase "Following the collapse of his marriage..." So I was quite surprised when Fiona welcomed us off the bus. It became quite clear very quickly that we were not going to be treated as clients or students but rather, volunteers, here to work in exchange for food, despite the hefty price tag on their courses. Our learning was seen as a byproduct of whatever we were working on. Steve spent four days "teaching" us how to make cob (mud and straw) on the Natural Building Course, a concept he then taught in a single hour on the Permaculture Design Course.

I found myself desperately pouring over their books, trying to learn what I had expected their Natural Building Course to teach. I found the full content of the course in the first chapter of a book. The course lasted 3 weeks.

Fiona was miserable for a large portion of my time there, understandable given the website's update. Normally I would be sympathetic, offering an ear to her troubles but misery loves company. She took every opportunity she had to mock, condescend and belittle everyone on site. If you hurt yourself, Fiona would literally add insult to injury before offering to help. If you did something wrong, Fiona would treat you like an idiot. I once filled a bottle with skimmed milk and Fiona, who normally only drinks full fat, asked me
"Why?" As though I had just proposed a lactose enema. She followed it up with "No one drinks skimmed milk!" I glanced at the two other students who were drinking skimmed milk as it came out the skimmer who'd given me the idea of filling a bottle.
"I do." I replied, unsure of the problem I'd apparently caused. I had to defend similar actions several times. She does not like people with new ideas.

I'd only do a course here again if there were detailed plans for what you are going to do/learn each day. It felt more like wwoofing than an actual course you pay for.

*** (18/07/2017 17:16)
A magnificent 5 weeks spent learning with Steve and Fiona! It was amaaazing! ( #hugo ) I will never forget the experience and will come back to visite them.