Grow Real Food in the Tropics — Without Guesswork or Waste
Tropical Permaculture Online Course
A practical, step-by-step system for growing food that actually produces in tropical climates — even if you’ve failed before.
Start with a vegetable garden or food forest.
Expand into a full system only if and when you want.
$599 $299 ● Self-paced ● No prior experience needed ● 7-day guarantee
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A practical, step-by-step system for growing food that actually produces in tropical climates — even if you’ve failed before.
Start with a vegetable garden or food forest.
Expand into a full system only if and when you want.
If growing food in the tropics feels confusing, you’re not doing it wrong
Too much rain.
Too many plants.
Too many opinions.
Most people don’t fail because they lack effort —
they fail because they don’t know:
what to plant first
what to ignore
how to design the system in the right order
This course gives you that clarity.
What this replaces
This course replaces:
Years of trial-and-error planting
Buying trees and inputs that never worked in your climate
Following advice designed for temperate zones
Rebuilding systems that fail after the first rainy season
Instead of guessing, you start with a system that’s already been tested — and adapt it to your land.
What you’ll get in the first 30 days
You do not need to learn everything at once.
In your first month, you will:
Know exactly what to plant first in your climate
Stop wasting money on plants that don’t perform
Understand how soil, water, spacing, and crops actually work together
Design a simple, realistic plan you can follow
Start producing food instead of constantly re-planting
No overwhelm.
No academic theory.
Just clear decisions and practical action.
You don’t have to build everything at once
Most people come to this course for one clear reason:
a productive vegetable garden
a food forest
staple crops for calories
clarity about what actually works in the tropics
Many students use this course for just one of these goals.
This course is designed so you can:
start exactly where you are
focus only on what you need now
ignore everything else until you’re ready
The system connects everything —
but you choose where to enter.
Choose your starting point
You can begin anywhere.
🌱 Vegetable Garden — fast harvests, small spaces
🌳 Food Forest — perennial abundance, low maintenance
🍠 Staple Crops — calories, resilience, food security
🧩 Complete System — diet design, gardens, infrastructure
All paths are included.
You choose how far you go.
Who this course is for
This course is for you if:
you live (or plan to live) in the tropics
you want food production that actually works
you’re tired of contradictory advice
you want a clear system, not endless experimentation
You do not need:
prior permaculture training
perfect soil
expensive inputs
large land
This works whether you’re growing in a backyard or multiple hectares.
What this course really is
This is not an academic permaculture course.
It is:
a decision-making system
a way to know what matters and what doesn’t
a shortcut around years of trial and error
the exact approach we use on our own tropical homestead
You’re not just learning techniques —
you’re learning how to think clearly about tropical food systems.
How it’s structured
You move at your own pace.
You start with:
understanding your climate and site
choosing the right crops and strategies
designing for calories, nutrition, and resilience
If and when you want more, you’ll also find:
food forests and perennial systems
diet design and staple crops
processing, storage, and long-term sustainability
Nothing is mandatory.
You take what you need, when you need it.
What’s included
✔ Practical video lessons
✔ Clear explanations without jargon
✔ Design tools and templates
✔ Private community access
✔ Lifetime access
This is a tool you keep — not a course you rush to finish.
What Our Students Say
We started with degraded land — and built a living system
When we arrived in 2008, this land was an abandoned cattle pasture — compacted clay soil, no fertility, no shade.
We planted.
We learned.
We redesigned.
Today, that same land produces:
a complete diet (calories, protein, fats, staples)
year-round vegetables, roots, fruits, and perennials
working soil fertility, water, and energy systems
This course is the design framework we built — simplified so you can apply it without years of trial and error.
Investment
$599 $299 — Lifetime Access
Previously offered at $599. Now priced at $299 to make entry easier.
One season of mistakes costs more than this.
Most students recover the cost by avoiding just one mistake.
This price is set so you can:
start now
reduce risk
get clarity before making bigger investments
7-day money-back guarantee.
Get Instant Access → and start growing food that actually works in your climate
You don’t need to do everything.
You just need to do the right things.
No account required
Inside the Course
Many students start with just one section.
Some students choose to go further. If that’s you, here’s what’s available.
Design a Complete, Nutrient-Rich Diet
Learn to design a balanced diet using easy-to-grow perennial staples that thrive in the tropics.
Decide which parts of your diet you’ll grow (based on space and lifestyle)
Maximize small areas with nutrient-dense vegetables, roots, herbs, and spices
Select crops based on climate, nutrition, yield, and effort.
Example Garden & Crop Charts (2,000m² Template)
Plan your tropical vegetable garden and food forest for 2,000m² (½ acre) - or adapt to any space.
Understand how much area you need for your goals
Use Crop Area Charts to plan space for calories, protein & fats
Use Nutrient Charts to calculate yields & nutritional coverage
Scale down for small gardens, or expand for retreats/restaurants
Based on real diet and yield data from our homestead.
Permaculture Design - Build Your Tropical Homestead
Map your land using permaculture design principles
Place gardens, ponds, and water systems efficiently
Create closed nutrient cycles and reduce waste
Build a long-term master plan
Tropical Food Forest - Abundance with Minimal Effort
Design a food forest that becomes more productive every year
Use support species to build soil and fertility
Choose resilient, high-yield tropical species
Reduce labor by letting nature do the work
Tropical Vegetable Garden & Staples (Grains, Tubers, Beans & More)
Grow grains, beans, cassava, sweet potatoes, greens & vegetables
Improve soil with compost, mulch, biochar, and support species
Raise chickens for eggs and bees for honey
Plan harvests so your pantry stays full year-round
Homestead Infrastructure - Energy, Water & Waste Systems
Domestic solar & solar hot water
Rainwater capture, filter, and storage
Wastewater recycling and kitchen waste composting
Solar dehydrators, oil presses, grain mills
Master 60+ Essential Tropical Crops
Best varieties for yield & resilience
How to propagate, plant, prune, fertilize & manage pests
How to harvest, store & prepare each crop
Wellness Kitchen - Cooking, Preserving & Nutrition
Cook with tropical ingredients
Make flours, oils, vinegars, teas, spices, sauces
Preserve harvests for year-round food security
Use our Nutrition Chart + Sample Week Menu
+ Private Community - Guidance & Connection
Connect with other tropical growers, ask questions, and share your progress as you build your homestead.
Meet Your Instructors
Ana Gaspar A. - Co-Founder of Finca Tierra
Human rights lawyer and environmental advocate.
Founder of the BioRegional Plan for Talamanca.
Teaches wellness kitchen, nutrition, and sustainable living.
Ian Macaulay - Co-Founder of Finca Tierra
Designer and educator with 15 years of hands-on tropical permaculture experience.
Leads research, design, and implementation at Finca Tierra.
Grounded in Real Tropical Systems
This course is based on systems we actively use and document on our farm in Costa Rica.
If you’d like to explore the thinking and design behind the course, you can read:
• How Much Land to Feed a Family: A Complete Tropical Diet on 2,000 m²
• Tropical Food Forest: How We Design Perennial Systems in the Humid Tropics
• Tropical Vegetable Garden: How to Grow Abundantly in the Tropics
These articles show how the systems work in practice. The course brings them together into a complete, step-by-step framework.
FAQ
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Yes.
You’ll learn how to build fertile soil using biochar, compost, mulch, and support species — without buying soil.
This is the same approach we used on degraded, compacted cattle pasture.
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No.
The system scales from backyard → homestead → eco-village.You can grow a complete diet on 2,000 m² (½ acre) and still apply the method on smaller spaces.
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Yes.
Designed specifically for tropical climates:
Humid tropics
Wet/dry (monsoon)
Tropical savanna
(Caribbean, Central America, SE Asia, Hawaii, Brazil, Africa)
If bananas, cassava, or papaya grow where you live, this course applies.
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What’s the difference between a vegetable garden and a food forest?
Vegetable garden → fast harvests (greens, herbs, vegetables)
Food forest → long-term staples (roots, beans, fruits, fats)
Together, they form a complete diet system.
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No.
Everything is taught step by step using clear videos, templates, and examples — from planning to harvest.
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Within 4–12 weeks, most students are harvesting greens and vegetables.
Staple crops (cassava, plantain, beans, taro) begin producing within a few months.
Food forests increase productivity year after year.
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No.
This course does not grant a PDC.
PDC certification requires an in-person, 72-hour course with hands-on assessment. Certification is available only through our on-site PDC at Finca Tierra.
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This course is ideal for people living in or moving to the tropics.
While a PDC teaches design principles, this course focuses on real-world implementation:
what to plant
how to manage harvests
how to turn food into meals
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Yes.
No prior training is required.
The course is beginner-friendly, and especially valuable for people who want to move from theory to lived practice.