Tropical Permaculture Online Course

Learn to Design, Grow, and Cook a Productive Tropical Food System

This course brings together 15+ years of hands-on experience building tropical vegetable gardens, food forests, staple crop systems, and practical homestead infrastructure in Costa Rica.

Learn how to grow a meaningful part of your own food, design for nutrition and resilience, and turn your harvest into everyday meals.

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Grow Your Own Supermarket

A well-designed tropical system can produce:

• vegetables and greens year-round
• staple crops like grains, beans, cassava, sweet potato, and taro
• fruits, herbs, and spices
• protein crops and nutrient-dense perennials
• pantry foods such as flours, oils, sauces, and teas

The goal is not just to grow plants.

It’s to create a productive food system that becomes more abundant over time.

Start Where You Are

You don’t have to build everything at once.

Some students begin with:

🌱 a vegetable garden
🌳 a food forest
🍠 staple crops for calories and food security
🍳 food processing and pantry skills
🧩 a complete homestead design

The course shows the whole system, but you can apply the parts that fit your land, budget, and goals right now.

What – Where – How

Learn how to get the most out of your space and build, manage, and eat your system.

Holistic Design

Design simple systems that work with natural cycles to regenerate soil fertility and produce food with less effort over time.

Diet Design

Learn how to grow a balanced diet using tropical crops that provide carbohydrates, protein, healthy fats, vitamins, and minerals.

You’ll also learn how to process and prepare these foods.

Practical Skills

Learn how to manage productive, low-maintenance food systems, from plant propagation and soil building to processing oils, flours, and other pantry foods.

What You Will Be Able to Do

By the end of this course, you will understand how to:

  • design a tropical food system based on your land, climate, and diet

  • choose crops for calories, protein, fats, vitamins, and minerals

  • plan productive gardens, staple crop beds, and food forests

  • improve soil and manage fertility using on-site resources

  • process your harvest into pantry staples and everyday meals

  • adapt the framework whether you are starting with a small garden or a larger homestead

What’s Inside the Course

The course is organized into three parts: design and systems, crop profiles, and garden-to-kitchen skills.

Design • Strategies • Techniques

1. Welcome to the Course
2. Living and Growing Food in the Tropics
3. Designing a Complete Diet
4. Permaculture Design Process
5. Green Home Systems: Energy, Water, Waste
6. Vegetable Gardens, Roots Crops and Animals
7. Food Forest Systems

Crop Profiles

8. Nutrient-Dense Carbohydrate Crops
9. Plant-Based Protein Crops
10. Super Greens and Vegetables
11. Healthy Fat Crops
12. Fruits and Vitamin-Rich Crops
13. Herbs and Spices

Garden-to-Kitchen

14. Stock Your Pantry
15. Breakfast
16. Salads and Dressings
17. Main Plates
18. Sides
19. Sauces and Dips
20. Desserts
21. Juices and Smoothies

Meet Ana & Ian

In 2008 we bought an abandoned cattle pasture on the Caribbean coast of Costa Rica and began rebuilding the soil.

Our goal was simple:

Create a productive ecosystem that grows food, improves the land, and supports wildlife.

We started by analyzing our own diet and asking an important question:

Could we grow most of the food we eat?

Over the years we experimented with tropical crops, selecting varieties that produced high nutrition with relatively little effort.

We learned how to grow them, harvest them, and prepare them in everyday meals.

Today the same land produces:

• vegetables, roots, fruits, and perennials year-round
• many of the foods we eat daily
• a resilient system that improves each season

Along the way we have taught hundreds of students from around the world through on-site courses and internships at our education center, Finca Tierra.

This online course brings together the systems, crops, and practical methods we’ve developed over more than a decade of experimentation.

Our goal is to help you design systems that are productive, practical, and adaptable to your land.

What You Will Learn

design → grow → harvest → cook

This course focuses on practical design, implementation, and management.

Shared farm-to-table meal made with tropical vegetables, roots, and homemade dishes at Finca Tierra in Costa Rica

Design a Complete, Nutrient-Dense Tropical Diet

This is not just gardening; it is food system design.

You’ll learn to:

  • Design a balanced, climate-appropriate diet

  • Decide which parts of your food supply to grow (based on space and lifestyle)

  • Maximize small areas with high-yield vegetables, roots, herbs, and spices

  • Select crops based on climate performance, nutrition, yield, and labor efficiency

This section connects food production directly to nutrition and resilience.

Aerial view of a tropical garden and food forest with labeled crop areas, showing an example 2,000 m² (½-acre) layout used for diet and yield planning

Example Garden with Crop Area and Nutrient Charts

Inside the course, we show our food system designed to grow a complete diet for a couple on about 2,000 m² (½ acre).

Using our Crop Area and Nutrition Charts, you’ll see:

• how much space each crop requires
• how much nutrition each crop produces
• how the system fits together

You can adapt the framework to your own diet and land, whether you are growing a small garden or a larger homestead.

Instructor explaining a tropical permaculture site design on a hand-drawn master plan, showing garden zones, paths, and water systems

Permaculture Design

Once you have defined realistic goals, the next step is understanding your land.

In this section, you’ll learn how to read the landscape by analyzing key environmental factors such as:

• rainfall patterns
• soil conditions
• sun exposure
• zoning and access
• existing trees and vegetation

With this information, you can begin applying permaculture design principles to your site and develop a clear master plan for implementation.

Harvesting fruit from a mature tropical food forest with layered trees, shrubs, and perennial plants

Tropical Food Forest Systems

Food forests mimic the structure of natural forests using edible trees, shrubs, and support plants.

The goal is to create a system that produces food while functioning like an ecosystem.
Over time, these systems support wildlife, improve soil, and become increasingly productive.

Once established, food forests are relatively low maintenance. Much of the work consists of managing pruned materials and guiding the system as it develops.

Open spaces are gradually filled with support and mulch species so the system captures as much sunlight as possible while continuously building fertility.

In tropical climates, perennial staple crops grown in food forest systems can produce starches and proteins comparable to — or greater than — many annual crops.

This makes food forests one of the most efficient long-term food production systems in the tropics.

Tropical vegetable garden with trellised beans, root crops, leafy greens, and mulched pathways in a productive homestead system

Tropical Vegetable Gardens & Staple Crops

Learn how to build garden beds designed to grow grains, beans, tubers, and vegetables — many of which are perennial and relatively low maintenance in tropical climates.

We begin by analyzing the soil to identify nutrient needs. From there, you’ll learn how to layout, build, fertilize, and maintain productive beds.

You’ll also learn how to:

• grow mulch crops
• make compost and biochar
• manage pests naturally
• maintain fertility using on-site resources

These garden systems are designed to build soil over time while producing dependable harvests.

With good design and fertility cycling, they require less weeding, watering, and external inputs than conventional gardens.

Off-grid bamboo homestead infrastructure with solar energy, rainwater collection, and outdoor kitchen systems in the tropics

Homestead Infrastructure

Food production is only one part of a resilient homestead.
In this section, we explore the simple infrastructure that supports a productive and efficient system.

You’ll learn how to reduce energy and water needs while cycling nutrients back into the land.

Topics include:

• domestic solar power
• solar hot water
• cooking with fire
• rainwater harvesting and storage
• kitchen waste recycling
• wastewater nutrient capture

We also cover practical tools used to process and store food from the garden, including:

• solar dehydrators
• oil presses
• grain mills
• pressure cookers

Tropical crop seeds prepared for planting, storage, and propagation in a permaculture system

Crop Profiles

Finally, we go in depth with 30+ of our most important tropical food crops.

For each crop, we explain:

• why it performs well in tropical systems
• the varieties we recommend
• how many plants we grow for a couple
• propagation and planting methods
• fertilization, pruning, and pest management

We also cover harvesting, processing, and preparation, including dozens of practical recipes that show how these crops can become part of everyday meals.

These crop profiles become a long-term reference library you can return to as your system develops.

Prepared tropical meals and preserved foods made from garden harvests in a wellness kitchen

Garden-to-Kitchen

Growing food is only part of the system. In this section, you’ll learn how to turn your harvest into everyday meals and pantry staples.

We explore the nutritional value of tropical foods and practical ways to prepare them using simple cooking techniques.

You’ll learn how to process and preserve foods from your garden and food forest, including how to make:

• flours
• natural sugars and sweeteners
• oils and vinegars
• sauces, spices, and teas

The course also includes many practical recipes for preparing the foods you grow on your tropical garden and food forest.

Student Discussion Community

You are not working in isolation.

  • Connect with other tropical growers

  • Ask implementation questions

  • Share designs and results

  • Learn from real-world applications

What Our Students Say

  • Permaculture Design Course student building an off-grid food forest

    “The on-site course was life-changing and the online course has been invaluable as I design and build my off-grid home and food forest. The community forum has been incredibly helpful. I highly recommend it.”

    — Sky d’Almeida

  • Former permaculture student with harvested tropical produce at Finca Tierra

    “I took the Permaculture Design Course with Ana and Ian in 2018, and it completely changed my life. I ended up moving to Costa Rica because of it. Their online course is the most comprehensive guide out there… this course really has it all.”

    — Elizabeth Couse

  • Permaculture Design Course student using garden templates from planning to planting

    “What stood out to me were the amazing garden templates and how the course goes from planning to planting - even to cooking delicious meals. You can feel Ana & Ian’s incredible knowledge throughout.”

    — Lea Imboden 

  • Person harvesting cacao pods in a tropical food forest at Finca Tierra, Costa Rica

    “Finca Tierra’s course stands out as a practical, hands-on manual for growing food in the tropics. It offers a replicable model that can strengthen your economy, local food systems, and resilience.”

    — Irene Burgues

What’s Included

Farm-Based Video Lessons
Step-by-step lessons filmed on our farm in Costa Rica, showing real tropical systems in use.

Complete Tropical Food System Framework
Learn how gardens, food forests, staple crops, fertility systems, and homestead infrastructure work together as one productive system.

Crop Area and Nutrition Charts
Use our planning tools to understand how much space crops require and how they contribute to a complete tropical diet.

30+ Tropical Crop Reference Library
Learn which crops we rely on most, why we grow them, how we manage them, and how they fit into everyday life.

Garden and Food Forest Design Templates
Use simple planning frameworks you can adapt to your own land, climate, and goals.

Garden-to-Kitchen Skills Library
Learn how to process, preserve, and prepare the foods you grow so they become part of your daily meals.

Written Guides and Reference Materials
Build a long-term reference library you can return to as your system develops.

Student Discussion Community
Ask questions, share progress, and learn from others growing in tropical conditions.

Lifetime Access and Course Updates
Move at your own pace and revisit the course as your land and skills evolve.

This Course Is For You If

  • You want to grow a meaningful part of your own food in the tropics

  • You want a clear system, not scattered information

  • You are planning a garden, food forest, or small homestead

  • You want to understand not only what to plant, but how much, why, and how it fits your diet

  • You want practical guidance rooted in real tropical conditions

Pricing

Normally $599
Currently $299

A practical tropical food-systems course you can return to for years.

One payment. Lifetime access.

For Communities in Need

This course is offered free of charge to schools and civil organizations working in communities experiencing extreme poverty.

If this applies to you, please contact us and tell us about your project.

Meet Your Instructors

Instructor harvesting vegetables in a tropical garden at Finca Tierra

Ana Gaspar A.

Costa Rican human-rights lawyer, environmental advocate, and co-founder of Finca Tierra.

Ana works on bioregional planning, sustainable development, and community food systems.

Instructor managing compost and soil fertility in a tropical permaculture system

Ian Macaulay

Permaculture designer, educator, and co-founder of Finca Tierra and SEED Ecovillage.

Ian has spent more than 15 years researching tropical food systems and teaching permaculture design courses to students from around the world.

Build a Food System That Works

Design your system — Grow your food — Learn how to prepare it

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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.

Common Questions Before Joining

I only want to grow a small garden. Is this still for me?

Yes. The course shows the whole system, but many students begin with just one part of it, such as a vegetable garden, a small food forest, or pantry skills. The framework still helps you make better decisions, even on a small scale.

I do not want to build everything at once.

You do not need to. One of the goals of the course is to help you understand the full system so you can begin with the parts that fit your land, budget, time, and current priorities.

I am new to tropical growing. Will this still make sense?

Yes. The course is designed to give you a clear approach, not assume you already know how everything works. It is useful both for beginners and for people who already have some experience but want a more complete framework.

I already know some permaculture. Will this still be useful?

Yes. Many people know pieces of permaculture but still struggle to connect them into a productive tropical food system. This course goes deeper into tropical food production, complete diet design, practical crop selection, and the connection between growing, processing, and eating.

I do not have land yet. Should I wait?

Not necessarily. The course can still help you think more clearly about what kind of system you want to build, what matters most in a tropical site, and how to avoid costly mistakes later.

Is this only for people building a full homestead?

No. It is useful whether you want to grow a small garden, plant a food forest, improve part of your food supply, or build a larger self-reliant system over time.

Is this a live cohort or a self-paced course?

This is a self-paced course with lifetime access. You can move through the material at your own speed and return to it as your land and skills evolve.

Will this teach me how to actually use the food I grow?

Yes. The course includes garden-to-kitchen lessons, pantry skills, and practical recipes so the crops you grow can become part of everyday meals.

What makes this different from other permaculture courses?

Many courses teach only one part of the puzzle, such as food forests, vegetable gardening, or general design ideas. This course connects the pieces into one practical tropical food system: diet design, crop planning, gardens, food forests, fertility, simple infrastructure, processing, and meals.

How long will I have access?

You will have lifetime access, including course updates.