I'm removing mesh and volcanic gravel from my backyard with the intention to plant crops between the trees.

My idea is to push my high density backyard a level further, by not only having trees planting somewhat closer than expected, but to also plant so many crops between trees so that they behave as a cover to prevent erosion, weeds, and actually, provide some vegetables.

What problems might I face down the road?

Hi fams,

Obsessed with permaculture, but realizing I need more hands on experience. Book learning only gets me so far and I really benefit from applied hands-on.

I have been debating between the Occidental, Santa Cruz, and the Permaculture Academy in LA. Does anyone have any insight in to which offer more hands-on experience?

TIA 🙌🏼

I live in the Czech Republic and we inherited a field in a farming area. In the past few years it was used to farm potatoes and most recently it is used as a field to harvest the grass for hay for some horses. It is has a slight slope. The area has clay soil and it seems quite compacted. The area has very little rainfall and the field is quite dry. There is a well but it hasn't been used in years and I don't think it's in great condition. I want to create a small market farm next year. I was thinking of adding some swales to help with rain capture. The top of the hill has a very small vineyard as well. I was thinking we could add some varieties of clover and maybe something like a cover crop and then possibly stop cutting the grass and trying to do some roller crimping. I do some raised bed organic gardening but am really most interested in bringing the life back to the soil. Hopefully with some preparation I can be entirely a no dig gardener in my market garden. It all seems incredibly daunting and with so many options and such a variety of opinions about the 'right' thing to do. I appreciate any and all advice.

Snow melt usually causes a lot of pooling water, and we’re too far away to pump the water into the river, or into any sewer drains. Is it a good idea to pump the water into a large plastic holding tank, and use it for gardening at a later date?

I’m currently in a frat in college and I want to try my hand at gardening, specially permaculture. We have a TON of grounds and are surrounded by Forrest, so I figured it would be a really fun and lasting project to utilize the land we have. The issue is that over the summer very few brothers will live in house and people are concerned about adding an extra responsibility to the brothers left in charge of grounds (or the garden simply failing due to lack of maintenance). During the school year this will be less of an issue. I’ll be there to take care of it as well as up to 100 other people who may help out. Can anyone give any insight to how to work around the summer Issue. Thank you!

https://transformativeadventures.org/2024/04/01/debunking-the-2024-cardboard-sheet-mulching-myth-madness/

This in-depth article looks at all the published critiques of sheet-mulching I could find, and debunks the claims. Because many leading organic farmers and organic orgs recommend sheet-mulching as a good way to REDUCE chemical contamination of soil and food, making these claims without good evidence is highly irresponsible and messes with real people’s lives and real farmers doing great work to be more regenerative.

Hi everyone!

I’m working on a university project to design a more sustainable tree guard and I would love to get some input from fellow gardeners. This is mainly for use in revegetation areas, so places out of the way and on rough ground where you might have a crew of volunteers/gardeners plant an area and then possibly not go back for years. In these circumstances, the plastic tree guards that we are used to can create a lot of problems.

Workers will need to revisit areas to clean up the guards that have disintegrated, replace them, and add new ones to trees that have outgrown the initial guard. This is a lot of plastic waste and unnecessary labour we would like to remove.

Our proposal is for a set-and-forget guard that is 100% biodegradable. We want workers to be able to set these up on new plantations and never have to go back there again. The proposed design has 2 components. First is a small ring of connected bamboo pickets, 30cm in diameter, 30cm in height. This pegs into the ground, protects the base, and acts as an anchor for the second component.

The second part is a fabric sleeve that sits inside the bamboo ring. The bottom part is anchored, and the top of the sleeve is propped up with pegs. The top has a web of suspenders criss-crossing the opening. As the sapling grows, it will come up and snag on the suspenders, bringing the top of the sleeve up with the tree as it develops. We would like to explore what biodegradable materials we can utilise that will be light enough for the purpose but also resilient enough to stay intact for 5+ years before they start to break down.

I would love to hear what your initial thoughts about this idea are and how you might see something like that in your home garden.

I'll attach a quick sketch, please forgive the dodgy quality XD

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https://preview.redd.it/lgik737gb6wc1.png?width=567&format=png&auto=webp&s=b08b51f5cb658c94c27808668fd7663a53c220e7

I have a good friend with 2 acres who homesteads. Unfortunately the property is tick infested to an unholy level. The dad and one kiddo has already had Lyme - the kid was seriously ill.

Besides Guinea fowl what would you recommend for knocking back the tick population?

ETA: there’s 1/4 acre of the property without trees, the rest of the 2 acres is trees backing onto a swamp and the whole property is surrounded by forest.

I need some different tips on how to make sand more fertile, and different perennial plants/trees species that are nitrogen fixing, and good ground cover and edible plants/fruit trees that can take heat and drought.

Any feedback would be help.

Please and thanks

Integrate, don't segregate. But how? I'm really on the fence with the idea of building a deer fence.

Plants can bioaccumulate prions from deer feces and urine. How can we solve this hazard? There are also other concerns like Lyme's disease which ticks actually get from deer.

There is evidence of biodegradation of prions in compost (BSE) and I don't see why CWD would be an exception. So we can sanitize deer feces in compost but the risk of plant accumulation is still present. We can't make sure that 100% of it ends up in compost not to mention the urine all over the artichoke patch.

Any thoughts for practices that give more security and certitude? I really would not like to build a fence and that additional manure yield would be an asset if only this could be solved.

(edit. I've decided to coppice a cant for polewood and make a fence)

Context: I have been running my own advertising agency for the past 5 years (M26). I turn over around $200k - $250k give or take. No kids, in relationship. So far I’ve been quite successful in my 20s but I still haven’t had the chance to buy a home which really frustrates me.

Lately I’ve been having an urge to do something outside and with my hands. I’m getting tired of being on a computer inside everyday. I feel like I’d enjoy something where I’m in the garden, growing food or some sort of sustainable living (off grid style).

Knowing I can live a comfy live for a few more years in the suburbs dealing with the normal day to day stresses just makes me depressed even thinking about it!

Anyone had a similar situation or experience etc. how did it work out? Is there a career I should consider pursuing maybe? Or just keep working and save up to get some land one day

We have been growing in the suburbs for 10 years and I am so happy with the progress our suburban food forest has made. With very little maintenance our permaculture designed food forest supports a big chunk of our food supply.

YT has decided to throttle my views and exposure to current subscribers for some reason and I would appreciate some support, yes this is self promotion but also a 'look whats possible'. I have been live streaming a read through of the Permaculture Design Manual every week if you are interested.

https://youtu.be/-6L4WzZwgMY

Anyone know how to access free mulch? I checked out chipdrop but I'm def not ok with having 20 cu yrds. dropped off anywhere at my house at the moment.
Anyone in SE Ohio who wants to split 20 Cu Yrds? hehee

I'm trying to find mild salad greens that will grow perennially in zone 7. I've got a nice bunch of French sorrel going but it is too tart to use exclusively for salad. I need something to mix it with.

I've also got hostas which taste nice but are a bit tough. I use them in my smoothies. I've got some creeping Jenny but the information about whether it is edible is mixed. I'm not sure if it's safe to eat.

I was thinking sweet potato but apparently they won't winter over in the ground in zone 7. I have tried the leaves and the flavor is nice so I'm thinking of seeing how it goes if I just leave them in the ground. I read that the tubers get tough after the first year but I'm not growing them for the tubers so they might work.

I'm going to try miner's lettuce this year, which is supposed to be a mildly flavored salad green. I have never tried them before and don't know how they'll turn out.

Any other suggestions? I'm having a hard time finding anything that isn't bitter.

ETA: bonus points if it's something that can grow up a trellis. I want to add one in my front garden.

We are trying to get into a more productive way of gardening and I’ve been watching/reading a lot about permaculture and think it’s something we want to get into. We have a 16x16 garden that really struggled last year. The weather was a huge part of it, but I know we can do a lot better for our garden. We were planting the “traditional” way with rows, and no mingling of plants, and everything was very spaced out. Right now the only spots we really can’t change for this year are a) where the garlic is planted and b) the area for our green beans are we have a large tunnel trellis set up. I’ve found a lot of great infographics on good set-ups with companion plants, but am really struggling to find how to incorporate potatoes. We wanted to give them another try as they kind of got drowned last year.

Our garden also isn’t exactly level, it’s on a slight angle. We do have a section that’s a bit lower than the rest. We plan to try and add a lot of natural mulch, decaying wood, more soil to help prevent it from being a mini ditch of sorts. It’s fenced in with a wood plank border (we have a million deer, so having this unfenced isn’t an option). So not a raised bed, but contained. It’s also in pretty much full sun.

The things we are wanting to plant are: Tomatoes (several varieties, but definitely Roma’s/canning tomatoes we get these from our farmers market), half runner green beans, garlic (already planted), golden potatoes, onions, shallots, carrots, peppers, cucumbers, radishes. I also have 2 blueberry bushes that are planted outside of the garden, so anything that might be good to grow around those would be awesome to know! These are all things we eat a lot of. We’re definitely open to adding different plants in order to help diversity and promote growth, and would take extra things to a local food pantry/family/neighbors.

Would love feedback and knowledge on how to get our garden going! Happy gardening!

I'm lucky enough to have access to a fairly large family property in Vermont with a few fields, couple small ponds and a bunch of forest, ranging from prominently pine to prominently hardwoods. Any suggestions on where I should source my soil?

In the past my family has used sod from the fields, but I'm doing this on short notice, so no time to kill off the grasses.

For example I might guess that nutrients would flow downhill to low spots, but I have no idea if this is true or not.

Hey folks, I'm interested in finding a permaculture course. Was curious to hear from people who've completed one about what they think makes a good one and what doesn't.

Thanks.

Hi all.

I’ve seen varying advice on this point.

Some say that leafy vegetables and herbs are not safe if you’ve got contaminated soil, but that fruit trees won’t pass on things from the soil in dangerous quantities.

I assume the safest route is soil testing and built up garden beds with fresh soil, but does anyone know the best research or have done any experiments themselves?

Thank you.

I would like book recommendations on permaculture, specifically ones that can be found in public libraries. I’m planning one acre garden and want to include permaculture methods. TY