Rant incoming: I've been working so hard on soil health, keeping the soil covered with mulch (different types in different areas: woodchips, spent mushroom grow bags, chop and drop, straw), adding layers of compost, ground covers, bokashi juice tea, weed tea... Have been super busy recently and went out to my garden today to find ALL my soil is hydrophobic. It's starting to get warmer here but not blazing hot or anything, with some sporadic rain. Yes I neglected the watering but I thought I could with all the other work I'd done. 😭😭😭

How can I fix this? I've had so many fails gearing up for my summer annuals this year (seedlings failing, no time to plant half my crops), feeling defeated!

Is it only because its too cold?

https://www.reddit.com/r/smallfarms/s/gp4tgzCnVj I posted this in another subreddit. I want to have a nice looking home/ area around my home. Is there a way to profit? I’m open to alternative plants or ideas. Thanks

I am planning to plant some in some half barrel pots. I do understand that they are different plants! What I am wondering is, is there anything to particularly recommend one over the other? Lower maintenance? Greater yield? Better taste?

Hey guys, my plan is to dig a shovels spade height on my heavy clay soil, then fill it up with logs, branches, manure and the dirt I digged, on top of that I will put a thick layer of leaves, and then 6 inches of good raised bed soil on top, where i will plant tomatoes, cumcumberes, basil, etc.

What do you guys think? Also, when I put the soil on top, will it not just fall to the sides of the mound? Does it need to be perfectly aligned with the wood below? Thanks!

Is anyone working with a community chickens project? Either on public/municipal space or shared between households?

We have a smallish space in a neighbourhood — loaded with plants and fruit trees but not enough space to build a full chicken coop. I am imagining a moveable coop and about 6-10 hens to share between a few households.

I know some neighbours would be into it, but wanted to check in and see if anyone had experience or tips with this.

We have a winter gathering from 10. to 18.12.’24. Everyone who already knows the project or wants to get to know it is invited.

One task for this camp is to remove wild woody plants, like blackthorns, hazel, oak and birch, the loong fence wants to be mended, we need to make the vegetable patch mouse-proved (by putting gravel underneath it), and there are some smaller tasks too.
Besides the work there is especially during these long evenings space for talks, music, games, etc.

The food is vegan and we cook for ourselves. It is winter so we don’t camp in the garden but sleep in heated rooms, in the Ökozentrum (Artilleriestraße 6 in Verden).

If you are interested, here is some important information:

* It is possible to come for the whole or part of the event. There are only a limited number of places, so we’ll ask you to pay a deposit to confirm your participation and save you a spot. This will be refunded.

*You need a car or a bike to make the ca 5km to the forestgarden. You need to bring your own weatherproof workcothes.

* The gathering is a pro-feminist space. Everyone should be able to feel good on the camp and so should be save from violations of their personal space. Everyone should be able to tinker with their own identity and shouldn’t be pushed into a certain one. So macho-behavior and homophobia would be out of place. For these things everybody should take responsibility.

As we're seldom on reddit, please get in contact by: mail@forestgarden-welcome.in

I am writing a paper on the crime of subsistence and how different entities have made food, water, and shelter, illegal. A few examples include municipal ordinances restricting front yard gardens or backyard chickens, restrictions on water collection in Colorado, or building codes that prevent natural building. I would love to hear stories of laws in your areas as well as your encounters with the police or other enforcement bodies in relation to these kinds of laws.

I'm preparing a new garden for next year. There seem to be two conflicting paths to take:

1. sheet mulch. conpost and wood chips. Smother everything and build up some nutrients for a fresh slate in spring
2. cover crop. Maximize photosynthesis and use root exudates to build microbes and soil health

These seem like incompatible methods. (1) is more what I've heard of previously but I'm hearing about (2) now quite a bit more.

Any thoughts? Is one better? Am I missing anything?

Hello! I recently moved to a house in SE Virginia that has a massive front and backyard. I am renting but the landlord said I am free to garden as I like but I have to leave whatever I am growing when I move out. I don't plan to move any time soon so I really want to learn how to garden. I am originally from NYC and, other than going to the community garden sometimes with my grandma growing up, never had many opportunities to learn. I have gone on YouTube, I have borrowed books from the library, I have bookmarks up on bookmarks saved on how to do it but when it comes to getting started I don't know where to actually begin. Ideally I would like to have a native pollinator garden in the front with lots of flowers and aesthetic appeal. But in the back I'd like to grow staple vegetables and fruits and maybe plant a couple fruit trees.

What would be the easiest place for a newb like me to start at? Trees, veggies, or native garden? What systems should I focus on setting up first and what tools are must haves? Are there any step by step resources you would recommend to get started?

I have a habit of trying to do all the things at once which leads to me doing nothing so I really wanted some advice directly from those with experience.

Hello Everyone!

Trying to build a small community garden on an island in the Philippines! None of us have much experience with regenerative agriculture or perma-cultures. Soil quality is bad, but we have a heaping pile of compost brewing up so hopefully that helps. We have a terrace farming system due to land limitations (theres is basically no flat land). Please let me know if you guys have any recommendations or advice!

(First Layer is the Bottom Most Layer)

Hello all, My name is Jack, and I am a current university student conducting a research study on the usage of composting amongst students, businesses, and households in our local area and around the country. My team is looking to garner data on how composting can be made more relevant, what current challenges are faced, as well as how a solution to overfilling landfills can be produced. Please feel free to be completely honest throughout the survey; all data points and feedback are highly appreciated. Thank you!

Survey Link: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1ao6_IZdEkgX8JWNoQbUtIage9EDFNDbfWSkOAWJUKOg/edit

I think that was his name. He had projects in Australia and I have been following him for years. His channel just disappeared. Does anybody know why he deleted his channel? I'd understand gosting it but actively deleting it?

Hi everyone!

My name is Julie Wright, and I am a junior at Lehigh University studying community health. I participated in a permaculture fellowship in the year of 2023, and currently writing a paper focused on self-expression in the permaculture movement and permaculture design philosophy's compatibility with environmental justice theories.

I am looking to interview permaculture practitioners to gain a stronger sense of how permaculturists talk about and discuss their projects, how information is disseminated across the permaculture community, accessibility in permaculture, and more. I plan to use my findings in an academic paper.

This is also an IRB-exempt study and I am happy to put you in touch with my primary investigator if you have any questions about how the research will be used. Interviews should be no longer than an hour.

If this is something that interests you, please email me at jmw226@lehigh.edu, thank you so much! Also, attached below is my IRB proposal and my verbal consent form that outlines how the data will be used / anonymized. Thanks!

IRB proposal: https://docs.google.com/document/d/13-OxKkuPLHq4ccBzAK6CkghVwdQghzsO/edit?usp=sharing&ouid=112153845007263407122&rtpof=true&sd=true
Verbal consent: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1u_vhGUaZCasRUMrVQxqPWwb5HO-SaT3T7Joc8vg-UmM/edit?usp=sharing

Hi, I have an olive orchard which soon will be converted to permaculture. The size is 3.3 ha and I will produce enough for my family and the surplus will be sold.

Since olives need to be transported where they are processed into olive oil and since we will be selling products which need to be transported and we will buy trees, manure, get logs for biochar from outside and so on.

I was wondering if it's best to have a truck (closed one, like vans -sorry English is not my main language and I'm not sure how to name this) or if it's better to have a pick up.

My father says pick up is good and he wants to go for the one with 4 seats but I'm worried that takes space from the other side. Vans have more space for materials but it is closed so if I buy trees that's a bit hard because we need to be sure they are not too high, but now that I think of that's not even a big problem since they will just bend for the time they need to be transported?

I think my dad says pickup just because it is also good looking ahah and therefore I could use it for everyday stuff.

My family is of around 6-7 people and we have just two cars, a third car/pickup which I can use it could be handy.

The other thing is vans is more frequent in the used market but for pickup we would have to travel a few hours to get our hand on that, so it's also a bit risky and we need to decide better.

Do you have experience to share or advices on the best transportation vehicle regarding permaculture?

Kia Ora! I'm in NZ/Aotearoa. We have pretty dry summers in my area, and have some late frosts. I'm looking into setting up a pond to help with water needs and heard that a pond can help reduce frost damage to the surrounding area. For the life of me, I can't find any detailed info, and was wondering if anyone can help with links or calculations. How much water do I need to store to mediate the temperature in any given area around it? Thanks for the help!

I live in an area with a creek running through the neighborhood. On the outside there are large cedars, firs, and cotton woods, as you get closer to the creek there are more cotton woods and ashes. A neighbor bought a property close to the creek. They want to clear out all the trees and plants then plant all the zones of permaculture. I'm glad they are not just planting grass but it seems counter to me to remove a natural zone of a larger ecosystem and subdivide it into a range of zones. I'm not sure if that makes sense but I'm curious on this groups thoughts. Thanks.

Title pretty much says it all, but I wanted to share my experiences. The last two years I have been waiting for the day after Halloween to post my ad saying I will come and pickup unwanted pumpkins…I have made some big scores, met people in my community and been able to clean and save hundreds of seeds. I am fully aware replanting these seeds is not true to type, but also some percent is saved to be processed and eaten. I also use the left over pumpkins to bulk up my compost, and feed wildlife so I would say that my functions are being stacked.

Has anyone else tried this?