Permaculture

Hey y’all!

As some of you may have noticed, there are some new names on the mod team. It appears our last mod went inactive and r/permaculture has been unmoderated for the past 6 months or so. After filing a request for the sub, reddit admins transferred moderation over to u/bitbybitbybitcoin who then fleshed out the mod team with a few of us who had applied back when u/songofnimrodel requested help with moderation. Please bear with us as we get back into the flow of things here.

I do have to say that it seems things have run pretty smoothly here in the absence of an active moderator. We really have a great community here! It does seem like the automod ran a bit wild without human oversight, so if you had posts removed during that period and are unsure why, that’s probably why. In going through reports from that period we did come across a seeming increase in violations of rules 1 and 2 regarding treating others as you’d wish to be treated and regarding making sure self-promotion posts are flagged as such. We’ve fleshed out the rules a bit to try to make them more clear and to keep the community a welcoming one. Please check them out when you have a chance!

THEMED POST DAYS

We’d like to float the idea of a few themed post days to the community and see what y’all think. We’d ask that posts related to the theme contain a brief description of how they fit into the topic. All normal posts would still be allowed and encouraged on any of these days, and posts related to these topics would still be encouraged throughout the week. It’d be a fun way to encourage more participation and engagement across broad themes related to permaculture.

No-Waste Wednesday for all things related to catching and storing energy and waste reduction and management. This could encompass anything from showing off your hugelkulturs to discussing compost; from deep litter animal bedding to preserving your harvests; anything you can think of related to recycling, upcycling, and the broader permaculture principle of produce no waste.

Thirsty Thursday for all things related to water or the lack thereof. Have questions about water catchment systems? Want to show off your ponds or swales? Have you seen a reduced need for irrigation since adopting a certain mulching practice or have a particular issue regarding a lack of water? Thirsty Thursday is a day for all things related to the lifeblood of any ecosystem: water!

Fruit-bearing Fridays for all things that bear fruit. Post your food forests, fruit and nut tree guilds, and anything related to fruit bearing annuals and perennials!

If you have any thoughts, concerns or feedback, please dont hesitate to reach out!

Hey everone, I am looking to plant some sweet potatoes, but I have limited space in my yard. One of the only spots I have are in between my fruit trees. The sweet potatoes would probably be planted about 3.5 feet away from the trunk of the tree. Only thing I am worried about is potentially damaging the roots of the fruit trees when the sweet potatoes are ready to harvest. Is this something to be concerned about? Thanks!

Have you ever been involved in scientific study? Now you can right from your device!

Did you know that access to nature does not predict engagement with nature? A personality factor called Nature Connectedness does predict engagement to nature. How can technology be used to increase our connection to nature? This short 15-minute study may not only give you the opportunity to enhance a sense of connectedness but will also inform further scientific research and policy change.

Please complete this when you are in a relaxed space and have the time. After completing this academic study, you will be entered into a draw to win one of four $50 Visa gift cards!!

Project ID: 40731 - Approved by Monash University Human Research Ethics Committee 

Link:
https://monash.az1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_e8wuDfU0K37LJYi

I am not sure if this the best place to ask but here it goes. I want to buy lady bugs but most websites direct me to Amazon and I really do not like buying anything off of Amazon for many reasons. Does anyone have any suggestions as to where to buy live lady bugs? I use to see all the time when I was a kid but I haven’t seen many in years. Thanks.

I’m passionate about regenerative agriculture. I want to find a way to help folks doing the hard work.

Assume the software was free. What type of software do you wish you had (at any point along the journey)? I’d like to build something easy to use that would’ve helped you find the right property, plan appropriately for the property you already own, or assist in any capacity the enterprises you are already operating.

Let me know!

edit: do you currently use a marketplace to sell any of your goods? if so, which one?

I live in a rural area where it’s technically ‘legal’ to burn brush etc and they keep claiming its brush, but you can see tires sticking out of the burn pile. My neighbors are not amicable to stopping even with me helping haul away garbage instead. The smoke is wafting onto my entire property and even inside my house like a cancerous evil fog. What can I do to remediate the dioxins etc from the smoke that is actively seeping/settling onto my land? Mushrooms? Hemp? Scrape it and toss it? Thanks in advance for any helpful replies!

Edit: so yeah I’ve been in communication with Sheriffs office, Public Health, and the EPA but not much can be done other then threatening letters because the local municipality doesn’t have any enforcement.

Edit 2: Ok y’all, to reiterate, I’m curious about anyone’s experience with bioremediation of heavy metals, plastics and other various pollutants. What if I had a landfill? How would I go about making viable land out of a landfill? I know everyone’s hot on getting my neighbors to stop and believe me, I would love that. I’ve had to abandon the property for the time being and hope that in a couple years time that things will improve in my municipality and enforcement of local ordinances will occur and stop it eventually. When that time comes, I’d like to bring my property back to a healthy status without all the muck inhibiting me from growing and building a nice wallapini. Thanks again in advance! And thanks for all that are concerned and wanna smack my neighbors for me, I personally wouldn’t mind running them off their own property but alas I need to get along with them for the time being. Thanks everyone!

I’m stumped. A normal NH winter. No late frosts. Peaches and pear trees flowered. Five apple trees, three crab apples - none flowered. They otherwise appear to be healthy. How can this be?

Hi, I'm new to both permaculture and this sub. I have a garden patch that I want to cultivate, but it's riddled with weed seeds, so I need some mulch, but I don't want to spend a fortune on it.

Now, I live near a canal, and the council has mowed the banks last week. It's a mixture of reeds, grasses and wildflowers...you know, stuff that generally grows along a canal. I was walking my dog there this morning, and the clippings have been laying in the sun for about 4 days and are browning. And I suddenly thought that it might be a good idea, to wheel a few wheel barrows of the stuff to my garden to use as mulch.

Is that a good idea indeed? Or will I be inviting more weed seeds into my garden this way?

Have you ever been involved in scientific study? Now you can, right now, from your phone!

Did you know that access to nature does not predict engagement with nature? A personality factor called Nature Connectedness does predict engagement to nature. How can technology be used to increase our connection to nature? This short 15-minute study may not only give you the opportunity to enhance a sense of connectedness but will also inform further scientific research and policy change.

Please complete this when you are in a relaxed space and have the time. After completing this academic study, you will be entered into a draw to win one of four $50 Visa gift cards!

Project ID: 40731 - Approved by Monash University Human Research Ethics Committee 

Link:
https://monash.az1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_e8wuDfU0K37LJYi

Finish a permaculture certification course soon and I want to start my own design business at some point, I know I still have lots of learning to do and experience to gain so no hate please. But like where do you get the experience? I’ve been working with my yard trying to implement the things I’ve discovered but trying to sell my self to clients is a bit daunting when I don’t have much to show for myself.

Permie teachers, what are some of your favorite more recent websites and internet resources. I'm the tech end to my partner's teaching and we've been out of the loop for about 12 years and he's going to be teaching again soon.
I have many resources and most are still active but what is fresh and cutting edge as far as projects, teachers, websites, videos, etc. Bonus for Women-led and Black, Indigenous and POC projects and teachers as I'm trying to make sure we're well rounded in our resource guide.
Thanks!

We are a small team tackling affordable and sustainable housing.

We are currently working on 2 neighbourhood revival projects located in Sydney.

We are also exploring how permaculture principles can be incorporated into the projects.

Any local permies interested in getting involved?

Hi all.

Getting rid of my front lawn for a big native garden. However, the soil is so sad after years of being compacted or uncovered.

Most of the things I’m planting like sandy soil, but I’m wondering if I do need to add any compost etc. before mulching?

Any tips very appreciated!

If every farmer started using permaculture won't there be food crisis?

Hi friends, we have a cabin north of Duluth, Minnesota (Zone 3) and I am wondering for some fun plants that are zero maintenance (don’t need watering or protection from pests) and would come back year after year. We visit the cabin monthly or so and I think it would be really cool to harvest fruit or nuts when we are up there. I understand deer and such might eat low hanging fruit, but we could always put up a little fence. TYIA

I'm interested in learning how people deal with aphids in a permaculture context. I am in the process of converting a good chunk of my garden into a sort of mini-orchard, with the primary aim of providing wildlife habitat. With this in mind, I've got things like green alkanet, vetch, buttercups, and so on growing on the ground, and plans to start using things like daffodils to feed pollinators in the spring and comfrey to provide shelter to the slow worms.

Anyway, I've had some promising improvements already, with loads of different types of bees, caterpillars, and birds showing up. Unfortunately there are also a stunning amount of aphids in places. I've been trying to just tolerate them and wait for natural predators to intervene, but one of my cherries is so infested that the leaves look black from a distance.

What would the appropriate option be for resolving this? The cherry in question is a 'Stella' and it has only been in the ground for a few months.

I'm looking into a vermicomposting toilet for an outbuilding. Has anyone built one of these and if so, can you explain the differences between the vermicomposting system and a tiger toilet system as advocated by the WHO. The only difference I can see is that the YT videos of vermicomposting systems retain a leach field for effluence, but the tiger toilets simply drain the effluence through an open bottom tank.