r/Permaculture

I am in the planning stages of a community orchard I'm designing, and we want plenty of fruit and also to support wildlife. I don't mind sharing the fruit but has anyone had success with having birds not totally decimate your crop? Is there a way to control this besides bird netting?

I am having a hard time understanding the obsession with nitrogen fixing trees. Nitrogen is not a hard thing to come by, so why waste space planting a whole tree for it? I get the shade & mulch, but the argument for nitrogen really baffles me. Unless you have no animals or are afraid of humanure & urine

Saying this as someone who does not have acres to work with. Otherwise can see planting one with plenty of space

Been thinking about how most permaculture content leads with fruit and nut trees, which makes sense, but the backbone of a solid food forest is really the utility trees people tend to overlook. Black locust for nitrogen fixing and chopdrop, mulberry because it basically feeds itself and everything around it, elder sitting in that weird zone between medicine, food, and wildlife support.

What trees have surprised you with how much work they do quietly in the background? Not the headline producers, but the ones that actually changed how your system functioned once they got established.

I ask because my early planting decisions were mostly about what I wanted to eat rather than what the land needed. A few years in and I'm realizing I planted a lot of consumers and not enough producers. The system works, but it feels like it's constantly hungry.

Curious whether others hit the same realization and what you ended up adding to shift the balance. Also wondering how you handle spacing and placement when you're retrofitting support species into an existing layout rather than starting from scratch.

Does anyone grow amaranth? I was recently in South America and they used it as a breakfast cereal or in musli bars in a popped form and I quite enjoyed it. I gather it is also quite good for biomass in a food forest. Do you grow Amaranth? Is it worthwhile?

Hi all,

I'm starting to convert my average UK garden into a food forest. I'm in SE of England.

I have a huge hazel growing at the back of my garden and it's been ignored for the past 10+ years so is now huge, and it creates a lot of shade in the summer/autumn.

I'm trying to decide what I can plant in that area that thrives in shade (or during winter/early spring when there are no leaves) and is useful in a food forest / for the wildlife - any suggestions?

Right now right under the tree it's Lesser celandine in the early spring and then it's barren the rest of the year, and slightly more outside of the tree (but still mostly in shade) I have what seems to be Jack-by-the-hedge, some newly spread crimson clover (other clover didn't seem to do as well, I spread a mix of all different ones), and a bunch of blackberry bush brambles always trying to poke through - but since it's shaded there's no fruit.

There's space for a bush or a climbing plant of some kind (in the semi/open shade part), and the rest will just need to be some kind of ground cover I think. I do want to be able to collect the nuts.

I was thinking maybe some wild garlic would do well there (I bought seeds already), anything else? Any suggestions welcome, thank you!

Hey all,

I am finally getting around to starting out a little permaculture project. I am based in South Carolina 8b, and have largely resisted the urge to garden for a variety of personal reasons sight notwithstanding. I used to garden a lot when I was younger with my relatives, all my family in Central Europe have home gardens and I've got fond memories of yellow watermelon in my cousin's village house.

What has kept me from starting a little food forest has mostly been the impermanence of my living situation. I have never felt like I should be living where I do, primarily because despite the population growth objectively speaking I can't be independent here, not to the degree I want to be. The lack of jobs and support is for a different subreddit. Recent changes to my medical situation and a terrible job market have made me think, once again, staying put for a few years isn't so bad. Right now I exist on SSDI and am trying to earn side income (this is not one of those projects). For me, this little food forest idea is about reducing reliance on the grocery and eventually, maybe, meeting 10-20% of fruit/veggie needs in the summer. I am living with elderly parents, so this is all on me.

Because I live in the Southeast and we typically have extremely humid summers, and our house here has maybe a tenth of the land back in Europe, I am not sure where to start. I currently only have one fig tree which my mother got me last week following a successful surgery, it has been therapeutic to take care of the thing.

I have found that there are soil quality meters and all these different cheap drip irrigation systems, but we are talking maybe 1/4 an acre in the back yard. I am not sure to what degree a $100 investment into basic equipment like that could do if I want to plant more than a 5 quart tree pot. I am definitely out of my depth when it comes to dealing with the humidity and consistent heat.

I have been able to get by with tactile markings, judging the soil by feel and using my limited remaining vision, but it seems daunting to go from a handful of plants to, like, an entire box and growing all sort of things you wonderful folks have managed to cultivate.

Hey everyone,

I'm looking to buy a manual grinder online and was wondering if anyone has recommendations.

I'm after something that's sturdy, easy to use, and built to last. Are there any brands or websites you've had good experiences with?

If you own one that you've been using for a while and would recommend, I'd love to hear your thoughts.

Thanks!

How well or poorly do apple trees grow in tough environments; can apple trees grow on very exposed, windy sites. How about on a rocky hillside, moorland, or near a marsh? Or areas with poor soil, that get lots of water or not enough water. Are there varieties that are preferred for challenging environments.

How do apple trees fare in tough conditions?

I’ve been building up my garden soil in raised beds with store bought compost bags and some amendments, mushroom spores saw dust in the mulch layer, with bokashi, vermipost and home compost to add when it’s ready. But what I started with was huggelcultur raised beds and in ground beds with mostly just logs and native soil at the base, and the small amounts of bagged soil/compost on top. I’m realising now that is everything I’ve planted gets a good start but then hits resistance when the roots reach down into the old dirt, where it’s become compacted and not nurturing at all. I’m wondering if it’s basically all a wash this year and I have to start over? I’m thinking the best approach would be to really mix in what I’ve got on top and blend it with the bottom layers more? OR would the worms and microbes eventually penetrate that bottom layer on their own and it’s better not to disturb the process? Thanks!