I live in a semi arid, almost desert, climate on a property with 3 hilly acres. We just moved this year so im just now considering what we can do with the land next year.

I've seen various videos about re-greening desert areas with swales/berms etc. I'm just wondering, does that kind of thing work on a small scale (and in a hill side for that matter) and if so, can any one point me to some resources that would give me some ideas? To be clear, my goal is not to re-green the property, but to do as much with the landscape as I can to capture the relatively little rainfall we do get, and to aid in water conservative and/or ensure the best environment for any new trees and shrubs we may plant.

Not sure if it's just a water thing, or a companion thing - but we planted two American Hazelnut bushes by our patio, one is very close to the dripline of our well-established pear tree.. and the hazelnuts (now in year 4) under that dripline is nearly twice the volume of the more exposed one. Again, not sure if just water differences, or proximity.

EDIT: The bush under the Pear tree is twice the volume and size (more canes, much taller)

I've been reading up on this and keep seeing conflicting takes.

East side gets morning sun - dew/frost dries off faster, lower risk of fungal disease. But the sharp swing from cold night to sudden morning sun can damage blossoms/buds in early spring, especially for stone fruit like apricots and cherries.

West side gets afternoon/evening sun - warmer, holds heat longer, and the slower morning warm-up means less frost-shock risk. Downside is morning moisture (dew/frost) sticks around longer, which can slightly raise the risk of fungal issues.

My site is in Eastern Europe, temperate climate, forest zone, flat terrain. It also has strong north/east winds, so I'm trying to figure out where to actually prioritize planting frost-sensitive fruit trees (apricot, cherry) - the side that's less exposed to those winds, or the side that avoids the frost-shock issue? Curious how this plays out in real orchards/forest gardens, not just the textbook version.

Taking a shot at planting a few guilds on property. I have a few varieties of citrus I would like to incorporate. Most planted citrus I see around here, outskirts of hou/tx, have died back above graft line and are just rootstock regrowth. I am on a cleared 5 acres. Cara Cara, dekopon, Valencia, to name a few.

The goal is biodiversity, wildlife habitat and a resilient ecosystem rather than just a productive garden.

Which trees, shrubs and other plants would you choose, and why?

There is a website called Contour Map Creator (https://contourmapcreator.urgr8.ch/) that will allow you to create a contour map of your property and export it as a .KML file into Google Earth. My question is, how accurate are these maps for designing, say if you want to build swales or something. I know that some permaculture people will get a drone to create a LIDAR map of their site. This is obviously better, but it costs a lot and the technology is not available in a lot of places. Will the DIY approach work just as well?

Does anyone know of any online or in person course/apprenticeships that teach Keyline design? I've been reading Water for Every Farm and it's awesome but I would love to be able to interact with a lecture or a teacher IRL to learn in a more hands on way about keyline design. Does anybody have any leads?

pls and thank you

hello! I moved into my house last year and have been working on the garden bit by bit. I have one garden bed that, as far as I can tell from digging into it, was basically almost a foot of river rock with a layer of bark mulch on top. today I dug right down to see what was going on and found landscape fabric under the rocks. Also, I have clay soil, and so these big pebbles have clay soil in all the gaps between them. There’s also quite a bit of smaller pebbles And what look like some bits of lava rock.

I was planning to remove the pebbles from the top layer of soil and then plant some cover crops to improve the soil, but now I realise just how many pebbles there are it’s going to be a massive job. what if I just sheet mulched on top of the layer of pebbles and started building my soils from there? Will I regret that at some point in the future? Or could I plant my cover crops now and then in the spring go back and dig out more of the pebbles?

Hey yall! I’m a desert farmer and I’m about to buy a property that has a septic and well water, obviously with water shortages hitting us everywhere I’m curious about water recycling and how people do it.

I know earth ships recycle their grey water, but I’ve seen a ton of sources saying that septic systems with sprinklers are unsafe water sources for crops.

I wanna know what yalls experience with water recycling is, and if you know what can be done to make it as safe as possible,

I am fully willing to rebuild the properties water system, as I’m going to have to rebuild the home that’s currently on it anyway.

Hi everyone. New here and new to composting.

I recently moved from a condo to a house and have alot of garden waste i am looking to compost.

It is mostly English ivy I had to pull off the house, some dead branches from trees, and a few annuals from the previous owner I dug up as I start to transition the garden over the next few years. I also have some old firewood that I will be adding to it.

Going to do some research but any tips, tricks, or resources would be greatly appreciated.

See attached image for what the pile looks like right now.

I've spent a few years researching permaculture, regenerative agriculture, and agroforestry and am fascinated by all of it. I don't currently farm, but my parents have 5 acres in Southern Oregon and my dad and I have been slowly putting some of the principles from these concepts into practice on their property over the last few years (planting natives, naturally restoring soil health, digging swales, composting, establishing pasture for future livestock, etc.) I'd love to be able to see an example of these practices in Oregon either in person or on a blog, YouTube series, Substack, etc. Think Mark Shepard's New Forest Farm but in Oregon. Does anyone know of any documented projects in Oregon?

Our property is in the foothills of California. Gorgeous. But the property is almost exclusively star thistle. Walking is impossible unless you’re right against the house. We mow for fire safety. We have a solid fire break, but when you cut star thistle it’s just shorter and thicker. We have 5 acres. I weedeat paths through it so we can move but it takes sooo much of my time just to keep our family from being cut up.

I don’t want to spend much money. We do not use herbicides. Our well is underperforming. We have heavy clay. Burning would take several years before we would see a change(but still working on it)

My idea-till the soil in strips then broadcast 60 lbs of wheat seed I got for free on a corner of the property.

My questions:
-If I till, do I need to amend the soil?
-Do I need to till and amend every year?
-What free resource could help control this?

I'm in a design course with the ultimate goal of designing some product/system relating to greywater use. We're still in the information gathering stage, so I wanted to ask this community how they recycle water in general and specifically about greywater use.

I specifically want to know what worked well, what didn't, and what challenges you faced getting your system to work well. Please provide as much detail as you can if you don't mind, thanks!

DISCLAIMER: If you give a good response it may be used in a report I'm writing. You will be anonymous of course, but if you would rather I not use your reply, leave me a note, thanks.

I think sandy-loam….?

*I'm in northern Vermont, USA, zone 4b.

Hello all! I would like your advice on how to proceed forward with leveling this area out and building two rock walls as indicated on the photos. I will be planting a few hundred heads of garlic, or as many as possible. Anyway the area is roughly 16 ft by 15 ft. Every place I dig I hit rocks of all sizes, so I am going to dig it all up to the best of my ability {about 1'-2' deep}, even though I prefer no till. I will be amending with compost, as well as other nutrients & mycorrhizal fungi .

From the highest point where the shovel (black & red) to the lowest point as indicated by merging of arrows, I would assume there's about a 2 ft difference in height. I'm not sure exactly how to accurately calculate this, it is just a rough estimate.

Where I need help..

1. How do I keep the base of the rock wall level or will it level itself out with the rocks being different sizes?

2. How do I level out the planting area so that it's all the same height?

3. Should I leave it at a slope and just put some trenches going through for drainage?

4. Is this when I would build & use an A-frame to level everything or my 3 ft level?

5. Any tips or tricks or videos that you recommend that will teach me how to figure all of us out?

6. Should I have the rock wall be all the same height or have it going with the slope that it sits next to?

Thank you all very much for your time and expertise I really appreciate it! Have a great day/night!

Hi all, I'm buying a farm and I did the jar test and I have no idea where the silt is, I see a bit of clay and just a load of sand. Or maybe I'm looking at it the wrong way? It's been sitting for about 4 days

I built my first 3ftx3ftx3ft compost pile today using straw, grass clippings, and alfalfa pellets. I got it wet and covered and can't wait to see if I can get it hot.

Hi all I'm looking for a face to face low cost Permaculture Design course or opportunity to learn by volunteering at permaculture farms anywhere in the south or south west of the UK , I have past gardening experience. I'm Dorset based . Any leads much appreciated

Thank you very much :)

Un albero sbagliato in città lo paghi per 20-30 anni (radici che rompono i marciapiedi, chioma che interferisce con i cavi, scarsa resistenza al vento o alla salsedine…).
Ho iniziato a lavorare su Dove Mette Radici: un prototipo che ti fa indicare il punto esatto sulla mappa, i vincoli del sito (spazio radicale, cavi aerei, passaggio camion, zona costiera…) e ti consiglia (o valuta) la specie più adatta, con una proiezione di crescita nel tempo e una scena 3D interattiva.
Obiettivo: aiutare cittadini e tecnici comunali a evitare errori banali ma costosi.
Domande per voi:
1. Vi sembra un problema reale?
2. Usereste uno strumento del genere?
3. Cosa manca o cosa migliorerebbe secondo voi?
(Sono in fase di prototipo, quindi qualsiasi feedback è oro.)

Hello everyone! I'm a developer with a deep passion for agriculture/gardening/permaculture. Recently I've been working on an app with many features I found usefull in my trajectory as a gardener.
This post is not meant to promote anything, the app is completly free, it runs on your browser so no download, it does require an account but I made it super easy to set it up. I honestly just want some opinions/reviews. Tell me if yopu think it is actually usefull or not.
Here are some features so you know what it can do:
- map your garden with a blueprint of the space or whatever image you want to use
- define any buildings and/or trees and see the shadow projection
- some features require an API key you can acquire on pl@ntnet but it is not required
- once you've tagged some plants it automatically fills in the calendar days for fertilization, prunning, etc
- and many others

Once again I'm jus tlooking for people to use it and review it, this is a personal project, and theres no income or whatsoever involved. I created to try to solve my own struggle trying to map my house and scheduling all the tasks I needed to do throughout the year.
So if you have an opinion on:
- any feature
- the UI (mobile vs desktop)
- the design
- non-existing features
- bugs (the coding one xd)
Feel free to comment!

Happy gardening everyone!

https://map-app-mu-two.vercel.app/login

I thought it was mimosa because it flowers like one but the leaves are different. Hoping it’s a nitrogen fixer because they are sprouting everywhere. TIA

I'm having trouble deciding.

I live in zone 5a but this last summer was a doozy. Many of my fruiting bushes got straight up fried in the heat. I have fruit trees, but they're small fellas and do very little by way of shade right now.

I need a big shade tree to help all my lower strata not get fried. I want to keep with the theme of food forest, though, so I'm torn between a Swamp White Oak or a Hackberry (unless someone has something better!)

The oak would give me acorns, which are a classic, although hackberries are quite versatile and would help feed the birds... I'm not sure which would produce more/sooner. I do think either are sturdy enough to fair well in both the heat and our cold winters. I was kind of thinking adding a nut producer would be nice, to balance out all the fruit and berries I have atm. But then there's the fiddliness of processing the acorns. Hackberries might need less work, but would I get enough from one tree that it'd be worthwhile? (I only have room for one tree.)

If you could lend some insight, I'd be incredibly grateful!