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Hi there, I am based in Wales on the Powys/ Shropshire border and have been involved in permaculture projects for nearly 35 years, which is a terrifying thought!

About 20 years ago I became involved in permaculture education, running a series of PDCs which over the next ten or 15 years or so built an incredible network, accidentally, and this is S39.

In 2015, this extended to Uganda and Kenya, and in 2020 to Rwanda. It has been an amazing journey thus far. I live in a small housing cooperative in a rural Welsh community and am developing a community horticulture hub on a local farm. I draw all of my teaching from first-hand experience as well as this incredible network that has grown up around our courses.

I have decided to go through the full PDC curriculum in a series of podcasts over the next few months, and hopefully create a real immersive PDC experience for those who join us on the journey,, through this series.
Join us, this is your welcome and invitation to get on board. Wherever you are, you can take part in this, and if you are in the UK, you can also join us for practical sessions, site visits and demonstrations.

I need some help with my heirloom Boston pickling cucumber. I have grown cucumbers in the past, but I am new to this variety. This is the same cucumber, but I’d like to know if I’m allowing it to over-ripen or if it’s not ripe enough. Any tips or hints will be much appreciated!

https://preview.redd.it/pdgyeogwwx3f1.jpg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=b951699da9927d00dc962ca200ff2567affec4f7

https://preview.redd.it/18y23pgwwx3f1.jpg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=6c545f5e9d131b1e43e1be13b9e25bd524670ff7

Lately I’ve seen a lot of misinformation being spread everywhere about the use of exotic species or even invasive species to restore degraded land in favor of using native. This is because the exotic or even invasive species are said to grow faster, produce more biomass and this helps build up fertile soil faster than native species can do!

What are your take on this? Of course this practice must be under control or else I could imagine invasive species being spread uncontrollably and taking over from the natives. It can be extremely difficult to remove invasive species, while exotic species are easier.

All in all the theory is also that in the end successional stage, large trees will eventually take over even invasive species. This must be far out in the future I suppose.

But what do people think? Should we just go all in om biomass, plant those fast growing species that can build up the soil on degraded land, and take care of the rest “later”? I see these theories being spread amongst especially permaculturalists

What exactly does watering in do? Obviously it waters the plant, but is it also important for improving root soil contact / removing air pockets?

Do I need to water in if there is or will be a ton of rain?

Clay soil if it matters – seems like it might.

When we moved into our house 2 and a half years ago, we were excited by the raspberries and rhubarb in an in-ground bed, raised maybe 8 inches from the rest of a yard and separated by a 2-high landscape brick wall. We wattle-fenced it off from the grass so the dogs couldn’t go in there. Problem is, we haven’t stayed on top of the weeds and now we’re overrun with creaking buttercup, herb robert and others. Some of the rhubarb is huge and we’d like to keep it, but transplanting may be an option (except fear of bring the weeds with us). We’re pretty frustrated with the whole thing and are ready to sacrifice the raspberries if that’s what it takes. They are ever-bearing and we cut canes to the ground each year anyway. They grow back bit matter what we do. We’re considering cutting canes to the ground and sheet mulching the whole area. Worried about the canes pushing up the cardboard. Advice? Other things we should consider? (Washington State, USA)