What do YOU do? Why are you doing it? Please add your ideas and what works for you.
I have a flower bed at my front door so will add herbs and greens to it. There are no paths inside, just wander through and try to miss stepping on stuff. I also have 5 50' rows of day lilies with 6' paths between rows and have been using rugs to deter weeds on paths. If the snow ever leaves or when it's down to an inch I thinking of frost seeding clover in my paths. With the idea of mowing it and using the mulch as side dressing for day lilies. also plan to seed other plants among the lilies if I can find room. Early greens would work.
I've always composted, not too scientific but it works so will continue. Would like to include
other's waste that ends in land fills. I do gather leaves folks put out on the curb.
I could rattle on, but wonder if anyone else has an iterest in this thread? Louise

Louise - it is more challenging to incorporate permaculture ideas into existing landscapes rather than "clean slates". To me, the main concept is to make your plot more sustainable. I use fall leaves for mulching beds rather than using shredded wood mulch. You can spot-compost veggie and fruit scraps along with coffee grounds right in your garden beds. Interplanting in your beds is fun and can be productive in terms of building the soil and nurturing companion plants. I can mix vegetables and herbs in a bed with shrubs, roses, perennials and a few annuals for color. I would suggest a basic permaculture book to get ideas of exactly how much you can accomplish.

Thanks, spot composting is a good idea. I've tried coffee grounds on lilium; attempting to disciurage the lily beedle. I have the Gaia's Garden and Will Bonsall's Essential Guide to Radical, Self-Reliant Growing. All full of overwelming ideas. As you suggest - a little here and there and keep reading. Thanks again for your response.

Louise - everyone's situation is different so it's hard to make suggestions as to what can be done. Permaculture goes beyond the garden but a lot of us are a little more locked-in on our current situation. Another idea is to make hugelkultur beds or berms. It's more a premise of disposing of the excess carbon in fallen tree branches while enriching soil. Some are even experimenting with more of a level hugel bed rather than the raised mounds. Using rainwater or making a rain water garden that can, at times, survive going dry. Lots of ideas because permaculture covers a broad range of practices.

Baby steps here. I wish I could say I incorporate more but...

I use the leaves between the raised beds. It makes the path less muddy and when they have broken down, they can be added to the beds the next fall with the new fallen leaves in the pathways. I also gather the smaller deadwood branches and twigs and add them to the raised beds as well.

I also harvest rainwater for the plants. I garden in the raised beds but tuck various herbs in here and there.

I hope you do "rattle on" Louise. I am always interested in learning more. Sadly this forum isn't too active.

Kristi - totally agree with you. It would be nice if this forum was more active. It used to be.

Yes and I always enjoyed reading and learning.
I am afraid I am not so knowledgeable and don't have much to contribute.

My problem seems to be good intentions but not so much time to implement.

I think you implement one new idea and go from there. Don't try to do it all in one season. I have two hugel beds where I have buried branches. On an old established lot, it takes time to bring in perma culture practices. But over several seasons, I think progress in that direction is possible.

Caroline - I keep intending to make a hugel bed or two but my branches and excess fall leaves go to the edge of my property that drops off to the wetlands. Primary goal for me is to contain soil erosion. I would love to put in fruit trees or shrubs with "companion" planting but I don't get a lot of sun.

My yard is becoming more and more shaded as the trees and shrubs mature. I may have one or two taken down.

Caroline - I love my trees so I cringe when any of them have to come down for structural or other reasons.

I know that I am late for the party.
I agree with CarolineScott, to add as you go.
I try to do a bit at a time so I don't become overwhelmed.
I started by installing raised beds Hugelkultur/lasagna beds.

I stopped using any store bought amendments, fertilizers or bagged materials for my annual beds and perennial beds, everything must be sourced locally. I make my own fertilizers.
(I need to clarify this, I do use 10-10-10 on my potted plants and aquaponic plants along with tomato spikes for my pond lilies)

The last few years I have been no till and do in situ composting.

I Started harvesting/diverting rain water, installed a mini rain garden, started a native plant butterfly/hummingbird garden for pollinators.

I have recorded my last few years of Urban Gardening and how I have slowly been trying to convert as much as possible to permaculture philosophies (the best I can anyhow) and I can go on and on with a ton of new things I have done but will hold off to see if there is an interest in resurrecting this thread.

Sqwibber - thanks for posting! Do you live in the city? I've listened to Mike McGrath (Philly-based) for years and like some of his suggestions. I have 3 rain barrels and have run them dry on occasion. Only things I fertilize (organic only) are annuals and a few veg as they are planted. I don't routinely fertilize as a rule but did do a soil test on my small sunny bed a few years back and did some amending. I've done the in-situ composting but have to bury it due to varmints (hard to do in the winter). I mulch with shredded leaves in most of the beds. While I don't have raised beds, I avoid stepping into the beds as much as possible. Most of my gardens are comprised of perennials with a few veg thrown in. I'm wanting to move forward on replacing some of my perennials with more crop-related things but haven't had the chance yet.

Shade, yes I am in Philadelphia, northeast Philadelphia to be exact.

I just got rid of three 55 gallon drum rain barrels and gave them to a fellow gardener. I replaced them with a 165 gallon tank and a 90 gallon tank.
I'll toss up some pics...





I installed underdecking and gutters to feed this tank, its never empty




Put in a transfer pump and hose to water the gardens



have a center feed that goes to the pond for topping off and filling buckets.
Put in an overflow




installed a gutter to feed the back pond

This is my 90 gallon tank, its sole purpose is to keep the Koi pond topped off.





It's fed from the roof over the bar on the deck





runs along the wall


I have grapes on this wall now too.


and dumps into the tank


overflow goes under pavers and behind my Hugelkultur bed.


feed to koi pond is on a non pressurized timer with a 1/4" line that goes on twice a day for a few hours each time (very slow feed)




Line goes along the wall under the pavers into the veggie filter of the Koi Pond

Sqwibb - nice setup! Far more elaborate than my simple 55-gal rain barrels. I do have two linked together for my main source and then a secondary barrel on the opposite side of the house. Even though they're up on blocks, gravity doesn't quite push enough water through a hose to water in-ground plants. Any supplemental watering done by hand but all of my potted plants get rain water instead of city water. Saw on another thread that you also do "chop and drop". One of the easiest concepts to adopt. I am selective though - no undesirable seed-bearing plants and I try to pull out weeds first. Good for our MW winters when snow isn't always on the ground. And hopefully plant nutrients get back into the soil.

Yeah I have always done a scaled down form of chop and drop, like trimmings tossed back in the beds and growing oregano as a living mulch then chopping in place, yes it can become invasive you do need to stay on top of it but the benefits outweigh the negatives.

This season I insisted on not removing anything from the beds at all with the exception of harvesting of course.
I let weeds grow along side the crops and will chop in place if there's no seed head, if there are seeds I toss in a bucket of rainwater for a week or so then pour back in the bed. I'll also pull crabgrass and toss in a bucket, but pretty much everything else is left alone.

I feel if I am strict about this practice the beds will not loose too much in the way of nutrients.

Think about this plant below that had a huge taproot. Most folks would toss this in the trash and not even compost it. Why would someone toss out something that just mined all those minerals and is also a source of nitrogen and makes a great mulch? When I started thinking like this I believe I became a better gardener.

Prickly lettuce 3' tall chopped as mulch.

Interesting with the prickly lettuce. On a much smaller, similar scale - my radishes didn't produce an edible "bulb" this year but I let them grow all season to hopefully open up soil below the surface. At the end of the season, chop and drop.

Very interesting SQWIBBER, thanks for posting all the pics!

I have wanted to do rainwater harvesting, and we had access to many 250 gallon totes for free, but husband thinks it would look ugly. Doesn't matter as we live on a private road out in the woods, but his subdivision-reared sensibilities and my creative urges clash all the time. I think I would be much further along in my permaculture goals if it wasn't for this dissonance.

I am trying to implement more innocuous additions, a little at a time, but it is very slow going and too much of it feels like an uphill battle.