There is always something that can be done in permaculture, and it has been tempting to just make use of the good dry weather to get ahead with all the winter jobs calling out for attention. There is a risk of never taking a break to reflect – especially if your work involves orchard care it can be tempting to just drive on if dry weather presents itself!
I’ve come to respect the deep winter natural pausing time however and I’m happy that the holiday time in mainstream society still largely reflects this. I find that even a couple of days spent looking back over the year and meditating on what I’d like to manifest in my world is very worthwhile.
On the professional front I remember wishing to take a bigger step into my teaching vocation this year, which really manifested in ways that I could not expect when I was asked to teach a permaculture course for a group of children from the Basque Country who were on a trip to Cork!
You can read about that memorable day here:
Teaching children permaculture story
Teaching Highlights from 2025 and looking ahead to 2026
There were other new teaching ventures, including the opportunity to teach permaculture in a church in Kerry and to present flood and drought proofing design techniques at an online event hosted by a Welsh national farming organisation.
Here are my more 2025 teaching highlights:
- Summer Pruning Workshop Story
- Kenmare Garden design Talk
- Flood and Drought Resilience in Wales and Ireland
- Energy Resilience Workshop
Would you like to host a course?
Most of these events were organised by customers and colleagues who wanted me to teach on a range of sustainability topics. If you would like to host a course in 2026 please get in touch here: https://permaculturedesign.ie/contact/
New Permaculture Courses in 2026!
You can be certain that there will be at least one winter pruning course come around February and more courses throughout the year. I’ll be scheduling certified Introduction to Permaculture Courses early in the year and a full certified Permaculture Design Course for later in the year. I am also planning courses delivered through the Irish language too including Certified Intro to Permacultlure, which I think will be the first of it’s kind.
As always however I’m in the flow of my winter review when these ideas undergo a sort of stratification, like the many tree seeds that need the cold exposure in order to germinate.
There will be another update early in the new year with the first tranche of dates and details announcing themselves like a vanguard to the early spring green shoots.
Winter Orchard Pruning Season is Open!
With the first proper freeze of the winter come and gone the winter orchard pruning season is well and truly open in Ireland. I tend to the orchard care needs of customers in Cork and Kerry, and sometimes further afield in counties Limerick and Clare.
My interest in the care of fruit trees goes back to when I was a curious teenager and I have tended to hundreds of orchards since turning professional back in 2016. Some pruning jobs involve a few small trees in a domestic garden while other jobs can involve tending to centuries old orchards on the grounds of old estates.
2025 may go down as a once in a generation apple fruiting year, and I get into the details of what made it so great in these two articles:
May Update: Bumper fruit crop forecast for Ireland in 2025
Orchard Review 2025: An Epic Fruiting Year
Permaculture teaching experience and qualifications
I provide professional permaculture design, drone mapping and orchard care services to customers across the south of Ireland since 2016.
Throughout the year I also teach permaculture and sustainability skills courses and am a Certified teacher of the UK Permaculture Association. I’m delighted to receive many invitations to guest teach and lecture at permaculture and sustainability courses and events in Ireland and internationally.
Paul Lynch teacher profile: https://www.permaculture.org.uk/user/paul-lynch