Ansa Permaculture Design Ireland

Summer Orchard Pruning Season is Open!

26/07/202526/07/2025 Paul LynchLeave a commentOrchardapple pruning, cork, fukuoka, ireland, orchard, skills, summer pruning, sustainability, watershoots, workshop

What a glorious fruitful year it is with many of the trees laden with fruit. The perennial question I am asked is: “Why oh why would you prune fruit trees in the summer? Surely its better in the winter?” The answer, as usual in permaculture, is: “it depends”. Most Fruit Trees are Summer Pruning Candidates Firstly, all of the prunus species of fruit tree are summer rather than winter candidates for pruning, so it you have cherries or plums winter pruning runs some extra disease risks. Most apple and pear trees benefit from summer pruning, many suffering from excessive winter pruning without the appropriate summer care. Summer pruning mostly addresses this year’s vigorous growth, directing that energy to future fruiting. So most mature apple and pear trees I tend to benefit from skillful summer pruning. Here is a little video about dealing with water shoots during summer pruning: I tend Continue Permaculture Story

Summer Pruning Workshop Story

23/07/202508/08/2025 Paul LynchLeave a commentOrchardapple pruning, cork, grafting, ireland, lorette, orchard, orchard pruning course, permaculture, skills, summer pruning, sustainability

The pruning workshop covered the following topics: Why prune at all; the natural shape of an apple tree; the purpose of grafting; its effects and side-effects; summer pruning vs winter pruning; vegetative and fruiting wood; orchard guilds and design considerations; pollination; tools and tool care; disease pruning; pruning demos; plant succession mulching, and importantly, the Lorette system of summer pruning.

Teaching Children Permaculture

18/07/202518/07/2025 Paul LynchLeave a commentCourses and WorkshopsBilbao, cork, drought, Dunmanway, flood, keyline design, microclimate, permaculture, rainfall, skills, Spain, sunshine, teaching children, temperature

Permaculture farm in Dunmanway County Cork hosts summer language students from Bilbao It’s all happening around Dunmanway County Cork these days. Since I began my professional permaculture design practice, the area between Drimoleague and Dunmanway County Cork has shown to be a consistent hot-spot for permaculture projects. A few years ago I worked on a farm permaculture design for the Kingston family near Coolkellure, now known as Nowen Rock Regenerative Natural Habitats. Recently John Kingston and I have been collaborating on the build of another local permaculture project in that area. Teaching Children Permaculture John asked me if I spoke Spanish and if I would do a day teaching permaculture for a group of English language students coming from Bilbao to visit his farm. Of course I was delighted to get involved and do more teaching. It was quite a new challenge however as I had not taught children permaculture Continue Permaculture Story

May Orchard Update – Bumper Fruit Crop Forecast for Ireland in 2025

22/05/202522/05/2025 Paul LynchLeave a commentOrchardapple, apple tree, cork, drought, fruit, fruit crop, May, orchard, permaculture, sustainability

A-May-zing weather for fruit trees God bless the spells of bitter cold, snow and frost we had during the winter and God bless the beautiful calm, warmth and sunshine this spring. I expect that most gardeners couldn’t fail to notice the widespread, spectacular flowering of both domesticated and wild fruiting trees this year. Gardeners and non-gardeners alike traveling about the countryside will have been greeted with an almost exotic display around each corner from the hawthorn trees laden in white. With the limits of brilliant white exceeded, an abnormal fraction of the May trees have changed clothes this year and blossomed in pink instead, as if they couldn’t wait longer and ripened themselves instead of setting fruit. Fruit tree “chill hours” requirement Even that winter cold spell – now a distant memory – was good for the trees. Proper cold winter weather has a role in regulating the apple tree Continue Permaculture Story

Energy Resilience Workshop March 10th 2025

07/03/202507/03/2025 Paul LynchLeave a commentUncategorizedcork, energy, energy resilience, gteic, ireland, Muscraí, Muskerry, off-grid, permaculture, renewable energy, skills, solar

Energy resilience workshop I am delighted to give a talk and workshop on the topic of energy resilience on the 10th March 2025 in Ballingeary Co. Cork. Energy workshop topics This workshop is complimentary courtesy of Comharchumann Forbartha Mhúscraí Teoranta, which is a community development co-operative operating in the interest of the Muscraí Gaeltacht area in Co Cork. More info here: https://muscrai.org/ Energy resilience workshop details The workshop will commence at 7.30pm at the Gteic co-working office hub in Ballingeary, Macroom, Co. Cork, Ireland. Workshop Venue: Páirc Ghnó Bhéal Átha an GhaorthaidhCo. ChorcaíP12 PX22 Energy workshop poster Irish Language Sustainability and Resilience Wisdom The workshop will be bilingual, in Irish and English. Most of the verbal presentation will be in Irish with most of the visual presentation in English. This way we aim to cater to users of both official languages and foster an environment where Irish can be learned Continue Permaculture Story

Climate and soil conditions for orchards in Ireland

06/03/202507/03/2025 Paul LynchLeave a commentOrchardapple pruning, climate and soil, cork, microclimate, orchard

Recently I finished an orchard pruning job near Cork. Most of my pruning work is on domestic scale orchards that I manage in a day, but sometimes there are bigger orchards that need a few days, or even a week to get into shape. This orchard had nearly sixty trees and was located in a garden on the outskirts of the city. The site was on a gentle ridge high up on one of the many rolling hills to the south of Cork city, with a northerly aspect. There was little wind shelter to the site save from the landform itself. Many of these conditions are not ideal – the wind exposure, the aspect and the fact that some of the trees were planted too close together. As regards health however, the trees were overall in the better half of orchards that I have tended to in County Cork. Climate Continue Permaculture Story

Orchard Pruning Workshop Story

24/02/202524/02/2025 adminLeave a commentOrchardapple pruning, cork, ireland, orchard, orchard pruning course, permaculture, skills, sustainability

Winter and early spring is a busy time for the permaculture deisgner and orchardist. Besides running sustainability and pruning courses there is always a list of new pruning customers to tend to. It is also the period of planting bare root trees, orchards and hedging for design customers. I’m finally getting a chance however to write about the recent winter orchard pruning workshop here at the Ansa Permaculture Design headquarters, also known as my home and garden in West Cork. On a sunny frosty morning in February I was delighted to teach a small group including one student travelling all the way from Germany! Orchard pruning workshop topics The pruning workshop covered the following topics: Why prune at all; the natural shape of an apple tree; the purpose of grafting; its effects and side-effects; summer pruning vs winter pruning; vegetative and fruiting wood; orchard guilds and design considerations; pollination; tools Continue Permaculture Story

Orchard Pruning Workshop 8th February 2025

17/01/202517/01/2025 Paul LynchLeave a commentOrchardapple pruning, cork, ireland, orchard, orchard pruning course, permaculture, skills, sustainability

I’m delighted to announce another winter orchard pruning workshop in County Cork Ireland on Saturday the 8th of February. I’ve provided professional orchard care to hundreds of customers caring for thousands of trees since turning my lifelong interest in orchard care into my vocation back in 2016. I will teach you the exact same theory and techniques that I use to care for home, farm and old estate heritage orchards across Cork and the wider Munster region. I will teach the workshop at Ballingeary, in West Cork. Directions provided on booking. Workshop price is E80 and if you would like 10% off of this then make sure you are a subscriber to my newsletter and always be in the know when new workshops are announced! Subscribe for 10% off sustainability Courses here. Winter Orchard Pruning Workshop Details Saturday 8th February, 10am -16.00pmBallingeary, Co Cork Join Paul Lynch for a workshop Continue Permaculture Story

Snow is Nice for Off-Grid Winter Jobs

06/01/202506/01/2025 adminLeave a commentUncategorizedcork, grafting, home-brew, off-grid, permaculture, snow, solar power

It’s deep winter in Ireland and the countryside is covered with a blanket of snow. In the winter months freezing weather isn’t uncommon in Ireland but it is usually accompanied with dry weather and clear skies and disruption is therefore usually minimal. Cold weather with snow and ice however is a relatively rare phenomenon in Ireland and may occur for brief spells only once or twice a year in the low lying parts of the country, if at all. I’ve had a nice winter break visiting family and friends and have had time reflecting on the year gone by and intentions for the year to come. So it’s time to get busy again! Hawthorn Wine Besides general everyday cleaning and tidying I had a job hanging over from last year – straining out the batch of Hawthorn wine I set brewing last year. I don’t brew much these days except Continue Permaculture Story

Subscribe for 10% off Sustainability Courses!

23/11/202404/12/2024 Paul LynchLeave a commentUncategorizedcork, discount, ireland, permaculture, permaculture course, permaculture workshop, subscribe, sustainability skills

I am delighted to announce a 10% discount on all sustainability courses and workshops for my growing list of email subscribers! As a subscriber you will also be the first to know when I announce new course dates.