Daniel Z

Here are some pictures of the hugelbed i finished building today.
I put about 100 seed potatoes and 150 peas in there. It will be crowded, but all my other beds are full.

I'm in almost the exact same situation as you. I live near Oslo too, I learned about permaculture this winter and i am starting to use a lot of the principles this year in my garden. I think the best way to learn the basics of permaculture is by reading one of the many books written about it (if you haven't already). I recommend Gaia's garden by Toby Hemenway, It covers a lot of subjects and most of the plants he talks about are plants that do well in our climate since he lives in an area with a climate that is close to the Norwegian climate.

Although i'm beginner too i can (partially) answer some of your questions:

4) I have read several times that pine trees (needles) cause the soil to become more acidic, but other people say his is a myth. Does anyone know more about this?           
pine trees also excrete toxins that stunt other plants' growth, but i don't know if those toxins can be found in all of the soil in a pine forest. I think that if you want to take soil from a forest it would be best to get soil from deciduous or mixed forest because most domesticated plants don't come from a pine forest ecosystem.
Bought soil often has most essential minerals added and also contains some fertilizer, so it has it's advantages, but it is probably not completely organic, and there may be some weird things in there(depending of what it is made of). I used a lot of store bought soil because the soil of most of our garden consist of gravel, clay and rocks since it used to be a parking lot. Of course the permaculture way is to use as many local materials as possible.

5) make sure the pallets aren't treated with chemicals that protect them, or they won't decompose well and you will get all kinds of possibly toxic chemicals in your soil.
Compost piles need moisture, so a roof should not be used. Some people cover their piles with black plastic to warm it more and retain the moisture. During the winter the composting process will probably stop because it's too cold, but there might be some activity when there is a thick layer of snow.   

6) The Iberian snails did actually not cause a lot of damage last year because there were fewer of them than before, probably because of the cold winter. The regular slugs were worse.  I'm sure there are other people that know more about catching or avoiding snails, so i won't say anything about that.

Thanks for the replies.

A location would help. Where are you? Are you only growing indoors or have they been exposed to the outdoors/sun for an extended period of time? My kale plants have always liked intermittent moisture, as in the top few inches wet/moist. I water them twice daily and they get over 6 hours of sun. I'm in Northwest GA, and it's mid April and we've already hit 90's.. I'd suggest a broadcast 'shower' head, as to soak the foilage thoroughly. How many days have they been in the pods? You may want to expose them to some fresh air and direct sun, watering them prior. How mature are your seedlings (ballpark estimate)?

I'm in Norway, and i kept the seedlings indoors, partly as an experiment. I have also sowed some kale outside, but it hasn't sprouted yet. I don't think water could be the problem because they are growing in deep cups and i water often. The strange thing is that it only affects that type of kale, and none of my other seedlings, but that may be because kale is a cold weather plant.

pictures are worth 1000 words.

I wanted to post a picture, but i couldn't find the charger for my camera. The tips of the leaves start shriveling and eventually the whole leaf falls off.

in my experience kale and other brassicas are much better when planted outside..except maybe the more tender cauliflower

I hope my seedlings outside will germinate soon so i can see if it was caused by the indoor environment or something else.

Thanks for the advise!

About a month ago i started a bunch of seedlings indoors, and while the tomatoes are doing great i have some problems with my 'red russian' kale. At first they were growing well, but after a while the leaves began to shrivel. the same happened with some cauliflower seedlings, but a different variety of kale of which i had just one seed left is not affected at all. I cut of the dieing leaves, and new ones are forming, but not very fast, and they seem affected too. Not all of my red russian kale plants are affected though, a few seem healthy. This is the first year i use this seed, and all the other plants have the same compost to grow in. Does anyone know if this is a disease problem or if it could be something with the indoor atmosphere?

A while ago i saw a video on Youtube where someone used an old aquarium as a mini greenhouse, which gave great results. I have started some tomato and other plants indoors and my windowsill isn't in the direct sun all day, so now that it is getting warmer here i made a little cold frame out of a plastic box (i don't have a usable aquarium) to test if this would work as well. The whole box including the lid is made out of transparent plastic, so the sun gets through and it warmed up really well. I don't know anything about using greenhouses, but does anyone here know if it would be a good idea to cover some plants in my garden with plastic boxes when the growing season has started to give them extra heat and humidity? The inside of my box quickly got covered with condense, so i opened the lid a little, but if i use them in the garden i won't be able to open anything on the top because the boxes will be upside down. Does anyone know if the condense will block too much of the direct sunlight or otherwise harm the plants (diseases, fungus,...).