Hi, I was wondering if any one has experience with the hugelkultur beds. I would like to make a small one in my front yard not six feet tall but maybe 3 or 4 feet.
also, does anyone recommend planting agave or cacti with vegetables and edible flowers. I've never done it and I don't know if that would work since cacti soil is a little different from veggies. THX
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I have done 2 hugel beds, and I can say one thing to take into consideration is the height. I am not talking about the looks and aesthetics of the bed, but the efficiency instead. Most places in the country need drainage and that is why raised beds are so popular, but in the desert we need to conserve. I found digging down and building my beds up to level is the way to go.
Hugel takes some time to get going, but absolute gold for the next 10+ years!
Just my $0.02
Tod
I haven't tried hugelkultur yet, but as Dustin displayed in his post here in the desert it's best to go 'into' the ground, not 'above' the ground to conserve moisture content. You can bury just about any organic matter in our soils and it will quickly decompose if there is moisture available.
Maynhia,
I started my own Hugelkultur bed last Spring. This is my first year using the method so I'm not a practitioner behind the science of Hugelkultur, but I can share with you visually what I have done so far. My guidance on creating Hugelkultur beds has come from The Permaculture Research Institute. The picture below is a step-by-step process I went through to get started.
I did use freshly cut wood right away. I've read many different sources and forums about what wood type one should and shouldn't use, and other forums about when to use the wood. I've gathered that old rotted wood can be used, one year seasoned wood is good, and I've even read that freshly cut wood is even better--all having different effects of carbon release and nitrogen sapping of the surrounding soil as well us fungi development and water retention ability. I'm no scientist on the matter, and I'm still learning much about the concept of Hugelkultur and since I was pressed for time and space I had to make a judgment call despite my slight uncertainty of what was the best approach. In my mind it just made sense to just bury the freshly cut wood and to just start piling material on top layers of carbon and nitrogen rich materials and learn by trial and error. My Hugelkultur bed is intended on being permanent as it stands, and it is away from my raised vegetable beds. If it takes many years before the buried logs release usable energy, then that is ok—in the mean time I can make use of the layered composted material on top. Hope that all made sense. :)
Yes. You're right that with all the information out there the best thing is to try it out for yourself and learn through trials and errors and your own success.
love it! where did you find the wood. I was thinking about getting fire wood.
Thanks! Long story short: I try to adopt a philosophy of finding a purpose and use in everything; however, the original owners of our home thought that designing their own backyard required two Dalbergia Sissoo trees withing 5 feet of each other and right on the border of the backyard fence (not good planning). These trees have served to be a point of contention between my neighbor and I. Also, the root system of these trees are very aggressive, sending up shoots all over my yard. As a compromise, I cut down one of the trees and used the base of the tree in the dug out Hugelkultur trench and the rest was mulched. So the cutting down of the tree was not without purpose. :)
Anywhere you can find "untreated" wood, you could salvage. Landscape trimmings, call a landscaping company, fallen or cut down trees, a trip up north for logs of fallen pine. Just make sure that the location you choose to start your Hugelkultur bed is a permanent location for many years to come.
This is what my Hugelkultur bed looks like now.
