Sunday, November 30, 2014

Hugelkultur

This may just look like a pile of wood waiting for a good bon fire, but it isn't.  This is the beginning of my hugelkultur.  At the end of this year's gardening season, ours had become overrun with weeds.  We did a poor job of maintaining it this year.

My bride asked me to look into raised gardens and see if they were easier to keep weed free.  In my searching, I came across hugelkultur and was immediately hooked.  The process takes care of some otherwise useless yard waste in rotting wood and branches.  It is less dependent on water which helps us conserve and is lower maintenance.  The raised height of 4-5 feet will reduce bending and stooping for the weeding and picking at the top of the garden.  Plus I like mounds as a visual change in the yard.

I chose this spot for two reasons.  1) Susan's Grandma used to have a garden in this area.  We like the idea of gardening where she did and it is closer to the house than our current area.  2) Grandma planted an arbor day delivery of ten trees here and they got out of control. I combined two steps in one and cut those trees down and started piling them over the stumps to create my hugelkultur.  

I have placed some manure on it, and will place more before I put some of my compost on.  Lastly I'll mound some soil over the top and let it mature until planting time.  I'm excited about the process and hopeful the benefits are as good as promised.  More to come.

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