DEFINITION
Hugelkultur is a German word meaning hill culture or hill mound. It is a no-dig raised bed that is composed of woody material from LARGE to small. Everything from BIG logs to small twigs, leaves, grass, hay pretty much any biomass. Then covered with soil.
EXPLANATION
Hugelkultur mimics the natural cycling found on the forest floor. It will hold moisture at the same time drain well to help prevent your plants from getting wet feet. They also build fertility with a slow release of nutrients from the breaking down of the debris. Decomposing organic matter in Hugelkultur beds raises the temperature just enough to boost plant growth, along with them being above ground you will be able to growing food longer and start growing earlier. Hugelkultur maximize the amount of space to grow with a greater surface area and will creating small micro-climates around the mound. They are great place for growing any type of fruit or vegetable.
HISTORY
From what I can find Germans have been using this kind of technique for hundreds of years. Sepp Holzer’s and German horticulturalists Hans Beba are two of the names tossed around for “credit” of Hugelkultur. People like Bill Mollison, David Holmgren and Geoff Lawton have been pioneers in bringing Hugelkultur to the people. Germans weren’t the only ones that used a form of Hugelkultur. The Native Americans showed the settlers how to grow native crops like maize, beans and squash by mounding up soil around stumps of fallen trees, making a Hugelkultur type bed. It is said that they put fish in each mound for fertility as well.
HOW I MADE MY HUGELKULTUR BEDS
Built our beds in late fall early winter before the ground had time to freeze. I would recommend that time of year so the Hugelkultur has a little time to decompose over the winter. They were the first project I started after we painted some walls and put some floors in the house. Before I auctly started building the Mounds I built a A-FRAME level. The A-FRAME level will allowed me to build them on contour of the land to better slow and capture water.
(Image Source From Sepp Holzer's Permaculture By: Sepp Holzer)
There is a couple of ways to build a hugelkultur. Dug into the ground or built right on top of the ground. I decided to dig mine and mainly because I could use the soil that was dug out to put on top at the end. So I didn’t have to buy top soil or find it elsewhere.
(Image Source From Sepp Holzer's Permaculture By: Sepp Holzer)
Next was digging a trench 2 foot deep 30 foot long. There is no size requirement for Hugelkultur. You can have a 100 acre farm or a small urban backyard Hugelkultur will work great in any setting.
When I got the trench done, witch was done with a good old shovel, the next step was to put BIG logs in the bottom. I put a mixture of old fallen decayed trees and newly fallen from our woods. On top of the logs went the branches, sticks, leaves and grass/hay. Filled the trench up with the debre above the ground about a foot.
Now it is time to add the soil that I dug out when making the trench. After adding the top soil I planted clover all over the mound and covered with 1-2 inches of mulch. Don’t forget this step! As I’ve said before Mother Nature is modest and will cover herself up if you don’t. You don’t want to turn a low maintenance system into a high maintenance weeding project. lol.
The last thing was digging a small ditch, aka swale, in front of the Hugelkulture. This ditch will help the garden bed catch and hold water. You can plant into the bed right away or give it time over the winter to decompose a little. I hope this inspires you to build the best garden bed you can build!!
This was a fitting pots for me today since I spent a few hours reconstructing one of the Hugelkultur beds this morning. My boar Floppy got out of his enclosure because I didn't notice his electric fence wasn't hot enough. He dug up about a 10 foot section of one of the mounds. I was able to find 3 of the asparagus roots balls. I think they will make it..Crazy boy!!
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