Hugelkultur in the Home Garden

while i will always be a huge  advocate of working to improve   problem soil i've seen improvements in  my clay that i didn't think were possible   there are some situations where my go-to soil  improving tactics are not my first option   now a great example of this is this area that  i'm standing in now this is a very low lying area   it's very heavy clay and it's very poor drainage  and while given enough time i have no doubt that   i could improve this soil be sure to check  out my improving clay soil video for those   tips in this particular spot i wanted a little  bit of a quicker fix enter google culture now for those of you who are unfamiliar  with hügelkultur let me give you a quick   background hügelkultur is a German word which  roughly translates to hill or mound culture   and what it is essentially doing is replicating  that wonderful decomposition that you would   find on some place like a forest floor so think  about in a woods or a forest all of those rotting   branches and logs and leaves decomposing and what  you end up with is this wonderful rich humus and   the beauty of hügelkultur is you can recreate  that type of soil anywhere that you want to grow   now not only do you end up with wonderful soil but  you get the added benefits of improved fertility   improved water retention but also improved  drainage and you're feeding all of those wonderful   little critters in the soil as well hügelkultur  beds utilize a lot of natural material typically   the base layers are constructed with things like  logs branches and sticks and then filled in with   materials like grass clippings straw or leaf  mulch and being as i live on a partially wooded   lot and there are always plenty of things  like sticks and leaves to clean up anyway   i decided that hügelkultur would be a  great fit for my little homestead here   hügelkultur beds can be constructed directly  on top of existing lawn or garden beds   or can be created by first digging a trench and  then partially submerging those materials in the   trench and one of the biggest deciding factors as  to which way to build your hugelbed is whether you   have topsoil available to cover up the bed when  it's finished when i built my first bed i opted   for starting directly on top of the ground no  digging needed but we were having construction   done at the time and i had piles of dirt that i  could easily cart over from the construction site   and dump on top of my hugelbed for my second  bed i chose to dig a trench in the ground   and i will use that displaced soil to cover my  hugle bed once i've added all my fill materials   so once you've decided whether to dig a trench or  build on top of the ground the basic hügelkultur   construction is as follows the first step is  to arrange logs in the size and shape you want   your beds i prefer using partially rotted logs  if available only because they will break down   and convert into soil more quickly but logs which  have not started to break down yet will work also remember that hugelbeds can be any size or  shape you wish generally i find that making   them about three feet wide and three to four  feet high is easiest for me to work with but   beds can be as wide or tall as you like and round  rectangular spiral your imagination is the limit   schooner farms in western ohio has a hügelkultur  replication of the great serpent mound next pack   leaves straw wood chips or other organic  material tightly in between the logs   and then add smaller branches and  sticks to build up the frame of your bed   you can also frame beds in if you prefer using  things like the wood you'd use for raised planting   beds logs or stones pack more straw grass  or leaves in between the smaller branches i also like to add all the plants i'm cleaning  out of my garden at the end of the season   especially plants with woody stems and stalks  like corn or castor beans things that don't   break down quickly kitchen scraps or things that  would normally go to the compost pile as well as   the bedding that i clean out of my chicken  coop in the spring or fall to my hugelbeds   then add a heaping helping of finished compost  or aged manure and finish it all off with topsoil i prefer to cover that topsoil with a natural  mulch or plant the whole thing with cover crop   last fall i mulched heavily with leaf mulch and  this summer i planted a cover of cow peas the   general recommendation is to wait a few months for  your beds to cure or to begin that decomposition   process prior to planting the optimal time is  going to depend a little bit on how rotten all   of your materials were to begin with just keep  in mind that the breakdown of all of that wood   in these beds is going to rob nitrogen especially  during that first year so if you are planting you   might consider some nitrogen supplementation my  first bed was built in the fall of 2020 and i   didn't really want to put any cash crops in it the  first year out so this summer the summer of 2021   i planted it with a cover of cow peas and just  threw some of my extra seedlings in there to   see how they would do i did some tomatoes  and peppers i had like a volunteer gourd   in there amongst other things and to my surprise  everything really thrived in that hügelkultur bed even if you don't have a serious problem area in  your garden like i do you might consider building   a huge culture bed especially if you or one of  your neighbors happens to have like a downed tree   or a lot of materials that you need to get  rid of anyway hügelkultur beds are fantastic   in that they are essentially a self-watering  self-feeding no-till system that very gradual   breakdown of wood in these beds is going to act as  a long-term slow release source of food with the   exception of that first year where some of that  nitrogen gets tied up but after that the nitrogen   is going to be released into the soil and be more  available to the plants that you want to grow   the logs in this system also work to retain water  saving it up until dry periods and then releasing   it into the soil around it and as the logs and  twigs and branches decompose they're naturally   leaving gaps and spaces in the soil providing for  excellent aeration for your other plants so no   tilling and no working of the soil is necessary  now as an added bonus this breakdown process   also helps to slightly warm the soil which is  especially beneficial if you're growing in a   colder climate because it allows you to get out  and plant just a smidge earlier than you would   be able to plant in your cold garden beds in  the spring related to that it can also help to   ripen up some of your warm weather crops even more  quickly hügelkultur has been a great option for my   little garden here and i plan on building more  beds here as well as at my mom and dad's place   and i'd love to hear from you do you hugle or do  you plan to build a huge culture bed in the future   be sure to let me know in the comments below and  if you found today's video helpful please consider   subscribing to my channel growfully with jenna  thanks for watching and i'll see you next time you

Channel: Growfully with Jenna

Views: 80,819

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Id: u8SWtuhL3so

Length: 8min 36sec (516 seconds)

Published: Fri Dec 10 2021