One of the newest ideas being promoted in Permaculture is Hugelkultur beds which in English means Hill Culture. Basically the gardener takes organic materials and piles them up to create a garden bed. The bottom layers have the biggest material like small trees or branches; the middle layer is composed of material likes leaves, upside down turf, grass clippings, and pine needles: and the top layer is compost, dirt, or humus to plant in.
Hill culture is ideally suited for people who have extra organic material (or what I call yard waste) and an area that has poor or no soil that one wants to garden on. This happens to perfectly define my situation. My garden is at the end of a large driveway. On the western side of my garden is compact dirt covered with an inch or two of gravel. When the snow plow comes in winter to clear off our driveway of over 4” inches of snow, it pushes extra gravel as well as the snow down to the base. I wanted to expand the garden here because it is a sunny spot, but there was no way for me to dig into that earth.
Last summer I first covered my new bed (about 6 X 8 feet) with cardboard. There were only a few weeds growing there, and I just didn’t want to mess with pulling them out. Plus as soon as dirt gets watered, the weeds will sprout. I did, however, dig up the clumps of grass since grass goes through almost anything. I put down a thin layer of dead twigs and small branches; then I added a couple of trash cans full of grass clippings from lawn. Come fall I added fallen leaves and pine needles. Finally I put some leftover plants from my garden on top. The pile was about 4 feet tall.
Now, in April, it has shrunk down to about 2 feet tall. I raked away any really big bulky stalks to start a new pile on the other side of the garden. I then smoothed out the remaining pile. I found some beautiful well rotted compost under a tree filled with leaf mold, rotted wood chips, and worms and put it in hills on top of the pile. My plan is to use this new bed for my late May planting of zucchini, winter squash, cucumber, and maybe some corn and green beans. There is lots packed earth and gravel next to the bed where the vines can spread.. The compost mounds will be a perfect place to put my small plants when the weather is warm enough.
My egg lady gave me some of her rotted chicken manure. I turned a quarter of it into manure tea. I poured this over my compost hills and the rest of the hill culture. I am watering the hugelkultur when I water my seeds in the neighboring beds. I think It will be an excellent medium for my plants in another month.
By the following year, the hugelkultur should be as well rotted and rich as rest of the garden beds, and I will be able to plant seeds or anything else I want in it. I will let you know how it goes.
Hugel in front, then the garlic bed with broccoli rabe, and next lettuce bed that over-wintered.
I would love it if you would leave me comments!
