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Hugelkultur gardens in summer

Hugelkultur gardens in summer

Details   Every year, since their construction, our hugelkultur raised woody garden beds have been improving in performance. While waiting for the perennial plantings to establish we have been gardening with seasonal crops including maize, pumpkins, tomatoes, salad, cucumbers and of course lots of beans. Modest additions of straw mulch, trenched in pig manure, compost tea and all plant residues are contributing to the overall fertility of the beds and on occasion where I have exposed the wooden core while digging it is clearly breaking down into a crumbly organic 'compost'.
Date   February 18, 2018
Tags     garden  hugelkultur  2018  summer 
Raised woody swale / hugelkultur construction

Raised woody swale / hugelkultur construction

Details   We used the opportunity of having a small excavator on site recently to construct 5 wood filed raised growing mounds on contour.
This technique is often called hugelkultur and exploits the ability of rotten wood to absorb and hold amazing quantities of water which is later made available to plants growing nearby.
The end result was 5 mounds about 7 meters long and half a meter high, each packed with a full trailer load of rotten willow logs and a wheel barrow of pig manure.
An assortment of fruit trees and berry shrubs has been planted along side in various locations to capitalise on the moisture, slow release of minerals and micro-climate effects of wind, shelter, sun and shade.
Date   July 25, 2014
Tags     swale  digger  water  hugelkultur 

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hugelkultur  zone2