Healthy soil and sustainable growing

[Pete Vukovich <pvukovic1@yahoo.com>]

What the heck I'll chime in since its still a live topic. My guess would be huegelkultur would actually increase gas permittivity when its above ground since a similar volume of soil now has more surface area to react with atmospherically, additionally if the core of the huegel bed is made from woody stuff it probably creates air.gas spaces by inhibiting soil compaction in turn speeding decomposition.

The way Holzer explained his early attempts at it to me was  that he and his wife were chopping up brush in preparation for work being done on their property and got behind the bulldozer , so they started throwing whole tree trunks in a pile, then piled dirt on that and after they came back a couple years later dug up one of the beds and found the tree trunks were mostly decomposed. His climate is cold, soil is rocky and mineral rich, and rainfall pretty much what you'd expect at 1500 or so meters in an alpine region. Beyond that who knows, but he swears by huegel culture beds - particularly those made with woody cores.



--- On Mon, 11/23/09, Angus MacLeod <afionnmc@yahoo.ca> wrote:

From: Angus MacLeod <afionnmc@yahoo.ca>
Subject: Re: [Livingontheland] Wood does belong in the soil?
To: "Healthy soil and sustainable growing" <livingontheland@lists.ibiblio.org>
Date: Monday, November 23, 2009, 7:44 PM

Hi Harvey,

That is one method I've read of. I've also read of digging a hole and having the entire pile level with the ground at completion. As I said, I'm experimenting with this and really don't know yet how or if it works. Would a lack of air circulation in a buried pile necessarily cause the anaerobic conditions you wrote about? I can see a reduced circulation, but I'm not sure what the optimum circulation might be. My pile is on the ground as you described, covered with smaller compost and covered with soil. The south side is completely exposed, the north side not so much, it being on a hill.

-Aonghas

--- On Mon, 11/23/09, Harvey Ussery <harvey@themodernhomestead.us> wrote:

From: Harvey Ussery <harvey@themodernhomestead.us>
Subject: Re: [Livingontheland] Wood does belong in the soil?
To: "Healthy soil and sustainable growing" <livingontheland@lists.ibiblio.org>
Received: Monday, November 23, 2009, 2:21 PM

> Having the remains of an old barn on hand and a ready made hole to
> start with, I thought it would be easier to bury the old timbers in a
> hugel pile than to dispose of them in other ways. I've done that this
> fall, and was wondering if anyone had a few years experience with the
> method.  ~Aonghas


Hugelkultur sounds like a great technique for woody decomposition. But I
don't think the idea is to *bury* it underground. Doing so would create
anaerobic conditions, not conducive to the decomposer organisms you're
interested in. My impression is that in hugelkultur the woody debris is
piled on the surface, then covered with other organic materials and
soil. That should keep plenty of oxygen in the mix, and greater
biological activity where the woody stuff is.

~Harvey

--
Harvey in northern Virginia
www.themodernhomestead.us

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