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  • From: Keith Johnson <keithdj@mindspring.com>
  • To: permaculture <permaculture@lists.ibiblio.org>
  • Subject: Re: [permaculture] hugelkultur - pictures!
  • Date: Wed, 13 Apr 2005 17:17:03 -0400

Selwyn,
If I see signs of nitrogen deficiency I supplement with urine, bird manures, comfrey / clover (or green weed) mulches and ferments.

If I had chips to work with I WOULDN"T plough them under! I would leave them on the surface and plant into pockets (with some small amounts of N if necessary). Chips made from fresh leafed out material with a diameter of my thumb or less is COMPLETELY different than dry chips from logs in that they decompose MUCH faster and provide N, sugars, enzymes, and minerals. Green or dry, I would still not bury it under soil unless I were working with an area in which I did not aim to grow much in the way of crops other than maybe potatoes the first year or two. Rock dusts help a LOT!

I've never seen much problem using coarse mulches in regard to N. Problems usually show up when too much undigested stuff gets buried. But I usually can correct the imbalance with supplemental N.
K

Selwyn Polit wrote:

Hey Keith,
that idea sounds very interesting. Don't you have the problem of the wood sucking the nitrogen out of the soil as it decays? I have a friend who ploughed wood chips into his garden bed and then said he couldn't grow anything in them for quite a while - thought they removed the nitrogen.

Selwyn

Paul,
Hugelkultur works great. I've been doing it for about 15 years.
On your page you say:

"Hugelkultur is nothing more than making raised beds filled with rotten wood."

I might say 'rotting' rather than 'rotten' since even fresh green wood can be used. Also it is not absolutely essential that the material be covered with dirt. I have created wood "terraces" with any carbonaceous material I could get my hands on...logs, brush, etc.....and raked the annual deposition of leaves over the material. Here in NC, where we have high precip and humidity, the material breaks down much quicker than it would in, say, California. I grew fabulous pumpkins, for example, in Ca in the 8 month dry period (no rain at all) without irrigating. I used everything organic I could accumulate, from logs to leaves, and laid it out about 2 feet deep and planted into soil pockets.


--
Keith Johnson
Permaculture Activist Magazine
PO Box 1209
Black Mountain, NC 28711
(828)669-6336

also Patterns for Abundance Design & Consulting
Culture's Edge at Earthaven Ecovillage
http://www.permacultureactivist.net
http://www.earthaven.org
http://www.bioregionalcongress.org





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