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  • From: Evan <kodama@riseup.net>
  • To: permaculture <permaculture@lists.ibiblio.org>
  • Subject: Re: [permaculture] Biggest hugelkultur?
  • Date: Wed, 7 Sep 2011 16:34:21 -0400

I built a few hugel's this spring with a similar layer mix ... logs then
straw with horse manure then soil. I had trouble with them drying out in July
and August, which I hope to avoid in the future by doing what you propose,
Paul, by mixing straw in with the logs to eliminate excess air space and keep
everything closer for better moisture retention. I believe this should do the
trick. I suspect my present hugels will not have this trouble after a couple
of seasons of settling/mellowing.

cheers,
Evan

On Sep 7, 2011, at 12:55 PM, paul wheaton wrote:

> A coupla bits:
>
> 1) I would very much like to see pics in about two years. Especially
> around mid august where the surrounding vegetation is brown and
> dormant and the stuff on the hugelkultur is green and lush. And if
> the vegetation could be stuff that is easily recognizable as typical
> garden plants (tomatoes, melons, etc.) that would be even better.
>
> 2) I think I would have mixed the hay in a bit. Mix it in with the
> wood and mix it in with the soil. To keep it from turning to
> glie/gley and making a water/air barrier.
>
> On Wed, Sep 7, 2011 at 10:19 AM, Toby Hemenway <toby@patternliteracy.com>
> wrote:
>> We've been spending the summer at White Deer Ranch in Montana, north of
>> Yellowstone while I've been writing. Yesterday the owners, Lee and Roxanne
>> Dunn, asked me if I wanted to help them put in a hugelkultur project.
>> Sure. I just didn't realize that Lee never does things on a small scale.
>> He dug a trench 40 feet long with a backhoe, we dragged some huge logs and
>> a mountain of brush from around the 450 acre ranch, added roughly 3500
>> pounds of old hay, watered it in with water from the ranch's 12-acre pond,
>> and tomorrow we will cover it with soil. Definitely the biggest
>> hugelkultur I've seen.
>>
>> Roxanne posted photos of the project on Facebook.
>> http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.245701522132088.52346.100000767271564&type=1&cmntid=245736072128633
>>
>> If you're not a FB user, I'm planning on posting something on my website
>> soon. And if you ever want an incredible vacation in Montana, in the
>> shadow of the Beartooth Range and in gorgeous country, there are two
>> rental houses on the ranch (organic hay and a few animals) that I highly
>> recommend. It's an old homestead cottage and a new log home, and those
>> oldtimers knew a lot about siting, water, and soil--a fantastic place.
>> We've been in heaven all summer, hiking the Beartooths and swimming in the
>> pond.
>>
>> http://whitedeerranch.com
>>
>> Toby
>> http://patternliteracy.com
>>
>>
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>
>
>
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