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.
Its amazing how the rotting wood becomes like a sponge. I can pull out
pieces that I buried two years ago and squeeze them to yield copious
amounts of water. Now when I look at wood, green or even dry, I think
"Water".
I tell my students that every unit of carbon incorporated into soils can
hold 4 units of water.
Penny Livingston, of Pc Inst of N Ca, had a few brush piles littering
her site but she didn't feel like moving or burning them, so she piled
on straw and a light scattering of soil, planted potatoes into it, and
harvested a couple bushels of spuds in addition to dissolving the "problem".
Here at Earthaven we have prohibited the burning of brush so the slower
biological 'burn' is our preferred way of managing it.
You will be greatly rewarded by using this approach. Thanks for the pix.
Keith
Paul Wheaton wrote:
I learned about hugelkultur a few weeks ago and gave it a whirl. Took
pictures too!