Building Hugel Beds - Permaculture Gardening
This project began in September 2016
First we cleared a space.
Next we built the bed frames.
Then we filled the beds with logs and brush.
Next we filled them with sod, dirt and horse manure. (Added 2 more beds)
First season 2017 - After a cover crop of buckwheat to set the soil we got great crops of cabbage, tobacco, onion, tomato, catnip, stevia, and broccoli. The corn, cauliflower and peppers did not do very well. In the fall of 2017 we added an arbor and Japanese garden in the center.
Front view.
Big plans to expand in 2018~!
Thank you for your interest. A lot more goes into a project like this. Please feel free to Reply with any questions.
Wishing you much peace.
zz
Wow, amazing project.
I'm not sure I really understand yet the full benefit of this system - is it to do with aeration? I would be wanting to use all those branches in building projects rather than have them hiding away and simply rotting down, lol.
Love the arbour, btw. :)
The logs and brush rot and feed the microbe in the soil. No tilling - no watering.
I've got plenty more wood for building projects.
Here is a shot from another angle.
zz
Lovely! I like the way it blends into its surrounds in a naturalistic way, using the materials you have. :)
Thanks @ravenruis!
Here is a close up of the arbor and center garden.
<3 I am so envious right now! Very inspiring. :D
Is the banner a set of prayer flags, or just to shoo birds away?
WOW! this took some time & patience - smart move on adding the cover crop, too.
@jonpetrich - check out these ideas, friend!
GREAT plans and I LOVE your arbor! It's beautiful!
ALso wonderful to see you joined the homesteaders' group!
thank you @goldendawne
Beautiful! Hoping to do more of these at our farm this year too ;)
Thanks, good luck...mine will probably double in size next spring.
zz
Awesome looking garden and great use of the woody materials, @zinzen Love to see the permaculture action happening on steem. I made a hugle bed once, but it did not have any farmes, just one big mound that ran on contour and pointed mostly south. I also noticed that peppers didnt do well the first year. Nice idea to use buckwheat as a cover crop. Super cool! Looking forward to more posts.
Thanks @squdsi1, I've used winter rye as a cover crop in the past, but I've found buckwheat works best. You can just cut it and let it lay on the bed and it just mulches in. Got tons of seeds from it as well.
cheers,
zz
I love all the structure being in wood. It's so beautiful and natural. Is that bamboo you bent for the arbor? That's a lot of work, but you'll get a good payout for years to come!
Actually those are maple saplings that I bent for the arbor.
thanks @allforthegood!
cheers,
zz
Love the Japanese Garden.. Thank for sharing welcome to homesteadersonline
thank you !
You make it look almost simple, but I can imagine the amount of work that would've gone into this. The Japanese garden is also a nice addition. A cover crop on the hugel beds is a pretty good idea. I've seen hugel beds at the edges of swales or for fruit trees, but it's interesting to know they could be used for veggie gardens too.
It is really fun building this kind of stuff. I do it all the time.
I'm actually planning on using a few of them for ground cherries next season. The fruit will roll down between the beds for ease of picking.
Thank you for the great photo diary. We are looking into hugelculture for our property so I like to see what others have done.
Thanks for sharing
totally recommend trying it. Next year it is going to be even better!
cheers
zz
I bet it will be! We are doing it for sure...
gosto muito da foto do huerto que tem, que gostaria de saber semear tomates
thank you!
zz
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