We finished deconstructing the hugelkulture beds. Now I’m using the area for a traditional raised row garden. I ran the tiller through the area several times, then used my new hiller/bedder/hipper attachment to create the rows. I wound up with 3 rows, about 50 foot long. Next, I’ll move wood chips into the walkways (low spots) and then plant in the raised areas.
hiller / bedder / hipper 3 point implement3 raised rows for in-ground vegetable garden
After 2 years of ho-hum results, I’ve decided to tear apart 3/4 of my huglekulture bed. I expected poor results the first year, but everything I planted in it the second year didn’t do that great. Other problems I had with it are that it is really hard to plant things in it due to the awkward position you have to put your body in to reach the soil surface, it was hard to mulch because any mulch you place on it just slides to the bottom. It is hard to water because if you water it too fast, it melts. (makes seeds especially hard to deal with) Fire ants seem particularly attracted to the bed, making it gardening in it a painful experience. I think having the soil so high off the ground made it too hard to retain moisture. It seems like the plants always needed water, and many of the plants I would expect to last though the winter dried up and died.
Maybe I should give it one more year, but I want to use the area in a different way, so deconstructing most of the bed was the path I choose. If I were to build another one in the future, I’d dig down into the existing soil and add my wood below-grade instead of stacking it all above grade. I think this would help steer the soil moisture in the right direction. I really wanted this permaculture method of planting to be awesome, everything I grew in the hugelkulture bed did much worse than plants in my raised beds.
I’m keeping a small section of the bed and I’ll continue to compare the results I get to the other types of grow beds I use. I’m going to use the area where this bed currently is for a traditional in-ground row garden.
I ordered some fig cuttings from figbid.com. I potted and set them outside next to a south-facing wall. I have 3 Italian 258, 2 Smith, and 2 JH Adriatic.
We’ve had a stead stream of melons this season. Amber picked up several cantaloupes tonight. (don’t pay attention to the weeds and dead strawberries in the background!)
My new swale did a good job slowing down water runoff and promoting water insoak, but it needed to be tweaked a little to transform it from just a ditch to a gentle slope that we can take care of with the riding mower. I used a box blade on the tractor to even everything out. We also buried a 4-inch drain pipe and covered it with crushed rock. I’ll encourage grass to grow on top of the rock. All the trees I’ve transplanted seem to be doing great.
This is year number 2 for the hugelkulture bed experiment. It still needs soil added to some areas where wood is sticking out. I have a lot of beans and melons planted. Most excited to see how the melons do!
hugelkulture bed looking to the east
hugelkulture bed looking to the west
comfrey has grown too tall and is falling over, surrounded by beans
melons planted on hugelkulture bed starting to grow quickly
