Hugelkutur - blessing for us
21:48
Hugelkultur, meaning hill culture or hill mount, is a no dig bed that utilizes old wood that will rot and create a fertilized, moisture retaining soil, that maximize space and great for fruit and vegetables. Due to the inside of the bed is made of old rotting wood, the wood create a pocket as well as sponge like effect for the bed, thus, less water needed. For two foot tall, it could contain moisture up to 3 weeks, and for full size 1.8m and above, for whole season (up to 4 months!)
Since we have limited manpower as well as limited water supply, with impending drought coming our way soon, I think this is one of the best use of old wood that took a longgg time to rot as well as burn. Its also probably better than wood ash, as we need to constantly burn the log, as this method just drop the log in the bed, and leave it. You may only need to water once in a while, blessingss.
If the bed is tall enough, there's no need for bending!
First, either dump the logs, or create a ditch to dump the logs.
Next, add grass clipping (manure too if you want).
Then, put heaps of top soil or mixture of compost.
A few tips that I could remember:
1. Shallow or plant that prefer dry feet on top, plants that love water at the bottom.
2. Add manure and compost matter such as kitchen waste, grass clipping to add more nitrogen in the bed.
3. Create the bed after raining season, if not, water the bed thoroughly, add more dry top soil on top to create a barrier so that the water will evaporate less.
4. You can also plant fruit tree at the end, I think if you plant in the middle, it will make a huge canopy for the smaller tree/plant underneath it, unless you prune it regularly or they love shade.
Advantages
1. Less water
2. Recycle most yard waste
3. No crop rotation, no tilling,
4. If high enough, no need to bend. Good for elderly and reduce pest.
Disadvantages
1. Require more effort during starting (but less need after the first construction, hooray!)
2. A buffet for termites/ants in the bed. Sadly we also have these in our farm.
3. If no log or soil, must buy more~
Well, that's all I can gather for now, although some said it's not suitable for very dry climate, but I'm not sure. I plant to try it for my centil chili, but I'll see if I can convince my hubby about it hehe
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