Another gardening season has ended. Sort of. As most of us
gardeners know, next year’s garden is greatly influenced by what we do now.
Many trees and shrubs are best trimmed after the leaves fall, compost is built,
fallen leaves are swept up and maybe placed as insulation in strategic
locations. I always feel kind of sad in the fall.
My friends remind me that it is a “falling asleep” as
opposed to a “dying”. Tell that to my gargantuan tomatillo plant I just threw
onto the newly built hugel. Yes folks, I’m finally dipping my toe into
hugelkultur. Were it not for the internet, I would never have known about this
ancient method of gardening; no one around here is talking about it and I have
never seen it.
Digging the Hole
In my opinion, Hugelkultur is really not a very attractive system
viewed from the ground. I’ve seen photos of it from the air and it’s beautiful
if designed properly. I wish for beauty and symmetry, not some messy-looking
hill. My little experiment back by the garage is bound to be viewed by a parade
of visitors and I want to put hugelkultur’s best foot forward, so to speak.
That’s why I didn’t build it directly on the ground.
When a hugel is built on top of the ground, it’s tall, which
I think would be out of proportion in the little space I have out back. Thus, I
dug down about the length of my spade. I threw the top soil to the sides to be
replaced later. It’s good top soil, as I’ve spent a dozen years constructing
that loam, which used to be pure clay and other crap that they used a century
ago to fill the lot. After digging the hole, we sorted through an old firewood
pile and threw the “refuse” into the bottom. Next, I piled on some grass
clippings and kitchen scraps I had saved, with the intention of “jump-starting”
the decomposition process. Now I’ve begun to add whatever plants that have died
back from the frost. Soon, it will be leaves and more green stuff. I’m not as
picky here as I would be if it were an ordinary compost pile.
Good Stuff I Saved to Jumpstart
I
do not allow weed and other seeds into the compost pile. Sometimes the pile
gets hot enough to debilitate the seeds, sometimes not. I hate to end up
actually planting stuff I don’t want in with my vegetables as I spread the
compost. I also keep sticks and branches out of the compost as it takes so long
to break down. In the case of the hugel, I can use a lot of the refuse I
normally put out for recycling. That makes me happy.
Adding the Wood
What
doesn’t make me happy s how tall the pile is getting. I’m wondering if I have
enough dirt set aside to cover it. Compost will have to be added
later. I refuse to buy dirt, so I will have to let it “settle” over the winter and
hope for the best. According to experienced hugelkultur gardeners, the first
year one can see little benefit to this method. Starting the second year, when
the wood begins to break down, it acts as a sponge, absorbing rainfall and
eliminating the need for watering. The temperature of the hugel will be several
degrees warmer than regular garden soil, thus extending the season.
Piling It On
Besides eliminating the need to
water and a higher soil temperature, other benefits to hugelkultur is a
constant fertilization and small air pockets. As the plant roots reach down,
they gather nutrients and have free reign to spread and stretch. That makes for
bigger and healthier plants. For those who are worried about CO2, the hugel will not emit that gas as will a
compost pile. As I am building this hugel, I can’t help but remember our
“accidental berm,” which I wrote about in an earlier post.
Spent Grape Vines On Top
The plants on the berm went wild
for the first several years. I deducted it was all the sod mixed in with the
soil that had been moved there. The chrysanthemums I planted in the fall of
2001 were absolutely huge the next year. Every year they got a little smaller
as the decomposing sod fertilizer fizzled out. I so wish I had made a big
hardwood pile underneath that thing; I would not have to water out there, even
to this day. Well, so goes gardening. By the time we are expert at the art of
innovation, we’re too decrepit to implement ideas! That is why it’s so
important to share information and to mentor the next generation. Gardening is
always exciting, and trying new things makes it all the more interesting.
Yes, another gardening season has ended and soon snow will
blanket my new hugel, adding to the mystery of what is to come. Even though I
always feel kind of sad in the fall, I can look out my window this winter with
the knowledge super potatoes will soon grow on that little hill back yonder.
