Low budget hugelkultur experiment

[GilpinGuy]

I put together a low budget hugelkultur bed this year with stuff I had laying around. Never tried it before. We'll see how it works out. Total cost so far: $0.00. Seed and plants will have a cost, of course.

I plan on making some sort of hail shield as well. Probably 1" CPVC hoops covered in 1/4" chicken wire. That'll add some cost too. Hopefully that will keep most of the hail from devastating the plants. It's been brutal this year.

First, I made a 4' x 8' frame from scrap wood, leveled it and dug the inside to about 2' deep. I dug down instead of doing a traditional mound.


Then I filled it with dead/rotting wood to about 10" from the top.


Then I covered it with a layer of straw from an old archery target backstop.


Finally the soil - composted horse manure from a friend.


Any suggestions? I'd love to hear them.

[Great-Kazoo]

EDIT: Pictures aren't showing up. I'll edit this when I have a chance.

I put together a low budget hugelkultur bed this year with stuff I had laying around. Never tried it before. We'll see how it works out. Total cost so far: $0.00. Seed and plants will have a cost, of course.

I plan on making some sort of hail shield as well. Probably 1" CPVC hoops covered in 1/4" chicken wire. That'll add some cost too. Hopefully that will keep most of the hail from devastating the plants. It's been brutal this year.

First, I made a 4' x 8' frame from scrap wood, leveled it and dug the inside to about 2' deep. I dug down instead of doing a traditional mound.
Attachment 58890

Then I filled it with dead/rotting wood to about 10" from the top.
Attachment 58891

Then I covered it with a layer of straw from an old archery target backstop.
Attachment 58892


Finally the soil - composted horse manure from a friend.
Attachment 58889

Any suggestions? I'd love to hear them.

attaching the pictures, not being sent to an Invalid Link.

[GilpinGuy]

attaching the pictures, not being sent to an Invalid Link.

I attached them and they show up fine in Preview Post.

OK, I just deleted the pics and added them the same way as before and they show up now.

Operator error I'm sure.

[Great-Kazoo]

I attached them and they show up fine in Preview Post.

OK, I just deleted the pics and added them the same way as before and they show up now.

Operator error I'm sure.

NYSyndrome They show up now. Now that i googlefu'd what this is, very interested in your results. Especially if one can limit / reduce the amount of water needed.

[Brian]

Wish I had layered my raised beds a bit better than I did. Never heard of this - thought you had made up the word. Curious to see how it turns out.

[XJ]

What is the advantage compared to a simple raised bed?

[Bmac]

That is a great way to do it. I bet you get at least a 15% increase in yield with less food. Do you have results from past beds to compare with?

[Irving]

From the pictures I'm seeing, looks like you'd actually get slightly more surface area in the same footprint as well.

[Ah Pook]

Find a better place to hide the bodies.

Add wire mesh, at the bottom, to keep the critters out.

[GilpinGuy]

What is the advantage compared to a simple raised bed?

The decaying wood helps with water retention (think of it like a sponge) and releases it slowly back into the soil. This reduces the need to irrigate. The rotting wood also provides nutrients to the soil. It's supposed to mimic the natural forest process.

That is a great way to do it. I bet you get at least a 15% increase in yield with less food. Do you have results from past beds to compare with?

No - I've only grown in pots up here. I wanted to do beds and figured I'd give this a try.

Add wire mesh, at the bottom, to keep the critters out.

Damn. Wish I thought of that.

From the pictures I'm seeing, looks like you'd actually get slightly more surface area in the same footprint as well.

If you do the traditional "mound" you definitely would get more surface area. I decided to dig and go with a more bed type system. Just looks cleaner in the yard.