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.