Kitchen Garden Blog #3 Hügelkultur Garden Beds


THE ALICE MILLER KITCHEN GARDEN 

Blog #3: Hügelkultur Garden Beds 


Our beds are full of sand. I suspect that once upon a time they were filled with a sandy loam mix from a garden supply shop and over the years any organic matter that was in that mix has long since gone and we're left wth very hydrophobic sand. It's great for drainage....that's about it. So we need to reintroduce organic matter into our beds. We're doing it in a number of ways. One strategy is creating Hugelkultur beds. This in an old German permaculture system whereby you fill the beds with logs, sticks, straw, cardboard, manure, compost...any biomass really and top it with soil/compost and let the natural processes break all of it down over a number of years. This system has a whole host of benefits. The bigger logs in the base of the bed serve as sponges. They absorb water in the wetter months and gradually release it as the soil dries out reducing the need for irrigation. They also become food for fungi which, as we're increasingly become aware of, is the internet of the plant world. Mycelium, the greater underground organism that produce the fruiting bodies that we're all more familiar with (mushrooms), spread out underground colonising decaying woody material. Plants use these mycelial networks to share and receive nutrients from the surrounding soil. The slow decomposition of wood serves as a reliable, long-lasting nutrient source for plants. A large hugelkultur bed could provide a steady stream of nutrients for up to 20 years, and potentially even longer when utilizing hardwoods exclusively. Additionally, the process of composting wood generates heat, which can help to prolong the growing season. So, with all that in mind, we dug out a bed and filled it with logs and other woody detritus and then layered straw, compost, manure and the existing sandy soil on top. We'll plant a green manure crop of broad beans to over winter and get stuck into some productive planting in spring. We've started out second hugelkultur bed and will probably begin our third early next term.





Cheers, and happy gardening - John and the KG crew.

 

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