hugelkultur - gardening without irrigation

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Offline paul wheaton
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hugelkultur - gardening without irrigation
? on: July 09, 2010, 05:19:56 AM ?
This is a short video from a workshop two weeks ago. The general idea is that if you build your raised bed with a lot of wood in it, you should be able to go the whole summer without irrigating or fertilizing.

http://www.youtube.com/paulwheaton12#p/u/0/sp_IObIkInQ

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Offline glenn kangiser
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Re: hugelkultur - gardening without irrigation
? Reply #1 on: July 09, 2010, 05:25:42 AM ?
I have to check that one out. I had one Swiss chard last summer make it through the entire season with no water over an area I had filled.
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Re: hugelkultur - gardening without irrigation
? Reply #2 on: July 09, 2010, 05:30:21 AM ?
Wow - excellent video and ideas, Paul. Thanks. I am going to be starting that this year and do my own experiment with it. :)

Thanks for posting it.

I think the loss of nitrogen the first few years can be combated by adding --- gasp --- commercial nitrogen -- or if you want to feel better, chicken manure with the wood. That will also make the wood break down into compost much faster.

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Offline paul wheaton
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Re: hugelkultur - gardening without irrigation
? Reply #3 on: July 11, 2010, 01:39:48 PM ?
I usually mulch with a bit of hay the first year. That's usually plenty to compensate for nitrogen losses.

A friend saw the video from two days ago and emailed me to say that he
made something like that ten years ago. And here is a video of his
ten year old hugelkultur bed:

http://www.youtube.com/paulwheaton12#p/u/0/lWaEEdB6GZM

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Offline glenn kangiser
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Re: hugelkultur - gardening without irrigation
? Reply #4 on: July 11, 2010, 02:07:04 PM ?
Thanks, Paul. Great to see that it works.

I think I will use the brush I pull out for fire safety and compost it this way instead of burning it. I am getting ready to create a new garden area down the hill on one of my terraces soon so will incorporate a lot of woody material into it. My mountain is all clay and rock so moisture in it disappears pretty quickly in the summer but in areas that I have put manure and straw into I am getting a much better garden this year.

The terraces also help greatly to increase water retention rather than letting it run down the hill in the winter. If that water fed into a wood filled raised bed to store for summer I think it could be even better.