Hugelkultur
What is it?
Hugelkultur is a German word to describe a gardening technique that requires little to no watering and no fertilization. It also takes care of those fallen trees, branches and other yard waste. There are many websites describing the technique, but this is the one I’ve used the most: Hugelkultur Link
Most websites describe the “Americanized” pronunciation of the word the same way – Hoogle Culture. So, that’s how I say it. I’ve also been known to invent my own words, so when I’m out working to build my first hugelkultur, I call that activity “Hoogling”, not to be confused with googling.
I found out about this technique from Joe, a friend on the Dave’s Garden website. Joe, a bundle of energy, is always full of new ideas to try in the garden. He has given me much inspiration and motivation to try some of those ideas in my own yard.
My Hugelkultur
My first attempt at this technique has been fun. I don’t know how long it will take to complete this first hugelkultur, but I do have a good start anyway.
The First Day – January 3, 2013
Randy helped on the first day to get a great start on this project. He scraped off the topsoil to a depth of about 6 to 12 inches. The “scrape” is about 5 feet wide and 30 feet long. He aligned it to be parallel with the average path of the sun.
Day Two – January 4, 2013
When I checked out the “scrape” in the morning, the birds had claimed it as their own. They were all over that freshly turned ground, poking about and chattering excitedly. It was a joy to see – so much so that I hated to disturb them, but I had to start hoogling. I promised them that I would scrape up some more areas for them to play and forage.
To start adding wood, I walked around the area and gathered everything close by.
That was time consuming and labor intensive, so I got the tractor out of the shed. I drove all around the area by the cabin, repeatedly filled the bucket with wood and then dumped it into the scrape. This was also labor intensive since I had to drive to a fallen tree, get off the tractor, load up some wood, get back on the tractor and drive to the scrape, dump the wood and drive to a new spot to start over. This would be much better with two or three people – one to drive the tractor, one to load the wood in the tractor bucket and another to arrange it in the scrape after dumping it. I need to find some cheap labor. Grandnephews? Are you reading this?
This tree was too large to put in the bucket. LOL! So, I used the tow strap and pulled it into position and then pulled it into the scrape. I need to gather a bunch more just like this one to start building the pile to about 4 feet high. Then I can put the topsoil back on top, throw out some seeds and dare them to grow.
This is what I have done so far – a good start, but a lot of work still needs to be done. And, I have to go scrape up some dirt for those birdies. After all, I promised.
