Hügelkultur Raised Beds

[akroberts1085]

So this is kinda what I am thinking for a tunnel, however incorporate the electro culture method at the same time

 

[akroberts1085]

So this isn't really a perfect EC rod but for the gist of the concept. The top picture would be the top. You can add a cone shape,if so choose, the bottom picture is the part that goes in ground. It doesn't have to be that long just as long as it is at least 6 inches

 

[gtaus]

Here is a little post I made to the Show Me Your Pallet Projects thread regarding the availability of pallets this time of year. I make all my hügelkultur raised beds out of pallet wood, so I thought I would drop a little notice here as well. Free wood is good....

Christmas Pallets!?

I went to Harbor Freight yesterday to pick up some stuff. They have not had any pallets outside for pickup in about a year, maybe longer. Anyway, yesterday, they had two 4-foot-high stacks of good-looking pallets for free sitting outside.

I know HF has had a lot of Black Friday and Christmas sales going on these past few weeks. Makes sense that are getting overloaded with pallets around Christmas time. Nice of them to put them outside for free pickup.

Unfortunately, like I said previously, I already took the insurance off my main pallet pickup vehicle, my old Ford Explorer with a trailer hitch, and had not planned on using it again until later in the spring. Well, that, and my utility trailer is now snowed in filled with snow. So, two strikes against me in getting any of those pallets.

After seeing all those pallets at HF yesterday and missing the opportunity last week at a construction site to pick up some high-quality pallets, I think next year I'll keep the insurance on the old Ford Explorer until after Christmas just in case I see a repeat of the stores putting out all those "Christmas Pallets" for lack of a better term.

 

[akroberts1085]

I didn't think about asking for pallets at Harbor Freight. I will get by there Saturday and ask if they have any I can get. If they don't then I will just have to be patient and wait

 

[fuzzi]

I didn't think about asking for pallets at Harbor Freight. I will get by there Saturday and ask if they have any I can get. If they don't then I will just have to be patient and wait

Try the post office, and thrift stores. I've seen stacks of pallets behind both of those places, got permission to take some.

 

[Appalachickens]

New YouTube video on 3-year Review of Hügelkultur Raised Bed

Over the years, I have become a big advocate for the hügelkultur method to use in raised beds. It just works for me. I understand the theory of the hügelkultur method, but does it deliver in actual use?

I want to share a link to the following video where they tear apart a 3-year-old hügelkultur raised bed and take a good look at how it is performing. If you are not convinced to give hügelkultur raised beds a try now, you probably will want to consider it after watching this 10-minute video...

A few points that I think are worth noting again:

He used freshly cut logs in his hügelkultur build. That works, and after 3 years in the raised bed, they could see the wood softening up and becoming more spongy, which holds water better. As the wood ages and breaks down, it feeds the soil and retains water better. Based on their 3 year look, they estimated that the wood logs in that bed might be good for about 20 years!

I use freshly cut wood if I have to clean up the yard. I had 2 big trees fall down last winter and used the wood to make some new raised beds this spring. Why not? However, if you want even better results earlier, then pick out some old rotting logs to start with.

The hügelkultur beds get better with age. As the wood decomposes, it feeds the soil from below. The rotting wood also retains more water as it continues to turn into a giant sponge. I have seen this in my hügelkultur beds as well. They just seem to perform better with each passing year.

He mentioned that his first attempt at making hügelkultur raised beds was not a complete success. Basically, he failed to adequately fill the voids between the logs and his raised bed soil level dropped almost 1 foot the first year! That is just crazy!

After he figured out that it was necessary to fill those voids between the logs, then the soil level dropped the normal 1-2 inches per year. That is what you want. Every year, you just top off that 1-2 inches with fresh compost. Perfect!

As to filling those voids, he used potting mix, which I find is pretty expensive. I can get free wood chips at our local county landfill, and that is what I use to fill the voids Still free for me to use as a filler, and being wood, it will also sponge up the water and break down over the years feeding the soil. What's not to love about that?

I'd love to hear any feedback on this video, and if you have any ideas on how to make hügelkultur raised beds even better. I have had great results with my hügelkultur raised beds, but I'm always looking to make improvements. Thanks.

Addendum: I originally posted this on the What did you do in the garden today? thread. But that thread moves too fast, topics are quickly forgotten, and I thought this topic might be better served if I started a separate thread.

I had a Hügelkultur raised bed last summer and had a good tomato crop. The ground is extremely rocky here, so raised beds are my best bet. I’ve added three more this past fall, one of them a dedicated asparagus bed. The levels have definitely dropped over the winter but I’ll be adding compost and also throw in odds and ends like the poinsettias I had out for Christmas, since it’s mostly potting soil. I’m planning to expand what I grow and am going to put some (non-electrified) netting attached to stakes to keep out cats and eventually chickens.