Blake Kirby

http://daddykirbs.blogspot.com/2013/05/raising-australian-spotted-ducks.html

My little girl is so proud to have a flock of ducks that she can manage and care for. She is a real natural.

A couple of years ago I moved out to the country. Right away I started a garden. It all started very traditional just like the "industry" would like you to do it. I knew inside that this was not sustainable. I needed to save seeds and plant in a way that would give me long term results. This lead me to research such things online... there I stumbled into sites like this one. I'm really only starting my journey, but I do now have a small orchard with Comfrey and a couple of Hugel beds. I know I have LOTS to learn. My next permaculture goal is to sculpt my land with swales and berms to take advantage of the limited water we get.

Miles Flansburg wrote:Good job Blake. Did you get any water on the hugels? Justs seems like the soil you planted into was mighty dry. I usually water my trees and schrubs when I plant them just to be sure they get a good drink and to settle the soil around the roots to get the air out.

Thanks! Yes, I watered them in that day and the next day. The soil down in the bed has been watered in a good number of times. These beds have been sitting there now for a couple of months.

I finally got to plant the HK beds! The Goji berries, Black berries and Dew berries are in.

Here is a video documenting the planting process.

http://youtu.be/gJ_QzFICkMQ

I see. Well, my guess is that this is mostly Oak, Ash, Hackberry, Weesatch, Mequite. These are very common for the area. Of course, I don't know for sure. There is a chance there is some cedar in there as well, but normally i can tell when it's full of cedar. This batch didn't seem to have much in it.

I'll just have to wait and see how it does. Thanks for the heads up.

I don't know what the wood is. Is there a bad kind?

Here is a video showing the next steps for this bed.

http://youtu.be/7EQNxypQkwI

Basically, I took steps to correct how water flows into and around the bed, then covered it with mulch.

There is a little bonus at the end... the start of my second bed

Kevin MacBearach wrote:... anything particular I need to know about hugelkulturs and berry bushes?

I'm looking for that in particular too. What I have so far is that I'm planting the blackberries on the North and the Goji berries on the South. I will be experimenting with flowers and Sweet Potatoes and other items in around the berries as well.

Alice Kaspar wrote:How much growing time are the bean plants going to have? Our dewberry plants are putting on leaves already.

What I'm saying is..... plant your spring garden. You don't have time for a cover crop.

Ahh I get ya. ... But I don't know when the plants are coming. I could just mulch it and wait.

Alice Kaspar wrote:I am about to put out my spring veggie seeds, and I'm just a bit farther south. I think you should mulch this with old hay, water it, and get your plants/seeds in for spring.

I'm picking up a load of wood mulch tomorrow. I'll put the black beans in then. When the berry plants arrive I'll pull the beans and pout those in. ... Sound about right?