Hi guys,
I recently joined the forum and thought I'd share a Hugulkultur that I just finished - literally today!
Some backstory - when we moved into our new house in Studio City, CA there was a ton of rotting wood neatly piled up in a corner in the back yard. It's an eyesore and it's bugged me ever since. Furthermore, there was a ton of mid century-style cinder blocks strewn around the property, which is a 1950s California Ranch. Instead of paying to have it all removed, I decided to build a Hugulkultur on a slope in the back of the yard.
The idea was that whenever it rains (we're all praying for the powerful effects of an El Nino this year in SoCal!), the water would trickle down the hill, into the Hugul, which would hold the bulk of it and feed any vegetables planted in the bed. Also, due to the cinder blocks having this floral pattern, excess water could drain out if that ever became an issue (I doubt it!)
From the pictures you can see what I've done. Basically three cinder blocks tall (around 3 feet), with the big rotting logs placed on the bottom, then various layers on top. The layers are as follows:
1) Big logs (base layer)
2) Soil
3) Medium logs
4) Soil
5) Small logs
6) Dry leaves
7) Bigger pieces of compost (black in pictures)
Fertile soil (from side of house)
9) Final layer of finer compost
The logs and the leaves should create plenty of air pockets, so those roots should have no problem burrowing down and reaching the soaked logs. In a way this a little like sheet mulching too, though I resisted the urge to throw in a bunch of old clothes!
Now the question is: what do I plant? From the pictures you can see that this is a shaded area (I have a 60 foot tree hulking over!) so I need plants/vegetables that don't require full sunshine. I've read that beans, peas, peppers, tomatoes are good first year crops for a Hugul, so I may give those a shot, but I'm curious as to what other people would plant with this setup?
cheers,
milton
