Interesting video where a guy digs up logs buried in a raised bed 2 years later - wood as sponge

One of the best things about hugelkultur is that the logs turn into "water batteries" holding water in the soil for plants. In this video a guy digs up the logs he placed at the bottom of the raised bed to see what happened to them. I think it's interesting to see him squeeze water out of hunks of wood:

Thanks for sharing. It's a great video showing the internals of a hugel bed actually working. Water is being squeezed out of the logs as well as plant roots attaching to the logs to tap into that water source.

Nice. After it rots I like to dig it up and mix it with the dirt. Nothing else seems to work as well to lighten heavy soil. Then bury another layer!

Thank you for the great ideas.

I have a bunch of Siberian elms, mixed dead and living. They all need to go away. This is a great way to use that waste wood. Elm isn't worth anything as firewood and it rots very fast.  

Russell Groves wrote:I have a bunch of Siberian elms, mixed dead and living. They all need to go away. This is a great way to use that waste wood. Elm isn't worth anything as firewood and it rots very fast.  

Funny thing you are talking about Siberian elms, I have a bunch that I need to take down! I have dropped half of them and chipped them. Something to consider, I found that Winecap mushrooms just devour the elm chips. If you don't want to hugal it all, consider chipping it and inoculating it to improve soil

Timothy Norton wrote:

Russell Groves wrote:I have a bunch of Siberian elms, mixed dead and living. They all need to go away. This is a great way to use that waste wood. Elm isn't worth anything as firewood and it rots very fast.  

Funny thing you are talking about Siberian elms, I have a bunch that I need to take down! I have dropped half of them and chipped them. Something to consider, I found that Winecap mushrooms just devour the elm chips. If you don't want to hugal it all, consider chipping it and inoculating it to improve soil

Been thinking about chipping.  I have a big old pile of fiberglass domes (4 feet diameter and 18 inches at the deepest.  Do a lot of container gardening in them.
My notion is to put elm logs in the bottom. top with elm chips, and then a casing layer over top. Those would make great mushroom containers.

Last night my part of Kansas was covered in heavy wet snow. This morning my yard is covered in BIG tree limbs. Most of them are Siberian Elm.
When the snow is gone, I intend to cut those into logs for a first attempt at hugel. Might look for a chipper to take the smaller pieces apart.
Also looking for wine cap spawn so I can get some food from the logs while they're breaking down.

Best part of this snow storm was - it dropped a bunch of junk trees in the right place. And left alone the trees that would have flattened the house.

Well, that and the fact that I still have power.

I was intending to watch that very video. Thanks for sharing.    My only concern with using larger log pieces is the nitrogen it requires to break down the carbon.  Larger tree branches contain a higher carbon to nitrogen ratio, and could pull Nitrogen from the surrounding soil.  Smaller branches have lower Carbon to Nitrogen ratio so won't require as much Nitrogen to break down.  Clearly it hasn't hurt James plants any.   For me,  and I'll be working on this same project soon, if I use larger pieces I think I'll make sure to add Nitrogen rich souces too.  Mostly urine, which should counteract any Nitrogen loss.  I  am planning to pack last fall's rotting apples, food scraps,  leaves, and garden prunings around any wood or branches before I add soil/compost on top to plant into. I intend to use the leaves and drier materials to create space-oxygen space, so the apples and food scraps don't get anaerobic.  That's the plan anyhow. Raspberry & Bosenberry will be planted on top. Hope it works.