I'm in the process of building my first hugel bed in an open west facing area in northern California. I've used scrap wood from around the property as well as partially decomposed grape vine stumps. I wonder if anyone has any positive or negative experience using grapes? Gophers are also a concern of mine. We are quite inundated and I'm worried that because I am not using large hardwood chunks that they may burrow up through it. Has anyone dealt with this issue before? The soil in the area is apartial clay. I dug down 4" in the area where I'm putting the hugel and am using the clay soil as my first layer to keep the wood together, pushing it in open spots between the layers of wood. This is actually working out quite well, and I think it will help potential erosion issues I've read about. My idea is to then cover that with leaf mulch from some near by shrubbery and die off from my tree collards, possibly another layer of soil (from where I plan to do a keyhole garden behind the hugel) then plant fava beans or something else nitrogen fixing, until I figure out what to plant in April. I may be able to throw on some chicken manure but it will most likely not be composted in time. My concern is nutrient availability for annual crops and perennial seedlings if I intend to plant this spring (3-4 mo. from now). I do not wish to bring in any material from outside the property. Any insight or ideas would be greatly appreciated. I also wonder what the average thickness of soil and other matter people tend to put on their wood piles. Thanks! Ashley
