Alicia Reed

Oh, I almost forgot--I did have some speculative hope that the ditch may act in that way, also, but I mostly want it to prevent the invasion of quack grass... it was also contributing to the dirt needed to make this thing without having to move it as far. The approach Paul recommends actually involved a deeper trench for people digging by hand, especially, but the rocks made that more difficult.

It occurred to me that you could probably build your mini hugels slowly over the years by adding more branches/small wood and dirt/compost, a little each year, to maximize on the benefits of what resources you have available. Though then I suppose you wouldn't want to plant any perennials thay couldn't either be buried or dug up/moved.

I haven't worked with biochar myself, but I have heard about how it can briefly absorb all the good stuff/rob the soil if not first innoculated in some kind of nutrient soup, or something, first.

I used all dead wood that was handy nearby. The logs/rounds were an abandoned pine log deck. Some of it was already starting to rot, and my dad insisted his neighbor/friend/part time boss didn't want it anymore... though I did notice that some of it still looked pretty solid... 😅
The branches were from trees in my yard. Winter breakage, pruning, etc. Already all sitting nearby.

I suspect that my larger quantity of big, mostly solid chunks of wood will initially make it take longer to break down and be drier at first, but then improve the hugelkultur effects in subsequent years. Fortunately strawberries seem to be *pretty* forgiving/resilient, though they might be challenged... I was more than happy to put some of the strawberry plants into the bed with the cabbages and a lot more mulch, just in case.
And thank you for the cabbage compliment!

That's a tough combo with the lack of both dirt and wood. What kind of climate are you up against?

Then I started burying it in dirt, with a few layers of dark, crumbly (and rather heavy!) composted goat bedding mixed in to help jumpstart the decomposition process. The little bits of straw and in it also "stuck" better than straight dirt. I then mulched over everything with the less composted goat bedding, and topped it off with a mixture of garden debris (spent cucumber, melon, potato and squash vines, amaranth and lambsquarter stalks, carrot tops, etc). I may add more debris whenever it finally frosts, and perhaps a few branches for good measure.
My kids sort of fluttered in and out of this project, but some pitched in a little on the ever-expanding trench. That nifty digging tool came in handy... about 1.5-2' down was an ancient creek bed with river stones... 😬 in other news, I now have a nice pile of rocks on the side.
However, my little photographers were with the grandparents when I needed a photographer for a size comparison photo, so I just got one next to my 5' shovel.

I put some of the strawberry plants back into the mound and the raised bed nearby, since they were just sitting out with their poor naked roots. But... was I supposed to photograph each of the plants before I planted them??? I hope I don't have to rip them all back out. 😅 Maybe I can count how many actually take/survive come spring, or circle them in a photo.
I already have some comfrey and sunchokes that I can divide. I will need to order the grains and might choose a clover that grows as an annual in my climate... I also have lots of legumes I'm saving seed from, so I might see if it's possible to meet the requirements from those alone.

These photos show the layout/mostly marked area. The logs are 6 & 8' long. The area got a lot wider than I had anticipated... 😅  The neighboring raised bed is is probably going to have to move eventually due to erosion...
I did dig the area out some to get the topsoil & remove the quack grass.

Then I went to get the wood, a partially rotted pine log deck that someone started cutting into rounds but then abandoned. It belongs to my parent's' neighbors, about 2mile away from me.
But then tragedy struck when a strap sitting in the truck bed trailer managed to slip out through a hole the previous owner put in the front of the frame (to accomodate longer boards). Hadn't had that happen before... but then I also meant to remove that strap before going down the road. I'm telling you, after a decade of raising a moderately large number of young children mostly solo, my brain is mush. I forget a lot. 😅
Anyway, I had to swap a tire and splice/re-run the wiring. But I finally got my wood... I wanted at least a few logs cut 6-8' for structural integrity, but also took a lot of rounds since they were sorta in the way anyway.

I started this beastly thing and realized that I may have to do the bulk of the planting portion in the spring, so I thought it might make it easier for me to post the progress in its own thread so it's all in one spot when I come back to it later... whenever that actually happens. Haha. It looks like that is probably okay?

Also my connection is slow and won't upload many photos at once... of which I took entirely too many. So multiple posts in a thread may be easier.
It's funny, I usually don't bother to photograph myself/my projects, but since it's a part of getting BB's... I apparently had fun with it! These first photos show where I decided to put the behemoth, and the rather time consuming process required just to prepare the space. I have a LOT of quack grass, and have found that the mulch method and my limited time as a mom of 5 young people didn't prove effective against the invasion. Worse, the mulch and soil amendments made it increasingly vigorous! It reminds me of what they say about antibiotics--if you have quack grass and want to mulch... don't half ass it. 😅🤣 It was too late for this strawberry bed though, so I decided somewhere in the season to start over again and started to neglect it. I am actually going to try to use Ruth Stout composting/mulching and thw trench to hopefully tame the quack grass.
The hugelkultur also claimed the area of 2 rows of potatoes, so I harvested those too. My daughter snapped the photo of me devouring them.

It was nice to see you & all the other Permies who could make it from my area during your potluck visit, Paul. Thanks again to all who made that possible! I am hoping to see about connecting with a few of those who were present, still, as I really want some more like minded community in my life... though I am busy with the frantic fall transitions, as many are I suppose.
Regardless, it helped to remind me of my appreciation for this forum. My life has taken many unexpected turns and pulled me away from much of the things I wanted to be doing (aside from some rather sporadic dabblings crammed into the daily hustle here and there; I liked what you had to say above about meeting the obligations of your past self, as that is about where I am, too), but I am grateful that a tiny bit more space is opening back up in my life as my kids get older, and that this knowledge-sharing community is still here waiting. And the SKIP program even seems like a really great way to lay out and further incentivise those pursuits! I also think I'd really like to find my way to Wheaton Labs at some point. It's felt like a bit of a distant pipe dream for a while now... but not for too long, I guess, in the grand scheme of things. It may still take a year or so and some figuring with logistics, but I think it might be on the near(er) horizon for me.

I have a cold and drink a lot of tea all the time anyway, so this seems like a perfect BB for me right now.
I got some mint for flavor, spruce & pine for vit C, and common mallow to support the respiratory tract.
I also tossed in last year's rose hips and some elderberries (which I sort of accidentally started to dehydrate and then decided to go with it... 😅 I have even used them in baked goods--not bad). That's what's floating in the cup. Everything else is in the teapot, also pictured.
This little BB is reminding me to get some more things before they are killed off by frost. Some more stuff for cold & flue season would be a good thing to put away! So... good timing!

I wasn't sure if this was adequate for the photos, but the lighting is sort of bad... I added one of the mint by itself/before harvesting, but didn't bother to do that for the others.

I'm a bit late to the SKIP party, but find this whole project delightful & rewarding on multiple levels. Looking forward to participating!

And, as a female who feels pretty confident in her mastery of the art of peeing outdoors, I was happy to document proof that the ladies can do it with the 1 photo approach, too! 🤣 (Edit: out of curiosity I looked back and was happy to see that I wasn't alone!) I don't always stand "like a man," but it did make this challenge easier. Haha.
Aimed between some tomatoes (away from the fruits which are mostly done foe the year anyway) and volunteer/mildly invasive parsnips. I don't actually think parsnips like nitrates, but they are being invasive anyway, so...