Chris Ferguson

Thank you for your input.  Great advice.  I do have enough soil and compost on top of the twigs to grow in.  Then I used cleaned straw for mulch.  I will start at the surface for my next one to gain the height and compare the results.  The area is small and long - say 3 feet x 12 feet - so I may only try for two feet high for this second one.

Hello:
I tried to assemble my first hugelkultur but made a mistake.  I dug the trench and the big logs placement went below the soil surface.  After adding the mulch it is not much higher than the soil surface - say about 10 inches.  I do have some trench left around the base - say about 8 inches.  Should I break it down and reassemble?  Or should I grow  plants in it and add more over the years?  I live in an area that gets 12 - 14 inches of rain but it has been drought lately.

Is there a good article or your good advice to analyze the placement of my hugelkulture beds.  I have a square parcel with winter sun and cold winds both coming in from the upper right corner.  This is south facing and coastal valley environment.  Parallel curving raised beds with gaps between perpendicular to that corner?  I would want to flow the wind with the curves so it doesn't build a frost pocket?

Thank you !
Chris

Aimee: I would like your recipe for the sauce.  I don't know about the seed coating in sore throat remedies as I am saving my quince seeds to plant another bush.  I dried them without the coating.

Hello!  I'm an amateur permaculturist. Questions for hugelkultur folks: I have a stump about 10 inches in diameter.  Today a big batch of termites flew out next to my house.  Do I remove the stump?  My husband says no due to it being a nice habitat for salamanders.  Any advice?  I guess I can keep watch on my house to see if they next into the door frames.

Chris Ferguson
San Francisco Bay Area

Do you remember the Bill Mollison Permaculture video where the homesteader grew a palm tree next to a rock outcropping in Northern Washington?  It was two large boulders that were south facing.  The palm tree right up against it.  Well, I thought that you might experiment with Globe Artichoke.  I have a plant in my garden and I can't get rid of the thing !   Not that I want to.  I love artichokes.  The point was that it was hardier than anything else in my permaculture garden.

San Francisco South Bay Area, Zone 11: Here is a picture of the PANACHE FIG and then BLACKJACK FIG.  My friends have a fig tree in Phoenix, Arizona that is 35 feet high and 30 feet wide.  They love the heat!  I'm afraid to plant mine into the ground since, sadly, I have a suburban lot.  One of these days I will have my acreage, then I'll grow a beautiful fig tree naturally.  Meanwhile, here's a pic of my 3-year-old "Backyard Orchard Culture" - fruit tree hedge - dwarves - cherries, pears, asian pear, nectarines, peach, apricot, plum, almond and Granny Smith apple.  I used white clover as the nitrogen-fixer.  I was afraid to plant chop-'n-drop acacia trees due to small space.

Chris
Permaculture Enthusiast

I live in a warmer climate.  I have an area dedicated to our dwarf Lionshead pet rabbit, mostly herbs.  He keeps all the plants chewed down to their stems and when they re-leaf he mows them again.  It's interesting how he has learned not to kill them outright.  It looks like a stick garden and reminds me of The Addams Family movie where Morticia lops off the roses and keeps the thorny stems for the vase.  I digress.  Anyway, I noticed that there are tiny red mites (?) running around the moist soil.  They make my skin crawl and I'm trying to decide if it's a pest or a Permaculture symbiotic relationship.  Guys, Gals, DO I NEED TO AERATE THE SOIL BETTER FOR A DRYER AREA ?  OR MAKE PEACE WITH THEM?  I don't want to expose Button to an overload of them.  (And for those of you who are not vegetarian:  NO.  The solution isn't to have rabbit stew for dinner.   LOL!  )

Thanks,
Chris Ferguson
Fellow Permaculture Enthusiast