GAMCODish on Skye (2025)

As my climate is too warm in winter to qualify (although the temperature isn't that much warmer in summer!) I'm not taking part officially, just playing along.
To make you laugh, here are my approximate temperatures through the year:


(from weatherspark)

To recap: I have very shallow (generally less than 18 inches) silty compacted acidic soil on a gently sloping hillside. The compaction is a real issue, as the roots really struggle to penetrate. Although my climate is fairly damp, the rain also seems to run off the surface of the original turf, so some areas are actually quite dry under the surface, even after lots of rain.
Last year I made a wide mini-hugel. It started off OK, but poor germination, mice and slug pressures and poor weather meant the results were a bit disappointing for all of the crops.
I think I'll do mini hugels again (it suits my future plans for planting berry bushes in the gaps in the tree field), but try and get a better depth of soil over the buried turf - there were a lot of plants from the turf that just carried on growing. I think breaking up the soil a bit more in the surface layers will help the seedlings get started. Ideally I would have made the mini hugel in autumn and cover with organic material that would break down ready to sow/plant into...however I do need to try and get much more green mulch material onto the bed to feed the soil. I think this means sowing in rows rather than broadcast. I might actually test how acidic the soil is as well, as I have a sneaky suspicion that that was also particularly bad in the bed last year. I also have a secret plan, which I will explain when I implement it.

So I've identified 3 possible areas:

Area 1) A little downhill and to the North of my first GADCODish plot. It is again near one of our main walking routes around the tree field. Smallish birch an alder and one of my new Gingko trees surround it. Squarish in shape I think it would nicely accomodate 3 minihugel on contour - so they would be aligned fairly N-S: perpendicular to the original bed. I would have ditches/narrow paths in between the beds which might tend to be damper, or even puddling after rain. It is a bit exposed because the trees there have struggled (a sign of shallower or drier soil perhaps).

Area 1 - looking North

Area 2) A bit further downhill and next to the main trackway is a future circle bed. There are nicely established alder that provide shelter from the main wind direction, meaning also that it might be a bit shady, depending where I put the bed. The soil here seems to grow good trees, so I think it is deeper and damper. There are a number of well grown ash suffering to various degrees from dieback, which may or may not remain as coppice trees. Although the soil is better, this isn't my preferred site. I want concentric circular beds here in future, but the size wouldn't work with the central bed and Paul doesn't allow ring shapes. Mind you, since I'm not participating I could just ignore that factor...

Area 2 - looking South

Area 3) Over on the other side of the field near my natural farming area I have a strip next to the main trackway. It is sheltered by an adjacent windbreak, handy for the use of tools stored in my pallet-shed. The trees and weeds here have mostly grown well. I don't think it is very deep, but I do think it has constant water flowing through due to the contours of the land above.

Area 3 - looking South

My preference at the moment is for Area 1, because I quite fancy doing the three beds in a block rather than a strip, but I may change my mind yet. All three areas are on my list of plots to put berry banks, it's just a question of whether I do something else (GAMCODish) with them first.

Hopefully it goes better this year Nancy.