Using log rounds as suntraps

I cant really take credit for this - I'm sure its been done before and I know if my case is was a happy accident, but bucked up log rounds make for the awesome suntraps! and I had to share

Cut you log rounds, Stack them so that the cut surface is in contact with the ground - stack them several high if you wish. Plant on the south side of them and if you so wish inoculate the rounds with mushrooms. The logs provide a heat sink and rot down fertilizing the crop as they do. Once they have totally rotted you can smash them up and rake over soil or plant directly into them.

My particular situation has been with Hemlock stumps. The nettles growing in their suntrap are 4x bigger than anywhere else on my property her in our exceptionally early spring. During the fall these stumps are replete with smokey gilled woodlovers, and they are rotted enough that nettles, thimble berries, and huckleberries are using them as nurse logs. It takes mere minutes to set up (less than an hour for sure) and for the first couple seasons they are easily moved if you want to fiddle with the exact placement to maximize exposure as your experience using sun traps grows.

A strong wind from the south blew over a couple of my trees. Now the massive roots form a muddy wall that faces south. I've started a hugelkultur mound against this heat reflector.

That's cool Dale. Ive noticed that the holes they leave behind often turn into lakes during the wet season - I bet tossing a bunch of wood in um and covering them with soil would make for an awesome almost ready made bed. You could just brush the soil off the root ball to top them.

The thing I like about the bucked up log rounds is that they are perfect almost anywhere and can be deployed quickly and in a variety of paterns. One could even for the first few season rotate them with your crops if you wanted to. Setting them up for a few weeks to help with the germination and getting established and then roll them away to a new site for a succession planting. It's defiantly something I will continue to experiment with.

A lime whitewash would be pretty reflective and is harmless to plants. Rub the other side with biochar and use whichever side works for your purpose. A couple of dark rocks laid against the white side would retain heat for night use.