Hugelkultur Greenhouse Combination

got more stuff to put on my hugels today at http://yesusi.com/about/permaculture/greenhouse/

most recent additions to the greenhouse hugel described at the page

Ok, I've been thinking a great deal about the hugelK and how to use it, especially since I read Sepp on this last winter and built a 26 foot geodessic dome last fall and worked to complete it inside all of winter. When I saw the space for raised beds inside the perimeter HugelK seemed the only answer. Here's what I did: gathered rotting fallen wood from the windbreak on the north side of the dome and laid it on the ground, covered with leaves from Uncle's yard (some people actually rake leaves, imagine) and layers of compost and soil as the ground outside thawed this spring. A properly vented greenhouse isn't going to condensate and rain on the grow beds as much as one would hope, especially in the heat. Vapour will go up and out. Only in winter does it freeze and stay on the walls until the rocket stove heats up and you get some rain. We had a workshop and used an Ernie design near the north wall, just south of the water tank where we hope to have fish.
Anyhooo, I have another question about HugelK: how the hell do you keep quack grass from taking it over?
I took a picture but it's still on my phone of some seedlings I found in the rotting wood in the windbreak. I'm still bringing this stuff in for large pots that will house cucumbers to grow to the ceiling in the dome. Last year our summer was so cold it was hard to grow a cuc in the garden. I only had success in our cold frames. Anyway, I love rotting wood. I filled the bottom of these (mineral tubs actually) big pots to at least 1/2 before adding the other soils and then planting. Very excited about the HugelK tub experiment and the spongy factor of rotting wood. Beats the hell out of peat in so many ways. We are in a growing zone 3b but were beyond the regular cold of that zone last winter. Every way we can extend that growing season is a plus. I cringe to buy factory food.

Just thought I'd add a couple pics of my mostly finished hugelhoop greenhouse hugel combination.

Everything is still tucked away for the winter under a deep layer of hay and straw mulch. Pretry much the only thing coming up are perennials like the nettles, and berries. Garlic is the exception of course and I've noticed some cilantro babies under the mulch. What started out as a place for my greenhouse has morphed into the foundation of my entire garden! I even integrated my chickens into the mix for the winters. Paul may think greenhouses suck but you sure can stack a ton of functions in them, plus I can grow tomatoes that actually ripen!

Oh and as far as the quack grass goes you may have to live with it for a while until you get enough abundance growing on your mounds that you either won't are anymore or it will out compete the grass (it will add a lot of organic matter to the mound over time so not all bad).

Yes, I let my chickens have the run of two attached (recycled from other life times with plastic and a few windows) greenhouses. They love the extra sunshine and room to roam in winter months, fertilize the areas and scratch up bugs. When it's time to kick them out into their outdoor run (before I pasture them) I wash the insides of the gh walls with a garden hose, amend the soil and plant early. Bees set up a home next door and are in there early too. I found they can be hard on plastic though and strung chicken wire up the walls to protect the plastic wherever possible. They like to peck frost off the walls and this really degrades the plastic fast.

Delila Jahn-Thue wrote:Yes, I let my chickens have the run of two attached (recycled from other life times with plastic and a few windows) greenhouses. They love the extra sunshine and room to roam in winter months, fertilize the areas and scratch up bugs. When it's time to kick them out into their outdoor run (before I pasture them) I wash the insides of the gh walls with a garden hose, amend the soil and plant early. Bees set up a home next door and are in there early too. I found they can be hard on plastic though and strung chicken wire up the walls to protect the plastic wherever possible. They like to peck frost off the walls and this really degrades the plastic fast.

great to read your experience & insights... our temps don't range too low normally here, at worst it has hit just above 24 deg F and thinking I can handle three brooders in my situation easily. With protection for planted areas, that is because our temps are relatively mild all things considered, they can probably run outside the greenhouse area for much of the day and then back into an enclosed run inside the greenhouse for the evening then into their cubbies for the night. really liking the idea of keeping birds in the house. the chicken wire along walls security tech is terrific, thank you.

I put up a quick YouTube video of the hugel/greenhouse in production:

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/TCuEdVPcGGo" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

Hopefully that works! Just thought you guys might like to see what this looks like in production mode. Working pretty good so far!

Edit: Maybe this will work
[youtube=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TCuEdVPcGGo]
If not there's a post on my webpage use the link in my signature line.

Here's the link:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TCuEdVPcGGo

One more try:

Hey Dave, where you growing? I hugled in all my greenhouses this year too. Pleased with the results and the stuff that self seeded from last year. Thanks for the borage tip. I have comfrey in some of my greenhouses but that hummingbird sold me on trying some borage all over the yard too. Thanks for sharing the video!
d

We're in North-Central Idaho @ about 4100 ft. I haven't put any comfrey in the greenhouse yet, but I think I will when I divide my plants here in a week or two.

Looking good Dave ! Did that rosemary die all the way back and regrow or did it just keep green all winter?

Loved the hummingbird too!

Thanks Miles! The rosemary stayed green all winter! I cheated a little and put a translucent square bucket over the top as added protection, but I think it could have done without it. It's doubled in size since the weather warmed up. I'm pretty happy with the results so far. Oh and I like to call the humingbird "Carl". My wife's pretty jealous, she has to tempt them in with sugarwater, and Carl just hangs out with the bees all on his own!

I shot some quick video of where the hugel greenhouse is at year 3 along with some compare and contrast with a couple of hugel mounds 2 years of establishment vs. 1 year.  I think it's pretty neat to see the comparisons so I though I would share....

I have been thinking about using  my hugel beds to support cold frames.    Not near as roomy as a green house but it seems the best fir me.    

A secondary thought rolling around in my head is pvc hoop house just like your drawing but also a little on the small side.    

Could you use PVC pipe, either as posts to support a beam acroos the top of the HK, or just make a pvc hoop greenhouse & HK the northside of it? Bury 1/3 of the hoop in the HK?

I have been putting hoop houses over hugel beds this fall before the rains come. I will report on the results as the come. I am mainly concerned with rot from moisture on leaves but the 15F bump in temps are nice on cool days and nights.  However, our record low here is 23F, so cold is not really a big deal. I am hesitant to do anything rigid and permanent because of how much bigger everything got than I expected already and I hope maximize the hugels potential with perennials if not small trees. We also get 70mph winds here regularly in the fall and winter and I think just taking the sails down is the best option if you can't afford a bomb-proof greenhouse. I also have a sunny garage I can keep a few potted citrus trees in if needed.

Looking at this thread today got me thinking about the differences between invention and innovation.

My explanation is that invention is the creation of something new, and innovation is the creative blending or repurposing of something preexisting.

Combining a greenhouse with hugelkultur is innovation.

Then my mind started to consider other examples:

Combining a hydroponics with aquaculture is an innovation called aquaponics.
Combining a greenhouse with aquaponics is another innovative development.

Each combination creates new symbioses and interactions between the systems.  Some are synergies whch make the combination better than either technology alone. The whole is greater than the sum of its parts. (Though in some cases, the interactions may have a detrimental effect.)

As I pondered over these things, new ideas for innovation became obvious:

Combine a greenhouse with hugelkultur and aquaponics.

Bury it, and we get the Chinampa Walipini.

It feels brilliant to me, but does anyone see drawbacks here?  Or does anyone know of examples where these or similar technologies have been combined?

I'd be happy to explain further if necessary.