paul wheaton wrote:Got the following in my e-mail [14 years ago] and he said I could post it here:
... I tell my students that every unit of carbon incorporated into soils can
hold 4 units of water....
Keith
Lif Strand
New Mexico USA
Roy Long wrote:I was looking for a new gardening project for week after next maybe this is my new project. As luck would have it I have a 10 year old slash pile literally right next to where I want to do this and I have piles of topsoil out in my hay field from the building of the five ponds on my place 30 years ago, so no shortage of soil to work with.
Lif Strand
New Mexico USA
Daniel Losch wrote:Hello, so I've just recently come across the concept of hugelkultur and I love it. I happen to have a lot of woody debris on my property I've been wondering what best to do with it, and then it clicked!
Now, I've been reading that pine is a less desirable wood to use due to tannins. I'm wondering though, should I let that stop me? I have mostly White Pine branches and another species I haven't identified yet. Will the tannins significantly limit what will grow well? Should I focus on growing perennials that grow well near pines?
I am in NE Ohio, zone 6.
Cultivate abundance for people, plants and wildlife - Growing with Nature
Transplanted gardener trying to start over in a strange new land - all advice gratefully accepted!
Bless your Family,
Mike
Scott Charles wrote:
I've grown tons of greens, loads of bush beans and pole beans, chard, tomatoes, cucumbers, and squashes along with a mix of carrots, beets, and some others in the hugels. all of it has done incredibly well, far outproducing the neighbors who are doing traditional gardens with tilling and fertilizers. I think if you are worried about the nitrogen loss the first couple seasons you could add compost over the bed and be fine, as those shallow roots will take it up from there and do well. I tend to do this any time I harvest a crop and am getting ready to sow another one - I just spread an inch of fresh compost over the whole area first. I've learned that keeping something - anything - growing to cover the soil at all times is the best method, even if it's just some beans or peas that won't have enough time to produce a harvest, I use them as a cover crop and then chop and drop to protect the soil over the winter. then I watch the neighbors clear off their gardens and leave them bare for the winter and wish I was better at pitching these new ideas to folks...
Die Fledermaus does not fear such a tiny ad:
Greenhouse of the Future ebook - now free for a while
https://permies.com/goodies/greenhouse
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