Did you say PIE!!??

I'm all for pie. I'd just have to try to figure out how many Weight Watcher Points a slice was and record it. (Losing weight is HARD) Besides Weight Watchers encourages us to try new fruits and vegetables.

I even have an idea for world peace. However, I'm fairly sure it won't work because humans are, well, HUMAN. The idea? Simple. Stop hurting each other and play nice. Oh, and share stuff instead of fighting over it. Kinda like we were taught in grade school. Say didn't some body already write a book about that?

Oh, and Paul or anyone else who might know, I have a question about hugelculture beds. Here in Texas the summers can be brutal and droughts are not uncommon (like last years). So I'm thinking maybe here in N. E. Texas (east of Dallas) it would be best to dig a nice deep swale (on contour of course) then stuff it full of all the downed wood that litters my place that I've been so hesitant to burn (not because of the danger of it getting out of hand like I tell my neighbors though). Then I could put some of the dirt back in before adding to the pile. Maybe even leave a drive through space so I can get down to the end of my sloping pasture with a truck if need be. Specifically a fire truck, just in case.
Once the wood is piled as high as you want your supposed to cover it with dirt as I understand it. I'm guessing that using the muck from the man made pond on my land (we call them 'tanks') would be a good thing.
If all that will work, great. Now all I have to do is find the cash to pay for the equipment and an operator that won't laugh at my crazy idea's.

I have had good luck with buried wood. I put buried wood throughout my vegetable garden, excavating down about 18 inches and filling with logs and brush. First 500 square feet with pick and shovel, second 500 square feet my husband took pity on me and rented an excavator. Last summer the buried wood areas survived when parts that were just mulched died during the heat and drought. Thicker piles of wood would probably hold even more water, but I think in a dry climate they should be at least partially sunken into the ground.

If you have more wood than you want to bury, if you pile it in a dense low pile it is not considered a fire hazard (according to Bill Mollison). These kind of brush piles decompose pretty quickly. If you put the brush in low windrows on contour, it can help stop erosion. Throw some seeds in there and presto, hugelkultur!

Thanks Tyler! Good to hear from a fellow Texan into PC! I actually do have what I call my micro hugels in my front yard. They seem to be working so far. I only started them this past winter hoping to trap some of the water that flows from my house toward the street. As usual my neighbors are quite flumoxed and wonder what the heck the crazy goat lady is up to now.

Oh, they are micro hugles because they are only about 6 inches high. I fear I'd have folks coming by to have "talks" with me if I got higher in the front yard. It's practically suburbia! My back yard on the other hand stretches back at least a quarter mile and that's where, with all of it sloping down toward lake Tawakoni in the far distance I really need something to make the rain runoff at least pause for a visit.

I plan to put little brush dams all over our place, water is so precious here, we need to slow it down as much as possible. And we have waaaaaay too many cedars......So we can solve two problems with one piece of work!

Now if I could only get some minions to do the work for me......