Skwirrelkultur

Paul Schmidt wrote:Needs more soil. I've found that you need more soil than you took out to fill up a hugel bed properly. I dug a swale at the same time that I put in a hugel bed and used the extra topsoil from the swale to cover the hugel.

Jose R Baca wrote: Hi there;
Been watching this site for a while, and even though I don't have the same problem, I'm equally disappointed with my attempt with Huglekulture gardening. I live in what I would ignorantly describe as high desert and am very conscious of water usage (I also have roughly half of my acre sized back yard covered with woodchips for this reason.) The beds interior consists of lots of aged manure, compost and leaves, I even added a few handfuls of acidified nitrogen and covered it with soil and compost mix. Even though we have had plenty of rain, enough to wash out some of my chips, the first thing to dry is the hugle bed.
Wow! Touchy computer!
In short, I personally feel that even though they float away in a heavy downpour, woodchips are a far better, and less labor intensive alternative to burying old logs.

Andrew Schreiber wrote:

Jose R Baca wrote: Hi there;
Been watching this site for a while, and even though I don't have the same problem, I'm equally disappointed with my attempt with Huglekulture gardening. I live in what I would ignorantly describe as high desert and am very conscious of water usage (I also have roughly half of my acre sized back yard covered with woodchips for this reason.) The beds interior consists of lots of aged manure, compost and leaves, I even added a few handfuls of acidified nitrogen and covered it with soil and compost mix. Even though we have had plenty of rain, enough to wash out some of my chips, the first thing to dry is the hugle bed.
Wow! Touchy computer!
In short, I personally feel that even though they float away in a heavy downpour, woodchips are a far better, and less labor intensive alternative to burying old logs.

Jose, HUgel Kultur is certainly not for everyone and everyclimate. For instance, is dry landscapes or ones which experience a lot of wind, Hugelkulture mounds can be innneffective. The greater amount of surface area increases evaporation if the soil is not completely covered and sheltered from. many people in such climates bury the biomass and leave the surface like a depression to actually catch water.

You may want to try covering your hugelkultur with wood chips and see what kind of synergy arises with the two methods.

It sounds like you did not bury any logs in your beds. Am I reading what you wrote correctly? There are many many dynamics that go into the system beyond merely the burying of biomass.

Scale is important. the bigger and the more of them, the more of a sheltered microclimate is created and the more effective they are at holding water.

placing them perpendicular to prevailing winds is important to not channel the winds between the beds, which dries them out.

I also recommend planting a lot of shelter plants for any of your growing spaces. Get protection from desicating wind and afternoon sun, and your "high desert" locale will probably respond well. Not sure where you are specifically, but I live in in a relatively arid dryland forest, and I am utilizing a lot of upland willow species (Salix scouleriana) to create temporary and permanent shelter for young fruits nuts and berries, as well as in hedgerows in a young silvo/pasture system.

The wind here is a killer. So constant and so damaging to trees. Our hugels seem to dry out for the first few inches of soil. so having those deep rooted plants in their really helps to keep it going through the long hot dry summers.
Sir;
Moved out here in Pueblo West Co.( zone 5)3 yrs. ago. And yes, constant wind. I love the challenge of creating a permacultured backyard and over the past years here I have slowly but surely amended the hardpan clay that serves as soil around here. So much so that my neighbor and friend seems to think I'm some kind of new age hippie because I throw very little away and even offer to take his and anyone else's yard debris for my compost pile.
Even though I'm a certified Master Gardener, I've been looking to new (or old) techniques at sustainable gardening methods that are not well known around here, from Bokashi composting to the Back to Eden gardening method. Each section of my yard is or will be a test area of these methods. The huglebed area is closest to the fence we had put up to help cut back the wind ( it's a 6' Symtek ) and yes, the willow, cottonwood and some elm logs are buried in a trench I dug that was 3+ ft. deep and 12+ft. long. I will cover with woodchips and plant it next spring ( I guess I should mention that this bed is only 1 year old). I can say with surety that unless or until I can get shade from the trees I have planted mycorhy-?? stuff won't work.
I most certainly would welcome any suggestions you may offer and thank you for your recommendations . By the way only my mother calls me Jose, and only when she's pissed!, my friends call me Chuck ( don't ask , its a long story.)

Jose R Baca wrote: Hi there;
Been watching this site for a while, and even though I don't have the same problem, I'm equally disappointed with my attempt with Huglekulture gardening. I live in what I would ignorantly describe as high desert and am very conscious of water usage (I also have roughly half of my acre sized back yard covered with woodchips for this reason.) The beds interior consists of lots of aged manure, compost and leaves, I even added a few handfuls of acidified nitrogen and covered it with soil and compost mix. Even though we have had plenty of rain, enough to wash out some of my chips, the first thing to dry is the hugle bed.
Wow! Touchy computer!
In short, I personally feel that even though they float away in a heavy downpour, woodchips are a far better, and less labor intensive alternative to burying old logs.