Thoughts on Hugel-Bed + Forest Garden

Hi Gang,

I have a smallish plot about 150' by 40' that I would like to coax into a food forest. I've been considering building hugel beds and am wondering if anyone has had experience putting these two (hugel and FF) together. If i make the hugels I'm thinking I will make them on contour, essentially creating raised beds with pathways between. This linear planting seems a lot less like a forest, but perhaps it is still the best option given all the benefits of hugelkultur.

Any thoughts?

Thanks!
Matt

ps. when you build your hugels, do you only add dirt on the top layer, or do you add some dirt to each level as you build up?

Matt Stern wrote:

ps. when you build your hugels, do you only add dirt on the top layer, or do you add some dirt to each level as you build up?

My hugels should really be called "lasagna-hugels" because I layer it up and end up with dirt on top -- until the plants sprout, and then some more mulch goes down. I try to mix it up so I have layers of big pieces of wood, sand from the sand pit, grass clippings, leaf litter, biochar, wood chips, mixed in with layers of my high clay soil.