I saw this thread on FB today. I put in my first hugelkultur bed this year and it's been slow going. I expected fantastic results the first year, but now realize it likely takes time during the breakdown stage for things to establish.
Hubby tilled the garden in spring, tilling in a 4" straw mulch that covered the area for nine months. This drastically slowed every growing thing in this garden. The saving factor was 20" of rain in a month. I am thrilled to say that the garden didn't flood, although it would have before this year.
From the tilled area, I rake pulled the soil into several raised beds, leaving permanent paths between, then dug in shallow trenches and laid logs or bricks or native stone as boundaries for the beds. The last section of till, I dug the center down about two to three foot, then added in cottonwood logs from the
neighbor's lot then mounded it with the dirt/straw. For this bed I also dug in the sides for trenches and laid largish logs in the trenches as well. What I realized after the fact was that I should have added more twigs and leaves and such.
I have a raspberry bush and beets and lambsquarters on top of the pile and canteloupe on one end, with poppies across the center and lemon thyme on the sun side. I grew onion sets from seeds on the north side. I had patted down some 'terraces', but they were flat rather than sloped into the hill, so didn't prove effective for water retention or seed retention.
I look forward to seeing how others' projects turn out.
Are there items that do better on the hugel bed?
