Briana Great

https://www.kcur.org/2022-05-11/kernza-the-grain-youve-never-heard-of-that-could-revolutionize-farming

Here I thought I discovered something brand new, and yet it's been here for 10 years.

I love Permies.  This is fascinating- this is what I have been trying to figureout.  Perennial grains.  Now I know!

Where do we buy these?!?

Rob Teeter wrote:Just curious if anyone has tried to vermicompost their poo before it gets to the willow feeder?

Worms are NOT anaerobic nor hot compost - it will not break down any pathogens.  Human Poo generally needs 3-5 years in a sealed container before it is considered 'safe'

I filled out the survey last night =)  

"leaves and grass clippings are readily available" - they actually aren't!  We have a shortage of both because so much of our "yard" is growing food and trees and chickens!  

We do have composting going.  And we have a TON Of wood chips now that we had a tree cut down.  I have stuff to build a new hugel bed - I have to find time and energy :-/

Mike Barkley wrote:What state or USDA zone are you in? How much soil do you have available?

I am in Western Washington, Zone 8, and we have excess soil I have been 'borrowing' from the front lawn, it is very sandy and needs LOTS of amending which is what usually holds me up - we don't produce enough compost waste ourselves =)  

Updating a current link for those interested:
https://www.bakerinstitute.org/center-for-energy-studies/lesotho-sustainability-assessment-project/

https://www.bakerinstitute.org/media/files/page/4e4d6b5e/khg_quick_manual_pdf.pdf

TL/DR: My chickens got to my new hugelkultur bed and I don't know what to do before I lose this growing season, too!

I have been here for almost four years and worked my way up to a Hugelkultur bed,  I tried to make mine 3' tall (using only woman power here!) BUT, as you'll see, I had a hard time getting enough soil and the chickens loved digging out all the worms and critters out of the compost layer.  In September 2021 I almost died - literally - spending 6 weeks on bedrest as our hospitals were overwhelmed and my husband was providing round-the-clock care.  4 weeks in PT to be able to walk out of my house.  It was January before I could "clean up" my chickens' coop and the fall garden chores didn't get done.  My hens went from rotating patches to free range - and destroyed my new, true hugelkultur bed.  Somehow, my volunteer peach tree (that I found in the chicken run last year!) is surviving!  We recently had an Alder tree cut down and I want to make REAL 4' hugelkultur beds this year. . . and I have already lost much of the starting season!

My Dilemma:  Do I dig up this bed and start over with my new alder logs, transplanting the peach tree?  Do I make it longer, with the peach-tree in the middle? Do I just leave it as-is and 'redo' the chips/compost/soil?  

I am third-year hugelkultur gardener =)  My 2 cents is probably worth about that much, but I will address one question: what to plant where?  Well, that depends on how you orient your beds!  Mine run north/south, being in Washington State that means I put tall plants on the north end (rosemary and Lovage), squash plants on the south side (they run downhill), lettuces on the east/morning sun side and beans/peas on the west/sunset side to help shelter the other plants from the scorching afternoon sun.  Other than that, it's not really vertical gardening - it's sloped gardening.  Radishes go on the top.  I still grow carrots and potatoes in the ground.

I found that something like thyme creeps its way down,

Watching on YouTube, shared (twice) on Facebook, and commented on YouTube.  Having seen the berm shed in person, I have to say, the massiveness is lost on video  =)

Hey, to make things easier for y'all sorting through the data, maybe we should all make our first name "BugTest" so you can easily sort through who the bug testing new accounts are (and potentially remove them after 30 days or something)  

Apparently "BugTest" is a realistic enough first name.