Tessa Schlechtriem

You may want to take a look on a mushroom sub-reddit like https://new.reddit.com/r/MushroomGrowers/. There is loads of information about how to 'harvest' spores, how to grow etc. /r/mycology/ is a good one as well.

If you want to be able to use your hugel quick I think it's also worth thinking about the kind of wood you are using. In my first hugel I used mainly willow. I started out with big logs and went smaller as the hugel grew. Willow breaks down really quickly, especially if you add plenty of manure. I used copious amounts of chicken poop. And I topped everything off with wood scraps soaked in chicken poop which I collected in the chicken run (I dump a new load every spring). I already have a thick usable top layer with plenty root space. The lower level is much drier due to the big logs being close to the surface.

For my new hugel I will be using really hard dense wood (hawthorn) and only fairly thick trunk logs. I expect I will need a lot more top soil to be able to grow anything on this hugel the first (two?) years(s).

Last autumn, after harvesting my pumpkins, I planted some rhubarb and perennial kale and some frost resistant annuals. The annuals all got eaten (by animals) over winter. The rhubarb and perennial kale look pretty happy. Probably because I protected the kale and the rhubarb hid for winter

I'm curious to see if the rhubarb enjoys it's high perch and gets enough nutrients to grow well. And if so how it 'performs' compared to my rhubarb planted on ground level.

Lots of little critters have made the hugel their home. Not just rodents but toads as well so with a bit of luck no snail troubles this year.

I don't think I'll have much luck growing things like carrots, lettuce or beets on the hugel unless I device a way to protect them from hungry birds/rodents. So I've decided to plant some herbs and edible flowers on the edges and grow pumpkin and zucchini on top as these seem less popular. Maybe in time I'll add more rhubarb and maybe some asparagus.

My new hugel will be less high and wide. Mainly using entire tree trunks instead of lots of little chunks of wood. I think (hope) this will make it easier to protect against unwanted guests.

vv anderson wrote:how did it turn out?? looking to do something similar here in my lower field where water is seasonally pooling

Last year I've built a hugel in similar conditions. Heavy clay and seasonal flooding (winter). In summer often really dry due to little organic matter. I consider my experiment a success I grew lots of pumpkins without having to water during the dry hot months. So this year I'm building another one! If interested you can read my post: https://permies.com/t/190521/Hugel-anti-drought-flood-success.

Something I forgot to ask: have you ever tried/ heared of 'lupine beans'? The beans are high in proteine and could serve as an alternative to soy beans. The plants ask very little with regards to soil and moisture and are pretty disease free. Maybe you could grow them on the sandy part of your land that you've had trouble cultivating?

White lupin flourishes in the same climatic zones of maize, although lupin, except at the beginning of the growing season, requires little water, because it has a long tap root.[4]

I was wondering if this might be something you'd like to grow. More info: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lupinus_albus

Rufaro Makamure wrote:We also saw a very beautiful praying mantis, its the first time ever that I have seen one like this one. We are used to plain green or brown ones.  

What a beauty! That guy (girl?) is going to get rid of some annoying pests as well. Win Win!
I've read through your posts and I'm really impressed with you ingenuity, perserverance and willingness to grow personally. It's always lovely to see people working with nature instead of against it. I'm sure this will help you realise your dreams for a better future

Hi Nancy,

It's interesting to hear the hugel bed being used as a remedy for damp soil - usually it's used for drier conditions

I have drought AND flooding problems... I live in the Netherlands close to the coast right next to a (small) dyke. Our summers are getting warmer and drier every year. Alternating with extremely wet summers every few years. Our winters are getting warmer and wetter. Sometimes we experience short lived freakishy cold spells. Often at the end of winter when spring is supposed to make an appearance. These kill of animals and plants that are either used to warmer climes (having migrated due to the warmer temps) or didn't go into proper hibernation/ forgot to shed their leaves/ are already budding. If a plant in standing in heavy waterlogged soil it's doomed.

The groundwater level is always pretty high (mostly one to two spades deep) so when we have a really wet warm winter the soil turns to sloppy mud. This makes it near impossible to walk in the vegetable garden in winter. The soil consists of really heavy river/sea clay with little plant matter so it goes rock solid during a hot summer. Look at the picture taken in May. You can see the cracked soil right next to the hugel. It gets worse as summer progresses. I'd like to grow veg without bringing in lots of extra water and pumpkins are big slurpers.

In winter plants drown or their roots rot and in summer plants struggle to get moisture unless they have a deep established root system. Which most don't have because of the high ground water level and heavy heavy near impenetrable clay. For the past few years the ground water level has been lowered slightly in summer by the Water Authority (I don't have a better translation) in order to have enough water in the rivers to keep the salty seawater from flowing upstream. Trees have suffered.

I've been composting like crazy and adding as much plant matter to my soil as I can manage. And it helps, a lot, but not enough in the wettest parts of the garden.

So, hugel. Garden friends have already asked me to teach a hugel build class lol.

I've harvested my beautiful pumpkins and did some small maintenance. There is some rodent activity but not as bad as I had feared. Mostly some mice. And lots of toads, frogs and slamanders getting ready for winter. I've (carefully) started planting perennial food plants. I'll try to take some pics this weekend.

I've been lurking for a while now. Finally decided to share the result of what I learned. I started my first hugel early this year and I'm really happy with the result. I've mostly used willow and generous quantities of chicken manure with lots of straw and a small quantity of good quality compost on top. I went large to small ending with chopped wood that spend the previous winter in our chicken coop as ground cover (against the wet). I also dug out the topsoil and replaced it with fresh soil for the chickens to play in. I probably used the bare minimum of soil as I didn't dig a hole for the hugel and had to buy the replacement soil for the chickens. Fairly cheap but I have to bring everything in by wheelbarrow as I don't own a car. Hard work!

I've decided to try growing on a hugel because my garden patch on heavy heavy river clay get's really waterlogged in winter and bone dry in summer.

I love growing squash and tomatoes but these used to need constant watering. All in all I've watered once this summer. Mostly because I panicked when I saw a sign of water stress in a pumpkin. But probably I could have done without. And this summer we broke the drought record of 1976! BTW the winter has been exceptionally wet.

I need to add another picture of what the hugel looks like right now. Maturing pumpkins and plenty tomatoes ripening. Also another picture of what the patch next to the hugel looks like. I've had to water that one reguarly and still its too dry for my pickles. The plant have nearly all died. Only the zucchini and (some more) tomatoes survive but I gave them a really think layer of ground cover.

This winter I'll built another hugel and use this one for perennial vegetables who hate wet toes. I'd love to built more but I have to scrounge for wood.

If cottonwood is anything like willow you might regret not digging them up right now... In my experience willow can survive chop and drop for years. Especially when buried. Yes the roots will keep the hugel together but they will also consume water and nutrients instead of retaining/ creating. I always allow willow to die off/ dry vertically for at least a year to prevent regrowth. If only the tiniest part of fillow touches the ground it will def leaf out.