John Ludwig

We only have one plum tree. The variety is called Bruce. It has been the ground for 4 seasons now and is just beginning to produce.

John Ludwig wrote:

Nancy Reading wrote:Wow, awesome result there John! Looks like Yacon likes you. Do you have any tips for keeping them happy in a container? What was your final yeild?

I have more plants in the ground and they are perfectly happy just getting the occasional rainfall with extra watering once per month during our dry weather. This plant in the box, especially this past month or two demanded water every 3 days by drooping on me if I didn’t give it a deep soaking. I suspect that it was in the process of a tuber growth spurt much like a teenager eating me out of house and home.

Joylynn Hardesty wrote:Wow, that's awesome. Did you fertilize them?

Yes I gave them only a tablespoon of slow release fertilizer mixed into the soil and then a liquid app of potassium sulfate every month  

Nancy Reading wrote:Wow, awesome result there John! Looks like Yacon likes you. Do you have any tips for keeping them happy in a container? What was your final yeild?

Although I didn’t weigh them, it felt like 20 pounds or more.

John Ludwig wrote:

John Ludwig wrote:

Tyler Grace wrote:

John Ludwig wrote: after I dug out the first foot I ran into rocks.

If it were me, I'd just procure more logs and heavy biomass to fill the void. I generally trench around 3' down in smaller berms (3' wide). One thing i've learned doing berms is, never rush the building process. The thing will be there for a long time and it's a pain to remove and reconstruct.

Yes, thanks Tyler, , your advice is appreciated and well taken. I really don’t want to dig it all again any time soon.

I think I will have the soil and branches next year to mound it properly.

John Ludwig wrote:

Tyler Grace wrote:

John Ludwig wrote: after I dug out the first foot I ran into rocks.

If it were me, I'd just procure more logs and heavy biomass to fill the void. I generally trench around 3' down in smaller berms (3' wide). One thing i've learned doing berms is, never rush the building process. The thing will be there for a long time and it's a pain to remove and reconstruct.

Yes, thanks Tyler, , your advice is appreciated and well taken. I really don’t want to dig it all again any time soon.

I call this my first Yacon unboxing because I used a crate that I had and put a hinged door on the front for easy harvesting.

The rhizomes sprouted in February and I kept them in my cool bright garage until I planted them outside in mid March.

Tyler Grace wrote:

John Ludwig wrote: after I dug out the first foot I ran into rocks.

If it were me, I'd just procure more logs and heavy biomass to fill the void. I generally trench around 3' down in smaller berms (3' wide). One thing i've learned doing berms is, never rush the building process. The thing will be there for a long time and it's a pain to remove and reconstruct.

Yes, thanks Tyler, , your advice is appreciated and well taken. I really don’t want to dig it all again any time soon.

Anne Miller wrote:Sounds to me like you need to add a lot of leaves, tree limbs, twigs and dirt to build up your mound.

Thanks for that thread it was very helpful.

My problem is that I ran out of everything, my yard is completely clean and no leaves, limbs, twigs or dirt to be had.

I could have borrowed some from a friend 😁

As a matter of fact, for my next Hugelkultur bed I will have to go to a friend’s house and get some rotten logs from his wooded area he is cleaning up.

I didn’t take pictures yet but plan to soon. I went out three days ago to dig my first hugelkultur bed and after I dug out the first foot I ran into rocks. The mass of the rocks I removed exceeded the amount of wood I had to put into the mound. I now have a nice flachkultur bed. I also sowed the winter wheat and I think it was just in time. It is getting a little late in the season here in Winston Salem.