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Build a Hugelkultur - PEP BB gardening.straw.hugelkultur

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Approved submission
 

Daron Williams wrote:
To complete this BB, the minimum requirements are:
  - Final hugelkultur bed must be 7 feet tall, 7 feet wide, and 12 feet long.
  - Plant using polycultures only.
  - All material must be sourced from no more than 500 feet away.
  - mulch it with at least 4 different kinds of mulch
  - seed/plant at least a dozen different species
  - mostly nitrogen fixers (>75% by volume)
  - at least three comfrey plants
  - at least three sunchokes
  - at least 40 sepp holzer grains (currently available as a prize for anyone who reaches BB20)

How to Certify That Your BB is Completed
 - Two pics of the site before the work is started with the intended location marked out.
       o probably marked with wood laid on the ground that will soon be buried!
 - Three pics of three different stages of construction - showing the contents of the hugelkultur
 - One pic when the hugelkultur is completely built but not planted or mulched showing it is 7 feet tall
 - Pics of all the stuff about to be planted
 - A paragraph or two of what wood was used and where it came from, what was planted, what mulches were applied and anything else interesting
 - Two pics of the site after the work is complete from the same two locations as the beginning pictures.
       o include some people or something in the pics so we can gauge that the size is probably correct  



I used a backhoe tractor to create a hugel on top of a rocket season extender. I first attempted to dig trenches but the trenches were immediately filled in so I used even more brush to make the ridgeline over 7ft ttall. The brush that I used primarily consisted of willow and elm and an unknown punky trunk that was decayed enough that it crumbled apart. Making this hugel was helpful in getting rid of brush piles that were accumulating on the property. The only green wood I used came from the tree that I broke off incidentally using the tractor. 99% of the wood I used was already decomposing hardwoods.

The seeds I used include:
1) this cover crop blend: https://www.seedstrust.com/cover-crops/cover-crop-mix?utm_medium=email&utm_source=customer_notification
2) this high altitude Colorado bucket of seeds: https://www.seedstrust.com/seed-cans-buckets/bucket-of-seeds-high-altitude
3) other seeds that I collected, bought, or was gifted: mulberry, dill, Thai pepper, lovage, Sibley squash, foxglove, dill, bergamot, marigold, sepp holzer grains, and sunflower seeds
3) comfrey from my yard
4) sunchokes from the property I built the hugel on
5) mulch/grasses that I scythed and carried from the property I built the hugel on plus deer hair that I found laying around
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Staff note (gir bot) :

Pete Podurgiel approved this submission.
Note: Looks great - nice work!

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