This is a badge bit (BB) that is part of the
PEP curriculum. Completing this BB is part of getting the
straw badge in
Gardening.
If you are unfamiliar with what
hugelkultur is then it would be best for you to work on finishing the
hugelkultur BB for the sand badge in gardening.
As a refresher here is a video that covers the basics of building a
hugelkultur bed.
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.
Tip: When working on this BB think about the other requirements for the straw badge for
Gardening and see if you can meet multiple requirements at once. For example, you need to grow, harvest and preserve 100,000 calories from at least 12 species. The hugelkultur bed can be the foundation for the other BBs required for the straw badge.
If your property lacks
wood for the hugelkultur bed consider planting
trees like maples, mulberries, and linden that grow quickly and coppice easily. Plant a bunch and let them grow for 3 to 5 years then coppice them. If you plant enough at once this can provide all the wood you need. Then as they regrow you can harvest on a rotation for additional hugelkultur beds. Some trees like willows will sprout from green wood if buried so be careful if you use green wood in your hugelkultur bed. Older rotten wood is ideal but fresh wood can be inoculated with the
fungi of your choice and then used once it has aged.
Clarifications:
- You may use an excavator or other heavy equipment if needed.
-
digging 3' deep trenches on either side of a spot, piling wood there and covering with the trench dirt is one way to satisfy this BB.
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
- 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
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