A small poor example of Hugelkultur. Poor because it has not aged yet.
So when I returned from my travels and set out to do what I set out to do, hugelkulture was part of it. I didn't know it was called that, I didn't even think of there being such a thing. I knew some design thanks to an underground lecture on permaculture and... ok so a lot more than all that. I won't bother going into all the back story but suffice to say I knew it was a good idea to build smile hills on slopes and such like that. I had been traveling in the Northwest and liked the little hills that were scattered through some of the forests. So when I returned to FL I decided to build hills in my yard. It wasn't till a year or 2 later that I learned that what I was doing had a name and was a great way to garden. I had some idea that it was a good way to garden based on my previous knowledge of systems and...
anyway the general idea of the basics...
Bamboo or other such hollow plants work great at retaining some moisture under the soil. They are good to use in hugel kulture. I put a lot of dead bamboo in my hills. Note that I said dead bamboo. Bamboo can sprout a new plant from each node, so a green one may grow if you throw it in your mound. If you have a lot of green ones you can throw a lot of oak or something and put it on top of that. Then you let it set till it turns brown. If you have the time it's nearly always better to not cover the mounds till the initial wood dries to the point where the trees they came from won't clone. After some time and experience you will learn what trees do and don't clone easy and how long you have to wait for each to dry before covering the mound. You may be able to get away with covering the mound if there is sufficient bio mass on top.
Larger bamboo can be cut into cups to place under the soil. Open side up. Fill these with mulch or whatever but something that water can get in. The idea is that they hold water under the soil so the plants can drink at will. These are great for "black thumbs" and others who haven't learned the consistency, cycles, and understanding to cultivate plants.
Really you could use anything but please use something biodegradable. Plastic does not belong in a garden. I spend a lot of time at side jobs dealing with plastics put in the soil. It's a bad idea. Don't do it.
I dig a pit that's 3 to 4 foot deep and then fill it with logs, mulch, sod, and whatever bio mass is around. It's also good to put plenty of compost. Paper (non glossy) leftovers, roadkill, leftover meat scraps from the local grocery, pee, whatever you got. I hear wood tends to suck nutrients the first season so if you "charge" it by adding things with nutrients then things work better faster.
A pit that's being filled. I call these "Earth pillars". At the location of my first project a lot of biomass was covered with white sand. So If I dig about 4 ft down and install a "earth pillar" it connects the rich layer of biomass with the above good soil. That way my trees will grow faster and stronger. I realize that not everywhere has such conditions but that's where I got the idea for the name.
I am turning a jungle into a food forest. The reasons behind it are many so I'll skip that for now and just say that I have a lot of trees I can cut down and use in the mounds. I know cutting down trees seems counter productive to being "earth friendly" but on average I plant 3 to 5 new trees for every one I cut down. Because we have forgot our duty to care for the earth we have reduced the food supply for local wildlife in many areas. As a result I feel the need to plant higher yielding food plants to increase the natural forage of local wildlife.
I've found that if I cut a tree so it splits when it falls it's less likely to come back. If you cut a tree clean then you can put a vertical x in the trunk and that will often ensure that it won't come back.
So basically how you make one of these Hugel Kulture mounds or whatever you like to call them is to-
Take all the biomass you can find and put it in one spot as high as you like. (some counties don't allow for a hill to be built over x amount of feet.)
Take all the table scraps, road kill, pee, cow turd, or whatever else you can find and put it in the mix.
Dig up sod and weeds and whatever and throw it in the mix. Cover with sand or dirt, then mulch. Fill the pit you dug the sand or dirt out of with biomass and such, Realize that these will sink down over time so build em higher than you actually want them.
Perks -
Less water input needed as it retains a lot.
Great platform for mushroom mycelium which tends to act as an extension set to plant roots. (not all mushrooms get along with all plants)
Reduces the need for pest aside and fertilizer if you use such things.
more growing space as going vertical can turn a 1 acre plot into a 2, 3, or more acre plot as far as surface area goes.
Catches water and your topsoil if you put it in a smile on a slope.
Tends to catch more water in general, sending it into the soil rather than having it run off.
Hills look pretty cool so it's a great way to turn an average looking space into an epic landscape.
Less work. All in all building these takes more work up front. It's a lot of work to carry logs and other biomass to one location. Once that work is done however it greatly reduces your need for future work. You can let these ride for many a season. If you set it up right you could will them to your grandchildren.
Word of wisdom for the day -
Open your vision, see it all at once.
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