The Hugel Bed

  • Starting the Hugel Bed

    Starting the Hugel Bed

    We decided to make a Hugel bed next to our future greywater pond. It was a creative solution for the excess soil we dug out for the pond, and well-situated, framing the water by our future home.

    We used pine logs for the most part and some oak and chestnut branches as well, collecting dead wood from across the land. We will cover the bed with woodchips and leaf mulch, and then seed it next spring.

    The finished Hugel bed

  • Hugelbed: Growing Food

    Hugelbed: Growing Food

    Since the creation of the Hugelbed, we have added seeds. Basically, we bought a bunch of random packets and threw them on. Some plants are starting to grow—mostly watermelon plants so far. We don´t expect to get tremendous results right away, since it takes time for the Hugel to get established. We also added two avocado trees, raspberries, and some leftover vegetable plants from the garden our friends have started elsewhere on the land.

    I also needed to install a water pipe going to the goat barn, so I decided to run it over the Hugel for irrigation. Since the summers are quite hot here, it makes sense to irrigate the Hugel at least for the first year. So I added a few drip irrigation lines that were given to me by a friend from a nearby farm. I put irrigation onto the entire Hugel and also to each Avocado tree. The intention here is for the water to infiltrate the Hugelbed and have it be absorbed and dispersed throughout the soil.

    Hugel from afar
    Raspberries
    Squash
    Watermelon taking over

    And the garden…