Our first bigger-than-a-breadbasket hugelkultur installation. And more blocks for possible milling. September 22, 2024.

by NapsWithCats-ScubaMan, posted in Gentleman Forestry, permaculture
The area before processing.
PN & TS collected 2 dead trunks.
Cardboard put down to suppress weeds.
Those chunks are surprisingly light.
Cardboard slows down water percolation; it might speed up rotting.
3 layers of de-taped cardboard sheets.
This is the foundation of the hugelkultur bed.
The lower layer will let us control decomposition.
Let’s prepare the area and the very first layer. Click for details & captions.
More short twigs are stuffed into the gaps.
TS & PN filled the gaps with punky media.
Measuring the foundation.
17ft. 8in.; 5.8 metres long. Dang!
A possible schematic of hugelkultur.
PN’s ideas. August 2024.
Measuring the foundation.
3ft. 7in.; 1.1 metres deep-wide. Sizeable!
Building up the punky wood layer, filling in the gaps. Measurements. Click for details & captions.

Hugelkultur. Hügelkultur. Hugelculture. Or whatever it’s called. If you ignore the pseudoscientific (woo woo) of biodynamic gardening, this post gives you our method. In Africa, there’s a similar strategy developed to concentrate compost and retain moisture in bone-dry soil. It’s called Zaï and here’s a link to it. My favourite concept is regenerative agriculture. It might be our global ticket for human survival. Here’s one more link about such practices.

Raw materials.
Those blocks of ash might be millable.
Raw materials.
Can they be turned? Lathed? Into something…
Raw materials.
Fate?
Aged for over a year, on top of gravel.
2 people can barely move these AGED blocks!
I loathe to just chop ’em up for firewood. Millings? BRUCE MEN’S SHED — LET’S TALK. Click for captions & details.
Morning image of north wall.
The 5-10% marine blue is clearly evident on cloudy mornings. Green metal trim-gutters + white roof + grey-slate upper panels + marine-blue silica-painted plaster + light brown flashing + green window-door frames = perimeter colour scheme.

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