HugleKulture

Hey, I'd never heard of it either, even with a German background and being the direct decendant of a man that forever picked up every dropped branch and leaf on this property and piled it, in a hole, on a hill, or wherever he thought that the ground needed to change shape. But he never once thought to plant anything in it.

I found out about it in a local newspaper article run on a young couple that were being very successful at sustainable agriculture and where doing a CSA basket program with their bounty as well as supplying a couple of local restaurants.

Now this newspaper article definetly got them noticed, not just by people wanting to eat local and/or participate in the CSA program, but it also served to bring out every Wingnut in the area ( namely me ) and have them drop by for a visit to see just what was going on here.

So what is it, well I'm no expert, that's for sure, since I've just gotten my first two built and have yet to plant them. But the principle is this....you take organic matter, branches, leaves, compost, anything that you can find, and you layer them into a mound. It really makes sense to put the bigger stuff on the bottom btw. The natural process of composting will take place and produce heat, which will be beneficial to the growth of whatever crop you've planted on top of the "Hugel" ( which btw means bump, or lump, in German )

So having now found out about this, as usual, I jump on the Internet and Google it, and I come across something else............terrace gardening!! Well, now this is all just calling my name isn't it. I have a lifetime supply of piled up organic matter, the hill from hell, a German heritage that just says I HAVE to try something called HugelKulture, and the desire to grow more, preserve more, freeze more, etc. and maybe be the winner in a 2 generation battle against this hill.

So I'm combining the 2 theories and hoping that in the end, I will have a leisurely switch back path, up that hill, that leads me from one bed of goodness to the next. At worst, I will have a hill full of bumps that is still a bugger to get up, in which case we will resort back to the quick and easy way of making it dissappear........throw a bag of sunflower seeds down there, let it grow and enjoy them and the birds that it brings. I mean really, sunflowers are like fireworks and rainbows... if they don't make you smile, you need to check your pulse to see if it's still there.