urbanpermacultr

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Herb Garden - The Organic Gardener :: Jacqueline Kotz, Landscape Architect

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Finally! The chickens agree we are on the other side of winter.

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WHAT HAPPENS TO USED STRAW BALE GARDENS?

I was very successful growing brassicas, Red Kuri Squash, Tomatoes (fertilised by leftover liquid coffee), and other crops in fermenting straw bales this year. Peppers were not successful in these gardens.

The bales provide nutrition, heat, and worm food as they break down, which extends the growing season and accelerates crop cycles. The resulting soil is light and fluffy, allowing for excellent root penetration. Ambient heat around the fermenting bales creates a microclimate, which allows me to keep growing cold-tolerant crops, even after frost.

My four main straw bale gardens were arranged in a long row, enclosed by a wattle fence I made out of red dogwood, coppiced in the local area.

After removing the summer crops, the bales were looking a little worse for wear, so I removed the bale twine, and manually compressed them by about 20cm (picture 2, above). I also added a top-dressing of more soil.

The result is, they have broken down into one long raised bed! I have planted is with my over-winter crops of broccoli romanesco, kale, and some short crops of pak choi and various salad greens. In the coldest parts of winter, I’ll easily be able to fit a row cover over the raised bed.

This was my first year growing in straw bale gardens, and I am thus far very happy with the result. I was glad I had the foresight to build a retaining wall around them, and my advice for folks looking to try these gardens would be to do the same. My two free-standing straw bales gardens will be cannabalised into mulch at the end of the season.

Read more: Straw Bale Gardens (USA / Canada / UK & Europe)

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Hi! I’m Vincent Alexander and I am producing a documentary video series. We will be touring permaculture properties through CA, OR, and WA this summer tentative July-Oct, and possibly again in the spring of next year 2015. If you are passionate about permaculture, videography, and if roughing...

[urbanpermacultr]

I really enjoyed this podcast, getting to hear Josiah pre-Jack Spirko. I benefited from the discussion on how to get to X. I am in the process of developing a game plan and then sharing my vision with my wife on how to have more time with the family but it begins with getting out of debt. If...

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Okay, I might be going a little nuts with this, but a friend wanted me to help him build a Hugelkultur and I couldn't resist, I think I have an addiction to moving soil!

This one is neat because we integrated a herb-spiral into the top corner of the bed - it draining into a water feature.

I just love making these things so much and I am still trying to figure out how to model a business around them.

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[urbanpermacultr]

Hugelkultur!

I built another Hugelkultur on the very top of the property I work on. I could have gathered more wood but meh it will do for now, this is really just to demonstrate the concept to the farmer I work for.

I can’t believe I did that all in a few hours - goes to show you that if you’re passionate about something it doesn’t matter how large a task is, your passion will see you through it.

Let me know what guys and gals think about it!!

[urbanpermacultr]

Go read this article and forward it to all of your lawn-loving friends and family, maybe it will get them at least to remove the toxic gick from their yards.

[urbanpermacultr]

This was a blackberry patch two weeks ago. The pigs ate the shoots and dug up the root system, which they also ate.

That’ll do pig. That’ll do.

[urbanpermacultr]

Yet another Hugel Spiral I’ve made; this time it’s for a friends’ garden. Gathering sticks that had fallen from the trees in the recent winds, it was enough to barely call it a Hugelkultur.

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Cells undergoing mitosis. So cool.

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The ultimate whiskey barrel garden? - Fresh Dirt - Sunset.com

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Spring is right around the corner.

[urbanpermacultr]

Micro green forest. The red mustard is spicy as hell!!

[urbanpermacultr]

Cool little hugel

Hugelkultur

Hugelkultur, meaning “hill culture” in German, is a method of raised bed gardening that uses decaying wood as a basis for building up a berm. Berms are useful in directing the flow of water, and protecting more delicate plants from prevailing wind damage.

For this simple hugelkultur garden, I have piled sticks and wood, covered them in compost, planted my shrubs, and mulched the resulting berm first with a layer of newspapers, and a second with a layer of wood chips. 

As the wood breaks down, it will create a rich soil with plenty of air pockets, allowing for excellent drainage and root penetration for the plants planted in the mound.

Hugelkultur raised beds are an excellent form of “no-dig” garden (like the straw bale gardens) making them a good choice for those with impaired mobility or strength. They also sequester carbon, and provide a handy use for all of the trimmings from pruning and hedge maintenance.

My yard has poor drainage, so building up the soil it the only sustainable way to utilise the space without creating a pond. Hugelkultur beds provide excellent drainage for plants that don’t like “wet feet” (ie. waterlogged root systems).

Diagram: Permaculture UK - The Many Benefits of Hugelkultur

#garden hacks #DIY #permaculture #hugelkultur #compost #mulch

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follow me for more crochet on ur dash! :