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Garden bed ideas Id never heard of before

1K views 2 replies 3 participants last post by  cornbelt 
#1 · (Edited)
Garden bed types.
Here are a couple Id never heard of that make sense.
The more work intensive.
Hügelkultur is a horticultural technique where a mound constructed from decaying wood debris and other compostable biomass plant materials is later planted as a raised bed.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hügelkultur
https://www.permaculture.co.uk/articles/many-benefits-hugelkultur
Hugelkultur, pronounced Hoo-gul-culture, means hill culture or hill mound.

Instead of putting branches, leaves and grass clippings in bags by the curbside for the bin men... build a hugel bed. Simply mound logs, branches, leaves, grass clippings, straw, cardboard, petroleum-free newspaper, manure, compost or whatever other biomass you have available, top with soil and plant your veggies.

The advantages of a hugel bed are many, including:

The gradual decay of wood is a consistent source of long-term nutrients for the plants. A large bed might give out a constant supply of nutrients for 20 years (or even longer if you use only hardwoods). The composting wood also generates heat which should extend the growing season.

Soil aeration increases as those branches and logs break down... meaning the bed will be no till, long term.

The logs and branches act like a sponge. Rainwater is stored and then released during drier times. Actually you may never need to water your hugel bed again after the first year (except during long term droughts).



https://youtu.be/Sso4UWObxXg
https://youtu.be/bfi-n0Oq38E

And the Ruth Stout method of gardening.
The rotting hay method.
The Ruth Stout System of permanent hay mulching

Nicknamed the "Mulch Queen", Ruth Stout was born in the United States in 1884. As early as 1920, she realized that all traditional methods of working with the soil (digging, weeding, watering, plowing, hoeing), could be replaced by simply adding a layer of hay on the ground. She wrote a chronicle about this particular approach for the magazine Organic Farming and Gardening from 1953 to 1971. She also published several books about her methods.

Stout emphasized the simplicity of her methods, and the way the gardener benefits from extra free time and rest.*
'My no-work gardening method is simply to keep a thick mulch of any vegetable matter that rots on both my vegetable and flower garden all year round. As it decays and enriches the soil, I add more. The labor-saving part of my system is that I never plow, spade, sow a cover crop, harrow, hoe, cultivate, weed, water or spray. I use just one fertilizer (cottonseed or soybean meal), and I don't go through that tortuous business of building a compost pile'.
If we cover the ground in the autumn with 8 inches (20cm) of hay, it will be ready for seedlings in the springtime.

To the question, "How much hay do I need?", Stout answered, "Twice as much as you think!" More specifically, she recommended a thickness of 8 inches (20cm). This may seem thick, but with the effects of rain and decomposition, soon enough it will be only 2-3 inches (5-7cm) thick.




https://www.motherearthnews.com/organic-gardening/ruth-stouts-system-zmaz04fmzsel
https://youtu.be/GlratwBT5OI
https://youtu.be/NABHJFhvYRo
 
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#2 ·
Over at the National Gardening Association forum, there are some people who use, or try to use this and other Mother Earth type systems.

Having posted there, others have said while it works, it is not as easy as it sounds.
Some stick with it, out of necessity and other's say -- Easier said , than done.
I do have respect for those who have the cajones to try the back to basic systems.
 
#3 ·
Must be Organic Gardening where my mother got that idea. After the garden got bound by buildings and fences; no room for a tractor and plow. She was at it for about 10 yrs. Being a farm wife, she had all the straw she could want, and it made the soil so loose, no plow was needed. And it was never any challenge to find fishing worms.
 
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