Those are NOT mass graves back there.

As soon as the ground is possible to dig this winter I launched my Hügelkultur Project. By renting a skid steer I was able to create three hugel beds on the North side of the barn in one day. They are my test beds really because if they work as well as I hope, I will do more, larger beds to assist with the wind and water management on our little farm.

Hügelkultur which essentially means "mound culture" can be simply described as buried wood in raised beds. It has been around for centuries, but I learned about Hügelkultur from Paul Wheaton at Permies.com. Wheaton frequently cites his knowledge as coming from "the mighty, the glorious, the amazing Sepp Holzer" who popularized this technique at his farm in Austria and the permaculture communities around the world.

If these three beds work as planned, they will not need irrigation or fertilizer. As the wood breaks down and becomes a spongy home for moisture, & all the good microbes and mycelia, the growing conditions only improve. Further, if made in a bit larger scale they can effectively affect the microclimate of our little ranch by not only holding moisture but by deflecting the strong winds we get both in winter and summer around here which are extremely drying.

I started by stacking up various hunks of surplus wood I've had laying around the property. Next, was a scoop of compost for each bed from my very generous neighbor, Wilson!

Next was a a scoop of leaf mold, a scoop of chicken poop, for some nitrogen to help al that carbon break down. I also added some charcoal bits from the fireplaces.

Finally, I topped off with a layer of arborist chips. We get all of ours from Chipdrop.com.

As the weather warms up we'll be planting them with Corn, Sunflowers and some Rye and Einkorn wheat.