Hügelkultur

Spring is here at Slide Ranch, and our garden is exploding with life which means our team has been hard at work to get the beds prepped and planted!

Slide Ranch has some challenges when it comes to maintaining a productive garden. For example, our upper garden soil is mostly clay which drains poorly; this can be a difficult environment for plants to grow in, especially garden varieties. Maple (one of our OIs) started a hügelkultur, a horticultural method that uses rotting wood to make raised garden beds, to try to improve the soil in this corner of the garden.

To make a hügelkultur, we first weeded the bed. Then, we dug out the center of the garden bed creating a trench. Using sticks and logs from around the ranch, we filled the pit. Finally, we started layering on compost, straw, and soil to form a large mounded shape (if you have a small space, hügelkulturs can increase your growing area by virtue of their mounded shape). The woody material at the bottom of the bed will decompose over time and act like a nurse log in a forest, providing nutrients to the plants growing on top as it develops into a rich layer of productive soil. Another benefit of the hügelkultur is that as time passes and decomposition progresses, the beds need to be watered less frequently as the rotting woody material retains moisture very well. The more massive your hügelkultur, the longer it can typically go without watering. This makes it a very drought friendly gardening method!

We are always learning by doing experiments such as this in our garden, and I am so excited to see what ends up growing this season. Stop by the garden to appreciate the abundance and see what other techniques we are using to reduce pests, maximize our space, and keep our soil healthy! You might get some inspo for your own gardening adventures!