7.0 Hugelkultur and other Permaculture Plants
Now it was time to build a full scale 'mound bed' with hugelkultur. I had sorted out 10 years of compost, picking out garbage, and organizing it into piles. Each of these piles went into the garden, one after the other. I began with a leveled area, you can see all the invasive morning glory roots sticking out of it.
Next i put down a layer of newspaper. This covers the ground and breaks down quickly drawing up the worms.
I watered this down to make it stick to the ground and to initiate the decomposition process.
On top of this i put a layer of cardboard that i got from the surrounding businesses and which i stripped all the staples and tape from. It is best to use cardboard that is not glossy or waxy, it makes for a yummier worm snack this way and does not leach strange things into the soil.
here is my stash of wood
After putting water on the cardboard, I put this pile of pretty large, rotting wood that came from the area i was remediating onto the middle of the cardboard foundation. This wood holds water and will help make the bed drought resistant while the plants get established.
You can see this wood is of all shapes and sizes.
Next i took materials from a pile of smaller sticks.
This went directly onto the larger wood layer.
This contained sticks from lots of different trees on the property.
Then i moved to my huge pile of blackberry brambles.
These went into a pile on top of the stick layer.
You can see it is a mix of dry and newly cut down brambles.
Using old wood and mesh from the property, i made a screen and mounted it on my wheelbarrow.
This enabled me to sift the mostly composted soil that was filled with morning glory roots into this beautiful ness.
I put the sifted dirt onto the pile, shaking it down a few times then leaving it for a week so the soil would settle and fall into the cracks.
You can see the soil directly on the layer of blackberries below.
I then moved on my supply of partially decomposed compost.
This was put all over the past layers.
You can see it is made up of leaves, grass, bits of wood and weeds and soil.
Now i began to sift the composted material and put a layer of dirt on the hugel kulture mound.
I then extended the sheet mulch out around the bed, first with newspaper.
A layer of thick cardboard is next, finishing it off with some more woodchips, from the woodworking school about 40 feet away. After this is completed, i put in more granite rocks that are left over from other construction and awaiting use in this area already.
Once it is covered with the rich, newly sifted soil from many years of unorganized composting it looks like this.
The whole system, still in its infancy, now looks like this.
Next, using wild comfrey that was growing on the otherside of the nearby parking lot, i plant around the mound bed with this key permaculture plant. The comfrey's spike roots will help breakup the wood and other materials in the center of the bed, they will also prevent erosion by keeping the soil together.
The top of the bed is planted with Jerusalem Artichokes provided by an amazing local resource, Robin Wheeler, whose permaculture knowledge is a key inspiration in this project. Her website is www.ediblelandscapes.ca and announces her upcoming classes as well as having a huge variety of plants, seeds and dried herbs for sale over the web.
Jerusalem Artichokes are truly wonderful permaculture plants. Sometimes called 'sunroot' the roots of this hard perrenial are extremely tasty, served raw or cooked in thousands of different recipes. Sometimes used as a windbreak as they grow quite tall, these plants also make great animal fodder.
The leaves contain chemicals that inhibit growth of nearby plants so do not use the green material as a mulch. It is also good to note that the plants reproduce and spread very quickly and are quite hard to get rid of once they are in an area.
Chinese Artichokes are similar to the Jerusalem variety in that the tubers are edibel, but are actually not artichokes, instead they are related to Lambs Quarter and are in the Mint family.
These spike root plants have nutty tubers that are considered a delicacy in gourmet cuisine. The leaves distinguish them from Jerusalem Artichokes.
In this bed i also put in a bunch of mashua, a perrenial nasturtum from the andes with edible leaves, flowers and tubers that are highly nutritional. In this case the tubers are helping to break down the hard materials in the bed.
With its hardyness and resistance to insect, nematode, and bacterial pests is it quite easy to grow. It is sometimes planted as a companion crop to repel pests in potato fields. It is used medicinally as a diuretic.
A great guild plant is wormwood. Its strong scent repels pests that might come into the garden to eat the other goodies.
A wonderful medicinal plant, wormwood is used as an anti-inflammatory, muscle relaxant, mild antidepressant, antiseptic and is used to stimulate the secretion of bile along with different worms and other invasive creatures.
The forest green shade of the plant takes on a bluish hue as it grows up
In this bed i also planted Valarian Root. This plant is often used in biodynamic fertilizer preparations. These three i also got from Robin Wheeler'sedible landscapes nursury.
This is a well known medicinal used as a tranquilizer and relaxant. It promotes deep, restorative sleep and reduces blood pressure.
The leaves are used to make a medicinal tea and eaten raw. Its seeds are edible and used sometimes to flavor foods. It is also used internally to treate menstruation, cramps, hypertension and externally for exzema and minor injuries. It is also a well known biodynamic plant that enriches phosphorus content in the soil and is used in making biodynamic preparations.
Here are what its delicate flowers look like, this being about 3 months after it was planted.
In this bed i also planted another biodynamic plant called yarrow, also used in making biodynamic fertilizer preparations.
This plant has anti-microbial and astringent uses as mouth wash and gargle. An important part in biodynamic tinctures, yarrow enhances potassium and sulphur in the soil and helps replenish soil nutrients.
The leaves and flowers are harvested early in the season and used to increase body temperature, open skin pores, stimulate perspiration, treate colds and fevers, equalize circulation, and reduce painful menstruation.
Another important biodynamic plant is chamomile. Used in biodynamic fertilizer preparations, it is connected with living calcium processes and helps to stabilise plant nutrients, aid in healthy fermentation and stimulate plant growth.
Traditionally used as a sedative and relaxant, chamomile is used medicinally for skin inflammations, burns and aching muscles.
The edible flowers from this plant go great on salads and look beautiful in the garden. The dried flowers act as an insect repellant. Here it is preparing to flower.
Here is the flower a few weeks later.
I also chose to plant another of the famous plants used to make biodynamic fertilizing preparations: dandelions. This wonderful edible plant has more nutrients and vitamins than most vegetables, and is often harvested for its leaves and flowers which can be eaten raw, steamed or battered and fried. The roots are used as a coffee substitute and fermented flowers are used to make a medicinal wine.
This plant is an incredible panacea, used as a tonic and blood purifier, for constipation, inflammatory skin conditions, joint pain, eczema and liver dysfunction. Root infusions help eliminate toxins It is used to treate gall bladder, kidney and urinary disorders, gallstones, jaundice, chronic joint and skin complaints, eczema, and acne. The dandielion juice can be put on wounds to fight bacteria and promote healing.
Two weeks after planting the hugelculture bed looks like this.
Six weeks after planting the hugelculture bed looks like this.
A month later you can see a whole plant community beginning
A couple months after this, fall 2006 the garden is really healthy.
