When it comes to sustainability and good ecological stewardship, a permaculture technique known as H++gelkultur can be a simple way to transform yard waste and convert a challenging agricultural environment into a viable, food-producing garden.
Sultan resident Jody Kerr, owner of Scottish Thistle Farm in Monroe, recently gave the Monroe Monitor & Valley News a step-by-step demonstration on how to build a basic H++gelkultur bed. Jody and his wife, Tiffany, are working to develop a Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) facility on the 60-acre parcel, which used to be home to the Monroe Water Gardens & Nursery facility. The farm is located along U.S. 2 near mile marker 19, in between Monroe and Sultan. The couple live in Sultan with their three kids, all of whom enjoy spending time at the farm.
So far, Jody and Tiffany are working on restoring the property, as it was abandoned and left in disarray. They've acquired livestock, including three highlander cattle, numerous goats, llamas, one llama-alpaca mix, ducks and over 40 chickens. One chicken, whose name is Henny Penny, prefers to snub the brood and hang out with the goats.
Creating the beds
Essentially, a H++gelkultur bed is a raised garden bed that is constructed out of woodsy, organic materials. H++gelkultur beds begin with a trench, which is then filled in with materials such as logs, sticks, stumps, grass clippings and anything compostable. The idea behind H++gel beds is that, as the woody debris decomposes, it creates an ideal planting environment, packed with moisture and nutrients.
Up front, H++gelkultur beds are a bit of an investment in labor, explained Jody.
"The good thing about H++gelkultur is once it's set up it requires little to no maintenance. The bad thing about H++gelkultur is all the work is at the beginning,GÇ¥ Jody said. "Generally speaking, that's the hardest part of the work GÇô is digging it out.GÇ¥
To build the bed, Jody dug a shallow trench, approximately six feet long, two feet wide and one foot deep. Something to keep in mind when establishing a H++gelkultur bed, Jody said, is that the width of the trench will determine how large you can make your mound.
Some permaculturists build up their H++gelkultur beds so that they are quite steep and tall GÇô the beds start with a wide base at ground level and become narrower at the top. Standing at one end, they take on a triangular shape. Jody explained the benefits to this method: if you build the H++gel beds up, you have a lot more area to plant on.
"Some of the ones I've seen are eyebrow height,GÇ¥ Jody said. "You don't even have to bend over when you're picking, you've got your cucumbers right at eye level.GÇ¥
Also, the planting area can be used strategically, Jody explained. If zucchini or yellow squash are planted at the top of the triangle, it will accommodate shade-loving plants that typically don't do well in the summer heat, like spinach and lettuce. Those can be planted in the side of the mound, under the cover of the squash plants.
After the trench is ready, then it's time to fill it in. When it comes to packing in the woodsy materials, there is both flexibility and specificity within the technique.
"It doesn't matter if it's rotten or if you just cut it down, the age of the lumber doesn't matter,GÇ¥ Jody said. "Older stuff will obviously break down faster.GÇ¥
What's important, he explained, is to use larger diameter materials at the bottom of the trench, and smaller diameter materials at the top. It's also important to understand that as the wood decomposes, it depletes nitrogen from the surrounding soil GÇô something that is essential for plant growth. Jody combats this by using coffee grounds, which are packed with nitrogen.
Aged horse manure, grass clippings and kitchen scraps can also be effective tools for replenishing nitrogen.
Other materials that can be used in H++gelkultur beds include cardboard, newspaper, wood chips, blackberry brambles, sticks and grass. H++gelkultur beds offer an environmentally sound way of reusing yard debris and creating a fertile gardening area with a great capacity for water retention. This is why H++gelkultur beds can be effective during the summer, when the supply of rain is limited.
"When it does rain, this absorbs rain, and it'll actually absorb rain from the soil around it as well,GÇ¥ Jody said. "When it stops raining, it's kind of like a battery GÇô it's got a full charge on it.GÇ¥
Good for any yard
Once all the H++gel bed materials have been added to the trench, it is simply covered with the soil initially displaced during the trenching process, topped off with a layer of compost and watered. Jody likes to incorporate a shallow ditch around the entire bed, to aid in water absorption.
H++gel beds can be planted on right away, although there are some caveats. When using horse manure as a nitrogen-enhancing component, it is important to use aged material. If fresh manure is used, the bed needs to sit for six months before planting.
Other than that, planting can occur almost immediately. Some permaculturists like to finish their beds off by framing them in with logs, large stones or pallets. The beauty of H++gelkultur beds, Jody said, is that they can accommodate any sized yard.
Jody and Tiffany are planning on digging a massive H++gelkultur trench this summer, to see if they can apply the technique on a larger scale. They have collected numerous large-sized stumps in preparation for the upcoming H++gel bed, which they hope will be plantable next spring. Because their property is a retired tree farm, H++gel materials are prolific and will be recycled in the pit, which will rest all winter.
"We're going to scoop the whole thing out like four-feet deep and just fill it in with all the woody materials,GÇ¥ Jody said. "This is going to be a commercial attempt at doing something that's normally done at home.GÇ¥
Jody is hopeful that the process will vastly improve the growing conditions at his farm, where the soil has a very high clay content from years of flooding and underuse. To support their project, Jody and Tiffany are accepting organic materials from Sky Valley residents, like grass clippings and other yard waste.
To learn more about Scottish Thistle Farm, visit www.facebook.com/ScottishThistleFarm.
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