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Syracuse, NY

Probably none of my business world-wide, butt I've never understood why there's an infatuation with wood chips being put into the soil to begin with. I could research it butt I'm not likely to ever emBARK (see that, there, what I did...) upon using them, regardless to the benefit(s). In my case, they'd be a purchased item, not abundantly laying around anywhere. There WAS a tree in my front yard, a big maple (RIP) whose sawDUST turned into a useful soil-like substance in about 2 years and I planted an AG into it and in '23, I grew my first Big-Headed sunflowers there and on another tree mound of like 20 years since and that got to be like 10-12 feet tall, but nothing 'raging' on either or any accounts. I suppose I'm merely agreeing here, in re-reading your pOSt to begin with. Even that is made of wood. (See that, there, what I did...)
LOL. EG

1/8/2025 2:19:15 AM

Grittyville, WA

Lol. Yeah I planted atop a stump once and the plant did very well actually, the poor tree had been dead for a couple years, I also burned the stump out as far as the fire would (fire wood!) go.

In most cases the ash from the wood would benefit the plants more than wood would.

Anyhow I speculate that the forest dwelling Germans who invented hugelkultur were doing things differently. They could have been adding other things, and creating a sort if terra preta like the amazonians... certainly they might have thrown in a variety of other natural soil enhancements like animal bones, and other waste they needed to dispose of. My guess is, if you're gonna dig a pit that deep you're gonna throw all your other foul (fowl maybe) garbage into it too. Birds that migrate to the coast could bring coastal nutrients inland the same as an ocean-going fish would if it was caught in a freshwater system it still could be full of ocean nutrients. Anyhow,the wood /charcoal absorbs and retains those nutrients for a bit longer? My guess is hugelkultur (if it ever actually worked) was like doing a European version of terra preta. And it wouldnt be worth the effort unless the local soil was very poor. It seems like if either the Amazonians or Germans lived in an area with excellent soil, fancy ways of conserving nutrients wouldnt be worth the effort.

1/8/2025 9:10:27 AM

Grittyville, WA

...Well I was probably the first person to max out the 2000 character limit on the comments. Cont'd:

One last thought, maybe the wood was actually intended to keep wild boars from rooting through the garden in search of tubers and worms? Was the wood a defence against wild pigs? An archeologist might assume hugelkultur had to do with soil nutrients but it really wasnt. That being said if the ground was swampy then lifting the garden above the saturated soil zone would have benefits. But there again, most of us dont live in a swamp, so most people who do the internet version of hugelkultur wont see the benefits. It might work great in an actual swamp, but these days hardly anyone lives or grows a garden in a literal swamp.

A 2nd last thought: Back in the days when the mongols hordes roamed freely across all the vast plains of very good soil... living in & growing food in a swamp would have had one important singular benefit, which was, there was nowhere else to live.

[Last edit: 01/08/25 9:18:22 AM]

1/8/2025 9:12:14 AM

Pumpkin Patch

Looks like garbage to me. Not even worth composting.

1/8/2025 12:01:05 PM

Syracuse, NY

'Hey, Monshee-Nod-Egtuldat, would you MIND NOT stepping on my
9.5 Claytons on the weigh to 'fertilize' your Mondo Kabaks
and Khuluus at night?
I know, I know, there's nowhere else to live, butt, c'mon, Mon!
...Dohhh!!!' Oyyy, lunchtime, lol---eg

1/8/2025 4:12:18 PM

Grittyville, WA

Maybe Dan S.'s first 18 lber will be on a hugelkultur bed. Wouldnt that just totally unjinx it! (He would no doubt get the best results that anyone has ever gotten.) But for now its not remotely important to what competitive growers are doing. Frankly its never been proven to work quite as well "as it ought to."

1/8/2025 5:24:22 PM

Grittyville, WA

Photo is from the internet... its not my garden its not the way I would do it. I'm just thinking about stuff...

Nows a good time to think/overthink things.

Later on in the season, it may not pay to overthink things.

1/8/2025 5:34:51 PM

Bethlehem CT

I like the idea of saving soil and compost when filling those tubs. It would be hard for me to implement on the scale I grow on. There are so many ways to grow a garden!

1/8/2025 6:11:51 PM