Greatest Hits 2021: This week we will republish the most popular posts of the year. Happy reading!
Perhaps, like me, you grow herbs and vegetables in a traditional garden bed made of wood, nails and bolts, filled with organic soil and compost. However, there is another way to build garden beds, which have been around for hundreds of years and are more sustainable.
Hugelkulture is pronounced Hugh guru kultor and is German for “hill mound” or “hill culture.” It is a drought-resistant uplifting technique without excavators that relies on creating compost pile cum garden beds that essentially rely on the decomposition of compost piles and garden debris. Now that we know about this resourceful method, we can’t see the pedestrian garden bed again.
For more information about Hugelkultur, continue reading:
What are the advantages of Hugelkultur?
Hugelkultur was created by German horticultur in the late 1970s, but has been a technology that has existed as much as possible for centuries. Most essentially, Hugelkultur means creating layered raised garden beds from natural materials you already have. Instead of disposing all the excess logs, fallen branches and leaves and grass cutouts as garden waste, use them to build a mound that transforms into rich garden soil for planting within a few months.
There are many positives in this type of permaculture-based planting bed. For one, Hugelkultur’s beds hold moisture for a long time, as logs and branches behave like live sponges that preserve rainwater. In fact, your Hugelkultur beds are very drought-resistant after the first year and may not require watering at all.
