The Resilience Hub

Permaculture, Food and New Economy

  • Welcome!
    • What Is Permaculture?
  • Events & Workshops
    • Calendar of Events
    • Portland Maine Permablitz Network
    • Offer a Workshop / Skillshare
  • Permaculture Design Courses
    • Permaculture Design Certificate Course
    • Online Permaculture Design Intensive
    • Introduction to Permaculture Course
  • Get Involved
    • Support Our Programs
    • Join our Mailing List
    • Volunteer Opportunities
    • Contact Us
  • About Us
    • Our Work
    • Our Values
    • People
    • Press
  • Donate
  • Blogs

Hugelkultur, part 3

April 7, 2020 by Myke Johnson Leave a Comment

Continuing to build a hugelkultur garden bed, yesterday, we added some brush to the top and sides of the mound, over the cut grass layer. Margy pounded some branches into the ground on the side as stakes for further stabilization.

hugelkultur Margy stakes

Next, today, I covered it all with dried leaves, one full wheelbarrow plus a big garbage bag full, saved from last fall.

hugelkultur leaves added

Finally, I added about 3 wheelbarrow loads of yard waste compost, and watered all of it. But this stage of adding compost is going to need many more loads before it is finished.  I should be adding several more inches of compost.  The mound is about 15 feet long, and will be 4 1/2 feet wide when complete. I had one of those moments when I thought, “Why did I make it so big?” I think this stage is going to take a while.

hugelkulture Tuesday

Meanwhile, I was pondering the fact that I often feel anxious when I am trying new things in the garden. I was realizing that my parents and grandparents were urban or suburban people. My dad wanted to get back to the land, and was a cowboy for a while, but mostly he worked as a draftsman for the auto industry. His parents tried to homestead in Wyoming, but that fell through and they came back to Detroit. My mom’s parents came from Linz, Austria and Quebec near Ottawa, Ontario, and lived most of their lives in Detroit.  She had flower gardens while I was growing up. So I didn’t learn how to grow food from my family. It has only been as an adult that I’ve tried to learn about food gardens, off and on as circumstances allowed it.

The more I learn, the more aware I am of how much I don’t know. Each plant is like a stranger to me, then perhaps an acquaintance, and I hope in a while it might be a friend. It is hard to believe that we could be relatives to each other.  (Well, except for kale–kale already feels like a relative, since I have grown it for a long time.)  But I try to remember to embrace this beginner’s mind, to be present and attuned to the process. It is good to be outside, to feel the spring, to forget for a while the grief and fear that this pandemic is unleashing.

[This was first posted at Finding Our Way Home: A Spiritual Journey into Earth Community.]

  • Tweet
  • More
  • Print
  • Email

Related

Filed Under: Local Food, Permaculture Tagged With: beginner, compost, COVID 19, Earth Community, Food Growing, garden, hugelkultur, Plants

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

You must be logged in to post a comment.

Recent Blog Posts

Gearing Up For Permablitzes and Work Parties

The Resilience Hub is committed to building a more localized food system and mutual aid networks in … [Read More...]

Hugelkultur Planting

Okay, I said I wouldn't write again about the hugelkultur until I had plants to show, but I can't … [Read More...]

Hugelkultur 5, plus peach blossoms

Wow, it has been a month since Hugelkultur 4 when I last devoted a full post to progress on our … [Read More...]

Garden Work and Rest

Wondering what's been happening with the hugelkultur? The last few weeks I have been outside in the … [Read More...]

Sign Up for the Newsletter!

Like us on Facebook

Like us on Facebook

Copyright © 2021 · Resilience Hub Custom Outreach Pro on Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in

loading Cancel
Post was not sent - check your email addresses!
Email check failed, please try again
Sorry, your blog cannot share posts by email.