These days there’s a lot of talk about how we can find harmony again with Mother Nature. With much of the world in some degree of lock down thanks to the continued spread of the coronavirus, we are seeing the environment make a fantastic recovery. Less air pollution and more animals have us looking closer at our own habits. How we care for the planet and ourselves is being re-examined like never before. It’s not just a schedule tweak here and there that needs to be made… it’s beginning to dawn on many of us that a major overhaul of certain habits is in order. This disconnect we’ve allowed to grow between us and nature is not a sustainable one. We are seeing the impact that our consumerist culture has made on the planet, and seeing the need to reel that in. Get back to our roots, so to speak.

When brainstorming ways that we can individually help the situation, the idea of growing our own food often comes to mind. It’s relatively easy to get started and has a direct impact on our personal footprint on the planet. It involves almost no special skills, but at the end of it, you may never purchase a commercially-produced tomato again. That’s a pretty cool trick. 

When you do a little research on how to plant a garden of your own, you’ll start to see that the topic of raised beds is something of a hot one. Raised beds are a favorite for several reasons, but a main one is that you have more control over the quality of the soil when not planting straight into the ground. (1) The German concept of “hugelkultur” takes this a little step forward… your raised bed doesn’t just have healthier soil, it creates a perfectly-balanced ecosystem of its own.  

What Is A Hugelkultur Raised Bed?

Have you ever noticed how dense and spongy the forest floor is? No matter what time of year we’re talking about, the forest has a way of maintaining its own equilibrium. The trees offer shade, shelter, and food too. And when they die, the trees are reclaimed by the forest floor. The various parts decompose at different rates, serving different needs throughout the process. The dense trunk will provide vital nutrients for years to come. Hugelkultur, a German word that translates to “hill culture” (hugel = hill, kultur = culture), capitalizes on this natural process. (2) 

Hugelkultur is essentially a raised bed that is built on a foundation of fallen logs that have begun the process of decomposition. By placing these logs beneath the soil and planting atop that, you are mimicking the process that goes into creating that deliciously squishy, spongy, oh-so-balanced forest floor. As the trees continue to rot, they integrate perfectly into your garden. Becoming sponge-like, the logs retain moisture and allow all thirsty roots nearby to receive life-giving water as needed. In addition, as they decompose they release nutrients and organic matter into the soil. This helps ensure that all your veggies grow strong and healthy… just like you and your family.

How To Make A Hugelkultur Raised Bed

If all this talk of being one with the ecosystem and helping facilitate the natural process has you excited, you’ll be glad to know that it’s a relatively simple process involving just a few steps: (3)

• Prepare the space by laying down cardboard first. Next come your rotting logs, set right atop the cardboard. You don’t want just one log in your hugelkultur bed, be sure you have at least a few. When this project is complete the bed will be about 3 feet high, so bear that in mind when searching for appropriate logs. Note: Be aware of what kind of wood the logs are; avoid woods that are slow to rot. Cedar, for example. Avoid woods that may leech harmful substances, such as black walnut.
• Next comes anything and everything you’d put on a compost pile. Leaves, straw, lawn clippings, manure, and smaller wood chips are all great options. If it seems like it might be health food for a forest floor, toss it in.
• Cover the whole hugel with about 5 inches of soil. Add mulch to the top.
• Now it just needs to rest for 6 months or so. If you wish to plant your hugelkultur beds in the springtime, aim to have them completed the fall previous.

For the first year, the beds will need to be watered. But as time goes on the wood will continue to rot and begin holding more moisture. (3) Soon it will be a perfectly-balanced ecosystem, in which every organism receives nourishment thanks to the resources they put in… including you.