Bram Granger, 31, Cinebar, tosses compost materials onto logs as him and a few volunteers build a hugelkultur raised garden bed at the Southwest Washington Fairgrounds on Thursday afternoon in Chehalis.
Bram Granger rakes over compost which was placed on top of logs and rocks which will form a raised garden bed built from debris and compost materials. On Thursday afternoon, Granger, along with a handful of other volunteers, are built a hugelkultur raised garden bed at the Southwest Washington Fairgrounds in Chehalis.
Bob Taylor, left, and Nicole Korpi, dump llama manure on top of a Hugelkultur raised garden bed at the Southwest Washington Fairgrounds on Thursday afternoon. The manure will act as a fertilizer for the raised garden bed which was built out of various pieces of branches, rocks and compost.
Nicole Korpi carries a load of wood over to a hugelkultur raised garden build being built by volunteers at the Southwest Washington Fairgrounds on July 5 in Chehalis.
Llama manure is used as a composting agent for a Hugelkultur raised garden bed at the Southwest Washington Fairgrounds in Chehalis on Thursday.
Shawn Hill, of Centralia, digs up a rock to place as part of a retaining wall for a Hugelkultur raised garden bed at the Southwest Washington Fairgrounds on Thursday in Chehalis.
Hugelkultur is a little-known German-based technique of compost gardening that utilizes materials that an average household already has. The Lewis County Master Recycler-Composter group decided to showcase it at the North Gate of the Southwest Washington Fairgrounds for the upcoming fair, with the hope that it will give attendees an idea of just how simple it is to do.
The Master Gardener and Master Recycler-Composter organizations have been going around to various public places, building more raised beds and attempting to educate the public on the benefits of a Hugelkultur garden.
“We’re slowly adding more as we go,” says Nicole Korpi, Recycling Program coordinator. “We’re working on getting another example at the transfer station as well.”
Beginning with a simple pile of logs and wooden debris, the Hugelkultur garden builds layers of dirt, grass clippings, weeds, manure, and any other compostable materials one might have around the house. The result is a raised garden bed, ready to receive any edible or decorative plants immediately after its construction.
“This is a great way for people to get around bad soil,” says Debbie Burris, Master Recycler-Composter and Master Gardener. “It can dramatically improve your garden, and its so easy.”
A Hugelkultur garden is a great way to utilize materials that would otherwise be burned, Burris said, making it particularly useful during a burn ban.
The technique utilizes the idea of nurse logs, as easily found in natural areas, with a few extra nutrients from classic composting such as the heat and water naturally generated.
The best part? It’s low maintenance. Once the root system is established (about 2 weeks) there’s no need to water the garden bed, since the plants will then gather water from liquids stored inside the logs. In particularly rainy seasons, the logs will store runoff water for times when water is more scarce, keeping the garden lush for as long as possible.
The beds will deteriorate over 15-20 years, but are easily replaced with fresh materials. Should the gardner choose to simply let the bed deteriorate, the soil will be left much more fertile than it was before. For even better results, try burying the garden bed in a trench.
The beds can be as big or little as the gardener desires, depending on the amount of resources available and the time a gardener has to spend building it.
There’s little to no prep work involved either: gardeners can weed the plot beforehand if they want to, but it’s not necessary since most of the weeds will go right back on top of the bed.
“This is perfect for slopes,” says Burris, “you can use it to make terraces with materials you already have.”
The Hugelkultur example at the North Gate of the Southwest Washington Fairgrounds was built in about four hours, entirely from donated materials including logs, grass clippings, weeds, some soil, llama manure, rocks and a crushed glass pathway.
By the time the fair rolls around, the garden should be in full bloom and on display for the public to see just how simple it is to create.
