tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8284944855633609232.post2189953132471808977..comments2024-02-10T18:50:01.193+10:00Comments on Gully Grove: How-to HugelkulturChris http://www.blogger.com/profile/13715819899708384147noreply@blogger.comBlogger8125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8284944855633609232.post-30162833296527279612020-02-15T11:13:31.421+10:002020-02-15T11:13:31.421+10:00That's what I found, unearthing those large br...That's what I found, unearthing those large branches too. Not a lot of decay happening. I've heard Geoff Lawton refer to this, about the desert. The heat preserves organic matter so it mummifies, rather than rots away. I've found it to be the case, it sounds like you have too. Water does make all the difference.<br /><br />Re: Fernglade Farm, I thought it was who you were referring to, but checked the blog link to be sure. I have stumbled across his blog before. Given his climate was very different to ours, and he used infrastructure I couldn't see us installing (at the time) I read it for a few months, then it fell off my radar. It'll take another look though. :)<br /><br />Sorry to hear you're having such a hard time with the wildlife. I know the struggle, lol. The weather has gotten decidedly worse for food production too. My food forest has been in stagnation for the past 2 years of drought, so I understand how it can all fall apart. For some bizarre reason though, I'm a habitual gardener. I can't seem to stop myself, lol. But it's good to have something else in life, to hold your attention through those ups and downs. Art helps me, in that regard. I know you probably have something else too. :) Chris https://www.blogger.com/profile/13715819899708384147noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8284944855633609232.post-65101551649259956582020-02-15T10:24:57.539+10:002020-02-15T10:24:57.539+10:00Thanks for the feedback on your experience, Leigh....Thanks for the feedback on your experience, Leigh. It seems to be unanimous in more arid climates, hugelkultur doesn't perform as well. I see why it would be beneficial in high rainfall areas though, by elevating plants roots from the ground. We have to try these things for ourselves, to gain any kind of understanding. It was all just theory to me, until I practiced it. Now I can adapt. Glad to hear, you are too. :) Chris https://www.blogger.com/profile/13715819899708384147noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8284944855633609232.post-38231037383193678352020-02-15T10:14:46.340+10:002020-02-15T10:14:46.340+10:00We were mowing more frequently when living in town...We were mowing more frequently when living in town, Chel. Council regulations maintaining the front verge, and all. But it was a smaller block so were done within the hour. Mowing is an all-weekend job here now though. LOL. Thanks for the heads-up on the Lorikeets. We do get those here. I'd be pretty cheesed-off too, if they picked my tree clean.Chris https://www.blogger.com/profile/13715819899708384147noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8284944855633609232.post-34239853226226328542020-02-15T10:08:44.657+10:002020-02-15T10:08:44.657+10:00It's the first time the rain has been so minim...It's the first time the rain has been so minimal for us. We lived here a decade, then the rain stopped. Not entirely. We'd get light showers, maybe every 3 months, but the evaporation was much higher which is why the garden struggled and turned into a tinderbox. Thankfully, we've reached the other side of all that now, and always glad to hear the water falling, in other gardens around the world too. :)Chris https://www.blogger.com/profile/13715819899708384147noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8284944855633609232.post-19607907036151460622020-02-14T11:53:04.041+10:002020-02-14T11:53:04.041+10:00Hugelkulture is a great concept but doesn't al...Hugelkulture is a great concept but doesn't always work in all situations as you're finding out. Mine didn't work well either. Planted in a bad spot, alongside a sloping path, there were no swales to divert water into the bed. Plus dry sandy soil, with large eucalypts nearby (I think they got their roots into the bed and foraged all the water which was done with a dripper system). After several years the underlying wood hadn't shown any signs of really breaking down into water-holding soil, so I've virtually abandoned them and haven't made any more. I've bought 3 of those corrugated steel raised beds and am using all my woody branches and twigs to fill into those, together with the charcoal I'm making. It's working OK there because regular watering is helping the stuff break down. <br /><br />I've checked your blog list and you don't seem to be following your namesake Chris at Fernglade Farm in the Macedon Ranges in Victoria. He's on a huge sloping block with surrounding bush and has made a lot of beautiful-looking terraces where he plants his food crops, actually on the flat parts of the terrace, with shrubs and other plants on the sloping parts. All expertly fenced from the local wildlife (he has wallabys). He does a weekly blogpost and I drool at his food-growing efforts and the amount of stuff he harvests. I'm pretty sure he would have a higher rainfall than where you are and of course he's in the temperate zone as I am. Worth a look though, for what you can do with terracing on a sloping block. <br /><br />http://ferngladefarm.com.au/<br /><br />If only I had seen his blog 20 years ago, when I first started, I would have done something similar, but I wanted to create a food forest and it hasn't worked. Small food plants need to be protected from the rabbits and fruit trees need to be kept small enough to be netted from the birds. You can't do that in a forest-type garden, where everything is mixed up. And now I have wallabys coming in from blocks down the road and they have wrecked all my fruit trees. It's a never-ending battle with the wildlife and the weather and I've given up attempting to be self-sufficient in food. It's fun trying though and there are always a few positives in with the negatives. <br /><br /><br /> Bevnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8284944855633609232.post-39693595512519488342020-02-13T23:25:52.205+10:002020-02-13T23:25:52.205+10:00Very interesting post. My experience and conclusio...Very interesting post. My experience and conclusion about hugelkultur is the same as yours. But, that's the challenge of it, isn't it? What works well in one place doesn't work well in different circumstances. I'm having better success with my hugulkulture swale beds in the garden. The principles are good ones, it's just up to each of us to adapt them to suit our climate and growing needs. Leighhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02435811789823712254noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8284944855633609232.post-32289585561291148712020-02-13T21:45:09.470+10:002020-02-13T21:45:09.470+10:00Chris, that is a lot of work to do down there on y...Chris, that is a lot of work to do down there on your property and it is good to consider how to make it easier to cope as you get older. We had a tree full of nashis one year and they were just ready to pick when one morning I heard a ruckus outside and the rainbow lorikeets were in the tree and stripped it bare of fruit in one sitting, I was rather cheesed off with them. Nanna Chelhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07500527266771727074noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8284944855633609232.post-66555974949817260142020-02-13T20:01:00.217+10:002020-02-13T20:01:00.217+10:00I can't begin to understand how hard it is to ...I can't begin to understand how hard it is to be without rainfall for so long. We live in a dry part of UK, but we still see enough rain for most of the year, July and August is our driest months, but we can get dry summers as well. Our water buts are always full at the start of summer. Poppypatchworkhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12749159567150084975noreply@blogger.com