It's been a LONG time coming, but the Next Gen of our Birdies Raised Beds is finally here! With all stainless steel hardware, an improved bracing system, and simplified sizing in exact feet dimensions for easy garden planning: growepic.co/3MD0f1Y
As a euro I had to laugh at 3:20 or so when you said you had switched from metric to imperial to make calculations easier. I understand, but still. Lol.
@@wingdingdmetrius8025 Yes it seems a backward step to go from Metric to imperial but that's America for you. PS, at least the American military use metric! 😅
I am impressed! It’s nice to see improvements in the bracing and bolts. The longer the beds last, the happier I am! I feel like I need to make a shirt that say”Help! I’m weeding and I can’t get up!” If I don’t use raised beds. Next design a chair that won’t sink in the soil!
I've seen similar results in my raised bed hugelkultur experiments. Quality hardwood logs will take years to break down, so perhaps use a softer wood if you want better decay and sponge effect for water retention. However, as you guys pointed out, whatever wood or organic fill you place in the base of a raised bed is a great benefit to the soil, animals, fungi, and ultimately the plants. Good vid! 👍🙂
We do similar hugelkultur type raised beds, but instead of logs…we’ve use wood chips. Typically do this is big container or 30 gallon root pouches layered with wood chips, leaves, composted cow manure…then our good mix. They’ve outperformed just about everything
I was just wondering about different types of wood and how they might achieve different results. In the video it looks like they have a good hardwood, but in my area I'm far more likely to find pine as the most abundant and readily usable.
I cracked the code on this about 10 yesrs ago. I cut and drill holes in just a bit smaller logs than these, and then I soak them in a barrel of sugar water. While soaking I put a vaccume on it that I got from an air mattress, the vaccume pulls the sugar liquid deep in the logs. I then inoculate with reishi mushroom plugs, and let sit for awhile before burying in the garden so they can outcompete other fungi. Then when the garden grows I typically can harvest reishi mushrooms as well. Each year the yields increase.
Just found this page and man the comments are just as good as the videos I haven’t grown much but in high school a few years ago I learn fluently how to grow and make compost as well, I’m 24 and looking for property to live probably 90% off land until I can fully with the help of my woman and animals
Didn’t get to the point lol this method sounds like sometthing I’ve done for some compost I used years back for some devils lettuce haha I had outdoor buds my first summer of my first apartment in 2018/19
My very first thought was, those logs need fungi. Very much a novice but I've been trying to incorporate helpful fungi with different plants. My hops really took off after one year when using a symbiotic fungi with them.
I made raised bed with logs, then branches, shrubs, then wood chips. No soil. When I planted my vegetables I make a hole in the wood chips and filled it with potting soil. Slowly the wood chips decomposed and I had to add more. The big logs are buried in an anaerobic environment and can take ten years or more to decompose. After a few years the wood chips decomposed and the settling stopped. I grow large, healthy vegetables plants every year.
It actually doesn't surprise me that you were finding long, healthy roots penetrating those logs. When we first moved into our current home, a large tree on the lawn went down in a storm and left a big trunk that would've taken ages to remove. Since we planned to build a vegetable garden around there anyway, we just dumped a mix of compost, woodchips, and gardening soil on the tree trunk, watered it all down, and planted pumpkins on it. The pumpkins took off and by midsummer you couldn't even see the trunk, it was just a mass of pumpkin vines. We got some good-sized pie pumpkins from it, and when we were cleaning up the vines in the fall, we found that some of the roots had penetrated all the way through the trunk and into the ground. Part of the tree trunk was so decomposed that it just crumbled in our hands. A very successful experiment!
My kids have grown up watching me get excited about discoveries in our dirt and compost. Now they love to watch you guys and they realize dad's not so strange after all. :) Keep up the great work!
So glad to hear you say this! My little little kids are fascinated with worms & compost & growing plants so hopefully my enthusiasm is fuelling their curiosity. We can’t stay out of the garden 😂
@@kerrydruce2212 My dad was a dedicated gardener; we all picked roots, weeded etc., but when he gave me a tiny patch of my own to plant as I chose (50 years ago), that's when I really got interested.
My best friend is a native bee expert at the University of Minnesota. After she began using hugelkultur, she had bees nesting in her yard for the first time in 20 years. This is another great reason to build hugelkultur beds in the garden! The work of pollination done by the bees is what keeps the rest of us fed. Thank you for this video!!
I've done hugelkultur even before I knew that was what it was called. I didn't use large logs like you did. I'd just split the logs in half or in quarters. They were still good size; but, did break down a bit faster. It definitely is a good idea for anybody who is trying to save on potting soil.
more baked fish tacos . suggest for you fresh water baths, zero chemical natural soap. hydrate with fresh water. this comment i made tells you honest joyfull liberations in being alive .
The previous owner of my property buried logs under the planting beds at the back of the property - all 100 feet by 20 feet!!! I thought it was a disaster when the neighbour told me that, but then I planted hedging cedars. They have flourished and grown well, even with severe droughts and minimal watering. Honestly, I believe in hugelkultur now. I'll be using it in my raised beds because, like you, I want tall beds.
But the whole thing is supposed to be there supposed to be old logs so they hold water and then I saw the elite it out of them and they don't biodegrade because they're like soaked full of water and it's constantly getting replaced because the mycelia suck it out she doesn't have time to wrote as bad but the Little Rock that it does produce produces the vitamin Rich slurry for the plants
If you reverse the direction of the bolts (or atleast some of the bolts), threads facing out of the the bin, you create external attachment points for anything from irrigation to height extentions, even trellises etc. Also boltheads were meant to take a beating more so than nuts so you would also then be exposing the more hardy part of the bolt to the wearing side.
I’ve heard that the correct method is to use logs that are already decaying. The ones used in this bed are pretty freshly cut, so they won’t break down as quickly or retain as much moisture.
Yes, when I was researching this a bit a few years ago, I read in a couple of different places that wood breaks down much quicker with oxygen, which is why trees break down so nicely on a forest floor. For me, using logs at the bottom of a high bed is really more of a filler. I don't expect it to break down to any great degree.
Your not wrong if they're already decaying then they should already have a healthy amount of fungus. However if you still want to do this with fresher wood you can soak or spray the wood with water first. The idea is you're adding water to make it an ideal spot for fungus to grow.
I imagine a lot of the natural tree oils would prevent fungus and bacteria from growing as fast either so oxygen and probably being about 4" in the ground would work best especially if wetted
This is so cool! I soaked my logs in water for a week before putting them at the bottom of my Birdies raised bed. I also tossed in some broken up remnants of a mushroom block before covering with some raised bed mix. No idea how it's doing but I haven't noticed much sinkage yet in two seasons. I'd love to pull it up and check it out like you guys did but I also don't really want to disturb it. Thanks for tearing one up for the video. Super fascinating!
I think splitting the logs into multiple smaller logs would speed up decomposition a lot. That’s what I’m going to do with the remainder of the 8 older beds I purchased from Kevin
This is curious because I have been using aged firewood in my raised beds for years. This summer, zone 9b by Tampa Florida, I decided to excavate some of the beds. The wood was gone except for some bark remaining. I rebuilt the beds but this time I used my ax and hatchet to make more surface area for speedier decomposition. The newly built beds are performing quite well considering, but I am looking for more performance from my plants. I am using some old soil with composted cow poo, adding some peat moss, and it seems to work. This winter will show how much improvement I will achieve.
Having a variety of sizes would be great for the long term. Having a steady supply of food for the fungal life will keep the soil ecosystem happy for decades.
One solution to the settling(and eventually holes in the soil) that we personally use in Alaska, is when we start a bed with this, we spend a few extra bucks on natural wood heater pellets. Theyre natural, and spongey, but also expands when wetted down. Theyre also soft sawdust when the expand which eventually becomes a superhighway for worms all the way up into the bed because the worms seem to follow the flow of nutrients up through the logs. I highly reccomend this, if you use hugelkulture. Its made the whole process better for us in the north. I can imagine it will work even better in warm climates.
We did 28" high cedar/metal raised beds this year with hugelkultur method. Already decomposing giant poplar tree we had cut down 5 years ago at the bottom -( smaller parts of it were like sponge.) We added tree branches from the spring ice storm damaged trees , shredded cardboard/twigs/leaves; topped off wth rotted manure and compost, straw mulch. Everything I grew did well, hoping it will be better next year! this really works! I even had mushrooms sprouting in there!
I remember back in 2011 my neighbor trimmed thier 100+ year old apple tree. And I made a hugelkultur bed from the branches. It still is a spongey wonderful garden hill.
Ive seen a heap of content on this from both yourself and Self Sufficient Me and I decided to do it in my bed. Got a heap of logs from my neighbor (tree lopper) and used compost I had been building up over 6 months. Watered each layer as I put the soil on. It hasn't started to drop yet but its only been a month. My bro in law, who is a landscaper had no idea about this method so Ima share this vid with him.
You can buy musroom spores. We have been innoculating under cover for years. All you need is a drill and a wood plug. Itll break down your wood way faster
I did this last year in the spring, and finally got some oyster mushrooms this autumn. However, the older log did not work, probably because something else already colonized it, and the shiitake mushrooms did not work (yet). I also have not figured out how to use the existing mushroom logs to colonize fresh logs, like if I should manually carve out some plugs and stick them into the new logs.
@@FrozEnbyWolf150 well when ever I do bulk innocuoation (not from spores) I find using a media that can be a nucleation point and easily dispensable is necessary. Popcorn works great. Then you can broadcast it. Admittedly this is a bit of a throw it at the wall and see what sticks approach
@@Th3R4junC4jun I don't really have the equipment necessary to sterilize the growing medium. I live in a much older house, which is relatively moldy, so setting up a sterile mushroom inoculation lab isn't going to be feasible. That pretty much leaves me with growing hardier, more aggressive mushroom varieties outdoors, like wine caps and oysters. This means propagation is going to involve taking a sample from a mushroom log, or mycelia from the soil and woodchips, and attempting to move it elsewhere.
When I made a hugelkultur raised bed a while back, I gathered mycelium samples from the forest, made a tea out of it, then watered my new bed with it. I just went into the woods with a mason jar, scratched up the soil in a few places where I could see that white mycelium, and gathered just a little bit. That way I have a variety of fungi that are native to my area.
We use wood in most of our beds. Raised or not raised. As the wood rots it also helps to prevent everything up above it from compacting. But we don't use huge split pieces of firewood. We use limbs, bark, even wood that is starting to rot that gets clean up from other areas. I think that helps.
Just a small note for you dear future growers: Avoid using sick plants or Effected leaf's on your raise beds because you may spread the disease and effect your new plants. Thanks for the amazing video guys
I would also recommend not including any leaf matter from certain plants, if you have a potager style garden. The risk from leaf disease is too high, from composting spore-covered peony and rose stems.
I’ve tested that a bit and haven’t really noticed a real difference i think it’s just superstitious. Things will eventually get disease no matter what i think it’s easy to correlate it to the decayed plants having left this disease in the dirt but I don’t think there’s much true scientific evidence to back it up
Hugelkulture is normally done with a mound, not a flat top. So it settles closer to flat from that mounded shape. The mounding has several other benefits as well, particularly with regards to the way the sun hits the mound.
I used logs from a tree that are called Pencil Cedar ( a pioneer rainforest wood that breaks down really quickly, not a true cedar). The result was quite costly over the last two years, in both money and time. I have replaced at least two feet of soil in all my beds. I think a slower breakdown is more desirable as most crops roots don't go down very far.
As a tree trimmer I can tell you that the type of wood you use will make a huge difference, some wood is more acidic and more dense which if acidic it will prevent growth and if the wood is to dense it will take to long to decompose into fertilizer. My advice would be Silver maple/soft maple and Elm are excellent woods for this project Edit: and Birch as my friend Harry mentioned 👍🏼
I was about to mention this about acidity. Birch is fairly neutral and decomposes incredibly quickly. You will often find fallen birch logs in the woods with the bark mostly intact, but the inside reduced to almost black dirt with plants and trees growing out of the ends. I'd remove the bark or maybe just leave it with the bare wood facing up.
@@harrypeterson9287 yeah birch would be an excellent choice and is very neutral you're right about that. Birch might be the best next to soft maple a good mix probably wouldn't hurt at all mixed with a lil wood ash in the soil and Shazam
@cosmokramer3081 I mean if it was a 'big issue' there would have been a noticeable harvest issue from that raised container. Only @epicgardening can answer that for us.
@cosmokramer3081how I understand it is that there is plenty of nitrogen in the wood, it just needs a lot of time for it to be released through decomposition and it needs a lot of nitrogen to do so. So if you put a lot of sawdust in there if will decompose quite fast and you should end up with a lot of nitrogen.
@cosmokramer3081 I just did a search online and on Wikipedia it says that overfertilization is a risk when using woodchips as they break down too fast. This would be even more so when using saw dust. Please provide a more coherent and thought through response then "you are deadwrong“ because to most people it would appear that you are.
These type of videos are the best for intermediate to semi expert gardeners. Exploring the soil layers is so important for those of us who have seen all the plant videos
I did this type of raised bed...making it taller, about 40 inches high. I don't have to hunch over at all. A tru back saver! Half of it is filled with old logs from our forest, with rocks on the very bottom for drainage. Then put clay dirt on top of the logs and brush. The top 12 inches was good soil from our compost/clay dirt/aged chicken litter mix....excellent abundance of tomatoes and peppers harvested. We live in the ozarks with a lot of clay and rock available! Only settled 3 inches, moisture retained nicely...which was great since we are in severe drought area.
I am doing a little different version of this, but the logs are the boards making the raised beds. My son has a mill in West Salem, Oregon and he specializes in already felled trees from various natural issues. I made small (2x1 and 3x10) beds, then fill them with my yard was (in a small yard), some dirt, grow something, more yard waste, then more dirt, then fall garden, then I will toss the container to get to the composts, and then repeat in the spring. The container will degrade eventually, but then I build another with the old screws.
My first 4X8 bed this year. I did the first 1/3 bottom of the bed all seasoned 4 to 6 inch round logs with bark on. Then older potting mix that I blended with fresh cut and dryed grass. Then blended in new to old compost and bone meal. Topped with peat moss, perlite, worm casting, bone meal and finishing compost with worms. I wet each day as I sifted local soil and all compost with 1/4in. It took about three week to complete. I got 60 lbs of tomatoes from the back haft of the bed. The front still has carrots and we got about 20lb out already. I can't believe just how well we did this year. Especially sense this is my first year having a garden. I have to say all last year was about compost and research. Lots of videos here and some others on UA-cam as well. I don't know if it's appropriate to mention the others. Thank you for another great video. If I were to change anything it would be. I would have added biochar.
The bark acts as a protective barrier preventing moisture from entering logs. Would have been better to have split logs to expose inner wood as in drilling holes in larger pieces of wood. Soaking or wetting wood would speed up process of breaking down the wood( acting like a sponge to hold in moisture is the desired outcome) also aids in myciliem formation. Size woody material to size of bed or container. Don't put in larger log in 5 gal container. I used small broken up twigs in flower pots. Then use desired compost, leaf mold, potting soil or garden soil materials as desired.
We've built our 2 new raised beds with logs and cuttings, almost to the top. We expect it to settle over the winter, and early next spring we'll top it with 8 inches of good soil and finished compost. We prefer to use time instead of labor, so we compost by throwing cuttings and scraps in a big pile, then coming back next year. No hurry. We have a fireplace, which is nice for looks but we don't heat with it, so we have more firewood than we need. This is perfect for hügelkultur because it is already cut to size and is dry and partially decomposed.
Our sunk about 4 inches or so this year, but it did so uniformly!! I'd do it again. I don't mind adding soil later on. The benefit is that the expense is spread out over time.
I’ve had similar results. I built my raised beds during Covid shutdown. I cut down 20 trees to make space in an old chicken house bench cut. I put the logs in the bottom and topped off with wood chips and compost from our city’s compost center. Then it all settled and I’ve been adding compost and mulch every year. Those logs will take years to decompose. On the ground they would decompose faster being exposed to more oxygen and water. As I add to my raised beds I’m using fewer logs and more mulch and compost. It still settles but as long as it’s free I’ll just keep topping it off.
I added wood, twigs, leaf matter to the base of my raised beds last year and I see the decomposition already. My raised beds are only 1 foot deep and I feel that adding all that material to the base made for a great harvest this year.
I'm building some pallet wood frame raised beds for my buddy this spring - when we put the logs he has for the base, we are going to drill a buncha holes like you mentioned, because that makes a ton of sense to get them to break down faster - also, more entry spots for water retention and worms & stuff ! love yer guys show - I seem to pick up at least one new thing every show. thanks !
I put smaller logs in my hugelkulter beds-the biggest was probably 5 inches in diameter which I criss crossed as I layered,. Then I layered whatever I could find. Leaves, horse manure, chicken coop clean ups (chicken poop and sawdust used in the coop), smaller branches, kitchen scrapes and worm castings. The first year, I was astounded at how much it all sunk. I am in my fifth year now, and it sinks at least 3 inches every year.
I have a hügelkultur garden that is 4 years old. I also applied Morag Gamble’s no dig , sheet mulch approach to each bed. Not to pat myself on the back, but my little veggies garden at the forest edge (6-7 hours of sun during the Summer ) is quite the show stopper. The only thing I would add is to suggest people use tree species that have softer wood, that are not alloepathic; such as, alder,apple,
Really loved this I one. Going to drill holes in my tree stumps and logs before dropping them in! Great idea! And thanks for sharing about the mycelium mycorrhizae. A lot of ppl get scared and think it’s mold! Helps ppl understand the science behind the soil! Thanks guys much love.
my local elementary school garden has been using birdies and they LOVE them! ordered some for myself! i tried using logs in one of my garden beds to compare the difference with the moisture captured in the soil is crazy!
I always used already broken down logs/wood. Stuff you find in the forest on the ground. There are also tutorials mentioning severeal different layers of wood. Starting with new, then older, and then very old wood.
That was very interesting. I've used this method so it was great to see what's actually going on down there. I used smaller logs then you at the bottom and did fill in around them with soil. I then put a layer of horse manure and bedding over the logs with organic material from my garden similar to what you used. I finished off with my own compost on top. The beds have been performing well so I guess it's working for me.
We've (Pigtown Food For Thought gardens, Baltimore MD) used old wood from the old beds in the bottoms of new steel raised beds.Definitely had the 6-inch drop. Watering in the soil as you go is a great ideas.
They last for ages. I recently dug out an old burn/wood pile from 1991, or so. 80%+ was dark soil, but there were still a few chunks of rotten wood inside! I put some 10" cottonwood logs at the bottom of my raised bed, I expect they will be slowly breaking down for a couple decades :)
I’ve seen the log method, but I chose to use wood chips and dried leaves, (about halfway), then a beautiful 4way mix from local landscaping supply yard in my open bottom raised garden beds. I’m pleased with how my garden is growing. Every time I plant something new I add compost and mulch. So far, everything I plant is thriving.
We heat with wood, so I don't have logs to spare. But I do have a lot of bark, from debarking firewood when needed, like it is already falling off. I have also been emptying a neighbors woodpile because it was quite old and the bottom layers were rotting. I also have some woods and have branches and leaves. There is also a pile of pruning scraps and 3" logs that were just stacked on my land by the neighbor to the rear, wherher knowingly or not. So now I can make some bigger containers and not worry about filling them with expensive bagged soil. The ground is just too far away at my age.
Love this feed.As a person that grew up in the nursery business and now works in heavy industrial management for a major corporation, this gives me great joy and has allowed me to decompress and learn new amazing things everyday. Keep doing YOU!!!
Lovin' the documentaries of your science experiments ! I've planted a few flowerbed areas with this type of method, intuitively at the time, nearly 20 years ago and another just in the past couple of years. A beautiful, very successful and resourceful approach. Mine are not contained, just large mounds to appear more naturalized in time. The ground is frozen now in my neck of the woods, although you have certainly inspired me to intentionally dig down deep in a particular spot next June to see the results of a couple of decades. Curious minds want to know.😊
Some of us simply cannot afford 15 bags of soil but need the herbs and tomatoes for our health. I have used the logs and things to fill and ive had great results especially with my tomato plants. Good luck on your gardens this year😊
I live in deep south. I put split logs in my beds. Worked great, but the termites have consumed the logs more than the mushrooms (I'm speculating of course) but I live next to a wooded area and expected them! The garden grew great and I regret nothing! The logs completely broke down (I checked)
@@dinarap6610 It's important to keep these beds away from the house, just like you would with a firewood pile. The best prevention is making sure the foundation of the house is dry.
Bros geekin out over soil. Love it ❤ Also, i spread a cup of espoma compost starter under and on top of the wood chunks. Then layer up the top like you did and give it a good soaking between layers 👍
This is how I filled all of my raised beds. I had a tree felled a 8 years ago and the logs sat out until I put in my beds. Leaves and sticks from pruning also went in. I also had one bed filled over the winter months with sticks and kitchen scraps as a experiment. I did end up with the drop you described in one bed. The logs were too far apart and the soil settled too fast. It didn’t hurt my season but I did need to fill more than I expected later.
Nice. I am a little worried about the kind of wood going in. Some of that looks like it could be black locust. Black locust is 4% fungicide, so a very poor wood for inside a hugelkultur. Also, my experiments with hugelkultur have taught me to go with about 20% less wood than you did - although the size of the wood is perfect!
I’m so happy to see re enforced and bracing system.……… I’ve noticed bowing in my bed otherwise I’m still pleased with my beds. Grateful for improving the progress. Now I’m saving money for my next one. Thanks for sharing.❤️🙏🏽❤️
Thanks for confirmation of what I've been told about decay on nature videos. The changes you suggested (drilling holes, etc.) will definitely help us gardeners. (And observations of the decay of a known specimen of wood over a specific time in a controlled environment should be interesting to archeologists.)
Im laughing out loud that I’m as excited as you guys to see what’s inside the soil layers when you removed the metal bed. Probably bc I only started my garden this year and am completely nerding out and enjoying it way more than this city girl ever imagined.
When I set up my Birdies 6 months (or so) ago, I filled it up about 2/3 with wood chips rather than the logs. My garden didn't thrive because I was lazy about watering during the dry months, but I'm still hopeful for next year. I've topped off the beds with some soil from pots after sifting the roots out so the top layer is just soil.
Freecycle, Nextdoor are pretty easy ways to find free logs. A friend put logs the bottom of large pots, two seasons and the wood turned to mush, blocked drainage holes and killed all plants. I think in an open bottom area it works so much better. Thanks for the explanation.
i remember thinking "wow those are some massive chunks" when you first did that. i think for those size beds you would want to keep it under 4 inches, to have giant chunks (or trunks) i think you would want to have a bigger (especially longer) bed or bury the logs under the bed entirely. if you had done nothing but like 1 inch branches in there it would probably be nearly undetectable by now.
Maybe split the logs before dropping them in? Good video. I've been experimenting with Hügelkultur for a year now, in a small way, using branches 6 inches or less between the planting rows of my in-ground vegetable beds. Seems to be working - the branches are disappearing and the soil (originally mostly clay) is beginng to loosen and change color from red to brown.
It's been almost four years ago that we bought our Birdies beds from you. We have a feiend who uses hugelkultur in her yard, and has had fabulous results. We had some old logs from a pecan tree we'd had to take down a few years earlier that were starting to get soft and rot. Using these seemed like an environmentally friendly way to dispose of them, improve the long term soil condition of our new beds, and also save on soil costs. We did this as follows: We divided our 30 inch tall beds into three vertical zones. In the bottom ten inches, we placed the logs, with the wood grain vertical. We used fresh wood chips (what was readily available to us) to fill in the gaps between the logs. We filled the middle layer with "mid-sized" branches, and filled the gaps with fresh fall leaves. We filled the top ten inches with my soil mix that is about 2/3 OMRI-listed compost produced by our county from yardwaste, about 1/4 local (Piedmont NC) red clay produced over the years when digging holes for new plants in our yard, and the rest a blend of Happy Frog potting/raised bed soil, Promix BX M, worm castings and mushroom compost. My observations: 1. We've had ro add an averare of 2-3 inches of new soil each year. 2. As recently as this year, when I randomly put poles or posts in the beds, I can still sonetimes feel them run into logs. 3. Plants have been growing and producing well. 4. We have to water the beds more frequently than we originally expected. For the last couple of years, we've modified our soil mix to include about a gallon of a "nutrient-charged" biochar solution. We've seen even better plant health and production since doing that. Sorry if this is TMI. 😉
This was so awesome! It be cool to have plastic containers to put the different layers and analyze closer. Do a soil test🤔 Great idea Kev to drill holes in the wood. Like all the upgrades👌🏻
I just set up two raised garden beds of that height two years ago in the autumn using decaying wood cuttings from our pine, apple, ash and chokecherry trees and then added wood shavings/hay and manure from our chicken coop. The following spring I added a mixture of compost and garden soil before planting squash, bell peppers, carrots and other veggies. All of the plants grew spectacularly well. The bell pepper plant really took off and produced huge fruit. I have seen some settling, which I expected, but I'm not worried. I added more of the chicken coop and manure material to the bedding this autumn and will repeat last year's soil/compost mixture. What's nice is in the off-season I throw whatever food scraps we have around and the chickens can climb up in there and mix up the soil for me. When I don't want them in there, I set up an arbor with gardening mesh clipped all the way around to keep them out. The squash and peas climb the arbor all summer long.
I have found shorter term beds a great way of getting rid of pruning such as hedge trimmings - I gather them up for a year and then bury them with whatever green matter I can get hold of, and find that after a few years they have rotted down nicely - it means that I don't have to use a chipper with all its CO2 costs and noise pollution.
I put a bunch of raised beds out during the spring and went around the property and found the softest and most rotten logs I could find. I had one bed drop on me in the front right corner but the rest did fine. I also put a nice healthy layer of dead leaves between the brush and trees. Wetting the dirt down as you build it is a really good idea though. Plan to get some more raised bed I will give that a try.
This is something I've always wondered about. Love that you did this and so impressed with your findings! Keep up the good interesting info. Thank you!
Fantastic, I Love this video! I use hugelkulture & am so happy to watch you deconstruct your raised bed to investigate the progress. Love it! I garden & teach permaculture, sustainability, soil science, etc, on my property on a salt marsh. Greetings from Virginia Beach, VA. ❤😊
Good video. We've used a similar methods over the years just on open ground on a small acreage where composting in place is so much easier than constantly moving brush and other organic material. We've had really good success with planting new wildlife habitats and also sculpting up flat areas for water shed and healthy growth.
Love these types of videos. When you do an "experiment" we get to see and learn so much. These are my favorite of the videos so far, and I've watched a lot! Love your work!
We too filled our 35 raised beds with Hügelkultur, sourcing out spongy,rotting logs,branches and twigs from our forest. We also had soil sinking overtime, but,during that time we made several bays of compost to compensate, topping that with grass clippings and shreddded leaves. The biggest problem was chipmunks,squirrels and mice homing in the bottom of the beds and several breed of bugs and insects growing out of the decay and nourishing themselves on our crops!!😏
That's a good reason to put hardware cloth on the bottom of the bed to keep moles, voles, rats, & other rodents/ vermin from making a home in your beds.
I don't have deep raised beds (about 20in tall), so the settling was a non-issue. Also, instead of actual logs I used small branches and sticks that were probably less than 6in thick. Literally whatever broke off the trees in my neighborhood after a storm and could be carried or fit in my sedan's trunk. They'll probably degrade faster and won't obstruct root growth in the meantime. It's only been one summer so I hope I'll have stronger, heathier plants in the next season. I just hoped I didn't use a branch that had a bad fungus that's been festering in there.
Enjoy all your videos, but this one was brilliant... I used the Hügelkultur method when filling my raised beds last year and it's great to see where mine will likely be in a couple more years. I love the idea of drilling holes through the middle of the wood to accelerate the break down of the logs. I don't know what kind of logs you used, but I wonder how much wood type matters for breakdown duration as well. Thanks for sharing as always.
That soil looks like it smells so good! When i dig wholes in my garden and smell the soil my mouth waters it smells so good. Someone needs to make a candle or air freshner, cologne that really smells like healthy soil! When i open a bag of soil, just keep smelling it over and over again and again! I love that smell!
I made the mistake of burying green crape myrtle wood in my garden beds only for shoots to start popping all over my beds. If I ever do it again, I'll make sure to fully dry it before using it to fill up my beds.
Never thought I'd be so fascinated watching two grown men dig about in dirt talking about it In all seriousness though really great video. Alot of gardening involves talking about stuff that's going on in the soil that's either too small to see of hidden underground so it's fascinating to see an actual cross section of vibrant soil
I’ve been a less than novice gardener for over 10yrs so I honestly don’t know much at all but just based on what I read and hear since every year I do something different. My husband calls me his “accidental gardener if it come back the next year. lol Gardener's have said using logs etc like for a hugelkulture, the wood and soil mix sinks as it breaks down. I’ve been planting in fabric grow bags (AC Infinity & Root Pouch) using all potting soil and it sinks in those every year too and not all from compacting. Which is why we can only plant annuals. It looks like in-ground planting is the only option since it doesn’t happen as much there. For the fabric pots although I haven’t tried yet, I have to take the plants out, add more soil put them back in the fabric. So, after all that, it doesn’t matter what you plant in you still have to add more soil the next year. Given that I’m an older senior… that disappoints me to no end but I’ll get over it. This is why I can’t get past being a novice. Hit or miss..if it’s alive the following year I’m amazed. lol.
no inoculated biochar in the new bed? I heard worms like dried and ground egg shells in the mix. I would have soaked/douse the logs with JADAM/JMS or LAB as well. And if you take an inoculated (fungi) pile of woodchips mix that into the bottom of the bed. Also some native soil (sifted clay here) could provide lots of minerals in the lower pile. my 2 cents
Phew...thought there was an ACTUAL PROBLEM with this technique. I used logs in my raised beds last year and just filled the cracks with some free sand that we have here locally. Glad to see you guys fixed your original problem!
It's been a LONG time coming, but the Next Gen of our Birdies Raised Beds is finally here! With all stainless steel hardware, an improved bracing system, and simplified sizing in exact feet dimensions for easy garden planning: growepic.co/3MD0f1Y
As a euro I had to laugh at 3:20 or so when you said you had switched from metric to imperial to make calculations easier. I understand, but still. Lol.
@@wingdingdmetrius8025 I cringed so hard when he said that lol
I'm kind of wishing I hadn't bought the earlier gen beds now. The feet measurement would be so much better for square foot gardening.
@@wingdingdmetrius8025 Yes it seems a backward step to go from Metric to imperial but that's America for you. PS, at least the American military use metric! 😅
I am impressed! It’s nice to see improvements in the bracing and bolts. The longer the beds last, the happier I am! I feel like I need to make a shirt that say”Help! I’m weeding and I can’t get up!” If I don’t use raised beds. Next design a chair that won’t sink in the soil!
I've seen similar results in my raised bed hugelkultur experiments. Quality hardwood logs will take years to break down, so perhaps use a softer wood if you want better decay and sponge effect for water retention. However, as you guys pointed out, whatever wood or organic fill you place in the base of a raised bed is a great benefit to the soil, animals, fungi, and ultimately the plants. Good vid! 👍🙂
Good morning, here in Aus I also started my morning with an Epic Gardening Video! 😄
G'day, its mark from self sufficient me :D lets get into it 👍
We do similar hugelkultur type raised beds, but instead of logs…we’ve use wood chips. Typically do this is big container or 30 gallon root pouches layered with wood chips, leaves, composted cow manure…then our good mix. They’ve outperformed just about everything
I was just wondering about different types of wood and how they might achieve different results. In the video it looks like they have a good hardwood, but in my area I'm far more likely to find pine as the most abundant and readily usable.
We love mark!
I cracked the code on this about 10 yesrs ago. I cut and drill holes in just a bit smaller logs than these, and then I soak them in a barrel of sugar water. While soaking I put a vaccume on it that I got from an air mattress, the vaccume pulls the sugar liquid deep in the logs. I then inoculate with reishi mushroom plugs, and let sit for awhile before burying in the garden so they can outcompete other fungi. Then when the garden grows I typically can harvest reishi mushrooms as well. Each year the yields increase.
Just found this page and man the comments are just as good as the videos I haven’t grown much but in high school a few years ago I learn fluently how to grow and make compost as well, I’m 24 and looking for property to live probably 90% off land until I can fully with the help of my woman and animals
Didn’t get to the point lol this method sounds like sometthing I’ve done for some compost I used years back for some devils lettuce haha I had outdoor buds my first summer of my first apartment in 2018/19
That's pretty amazing
My very first thought was, those logs need fungi. Very much a novice but I've been trying to incorporate helpful fungi with different plants. My hops really took off after one year when using a symbiotic fungi with them.
I was just about to suggest drilling holes in the big logs. The trick with adding mycelium is on another level 😊
I made raised bed with logs, then branches, shrubs, then wood chips. No soil. When I planted my vegetables I make a hole in the wood chips and filled it with potting soil. Slowly the wood chips decomposed and I had to add more. The big logs are buried in an anaerobic environment and can take ten years or more to decompose. After a few years the wood chips decomposed and the settling stopped. I grow large, healthy vegetables plants every year.
It actually doesn't surprise me that you were finding long, healthy roots penetrating those logs. When we first moved into our current home, a large tree on the lawn went down in a storm and left a big trunk that would've taken ages to remove. Since we planned to build a vegetable garden around there anyway, we just dumped a mix of compost, woodchips, and gardening soil on the tree trunk, watered it all down, and planted pumpkins on it. The pumpkins took off and by midsummer you couldn't even see the trunk, it was just a mass of pumpkin vines. We got some good-sized pie pumpkins from it, and when we were cleaning up the vines in the fall, we found that some of the roots had penetrated all the way through the trunk and into the ground. Part of the tree trunk was so decomposed that it just crumbled in our hands. A very successful experiment!
Oh mother nature laughs at wood, roots can burrow through concrete and rock.
How fun and amazing!
What kind of tree?
@@charisseellsworth1310 Maple, IIRC.
Amazing
My kids have grown up watching me get excited about discoveries in our dirt and compost. Now they love to watch you guys and they realize dad's not so strange after all. :) Keep up the great work!
Or we're all just the same kind of weird!
Love this!
Right!
Sign me up for the
strange kind of weird!
The club of S.K.O.W. 🧘♀️🐛🕸🐞
So glad to hear you say this! My little little kids are fascinated with worms & compost & growing plants so hopefully my enthusiasm is fuelling their curiosity. We can’t stay out of the garden 😂
@@kerrydruce2212 My dad was a dedicated gardener; we all picked roots, weeded etc., but when he gave me a tiny patch of my own to plant as I chose (50 years ago), that's when I really got interested.
My best friend is a native bee expert at the University of Minnesota. After she began using hugelkultur, she had bees nesting in her yard for the first time in 20 years. This is another great reason to build hugelkultur beds in the garden! The work of pollination done by the bees is what keeps the rest of us fed. Thank you for this video!!
I've done hugelkultur even before I knew that was what it was called. I didn't use large logs like you did. I'd just split the logs in half or in quarters. They were still good size; but, did break down a bit faster. It definitely is a good idea for anybody who is trying to save on potting soil.
It's so delightful to hear two people with knowledge bounce off each other while inspecting something new to them. Jacques is a delight
more baked fish tacos . suggest for you fresh water baths, zero chemical natural soap. hydrate with fresh water. this comment i made tells you honest joyfull liberations in being alive .
The previous owner of my property buried logs under the planting beds at the back of the property - all 100 feet by 20 feet!!! I thought it was a disaster when the neighbour told me that, but then I planted hedging cedars. They have flourished and grown well, even with severe droughts and minimal watering. Honestly, I believe in hugelkultur now. I'll be using it in my raised beds because, like you, I want tall beds.
When the logs break down the soil will go down. Hope your cedars don't sink
Well, they are doing okay and growing taller every year, so I think it’s a win.
This is adorable. Just 2 boys super stoked to be playing in the dirt.
And loving it for the life and biological relationships in it, not just the mess!
I love how Jacques has become a genie-like-entity at this point
That's just how he arrives
But what is the carbon footprint of his offgassing?
@@epicgardening sempai has noticed me!
But the whole thing is supposed to be there supposed to be old logs so they hold water and then I saw the elite it out of them and they don't biodegrade because they're like soaked full of water and it's constantly getting replaced because the mycelia suck it out she doesn't have time to wrote as bad but the Little Rock that it does produce produces the vitamin Rich slurry for the plants
If you reverse the direction of the bolts (or atleast some of the bolts), threads facing out of the the bin, you create external attachment points for anything from irrigation to height extentions, even trellises etc. Also boltheads were meant to take a beating more so than nuts so you would also then be exposing the more hardy part of the bolt to the wearing side.
I’ve heard that the correct method is to use logs that are already decaying. The ones used in this bed are pretty freshly cut, so they won’t break down as quickly or retain as much moisture.
That would be ideal, yes!
Yes, when I was researching this a bit a few years ago, I read in a couple of different places that wood breaks down much quicker with oxygen, which is why trees break down so nicely on a forest floor. For me, using logs at the bottom of a high bed is really more of a filler. I don't expect it to break down to any great degree.
Your not wrong if they're already decaying then they should already have a healthy amount of fungus. However if you still want to do this with fresher wood you can soak or spray the wood with water first. The idea is you're adding water to make it an ideal spot for fungus to grow.
Your wood was way too large!
I imagine a lot of the natural tree oils would prevent fungus and bacteria from growing as fast either so oxygen and probably being about 4" in the ground would work best especially if wetted
Kevin, Jacques,
Thank you for tearing apart one of your raised beds to show us all how the huglelkultur was progressing--fascinating. 😊
This is so cool! I soaked my logs in water for a week before putting them at the bottom of my Birdies raised bed. I also tossed in some broken up remnants of a mushroom block before covering with some raised bed mix. No idea how it's doing but I haven't noticed much sinkage yet in two seasons. I'd love to pull it up and check it out like you guys did but I also don't really want to disturb it. Thanks for tearing one up for the video. Super fascinating!
I think splitting the logs into multiple smaller logs would speed up decomposition a lot. That’s what I’m going to do with the remainder of the 8 older beds I purchased from Kevin
Totally agree - surface area increases and it would break down far faster
Especially since the bark naturally protects wood and slows the decomposing process
This is curious because I have been using aged firewood in my raised beds for years. This summer, zone 9b by Tampa Florida, I decided to excavate some of the beds. The wood was gone except for some bark remaining. I rebuilt the beds but this time I used my ax and hatchet to make more surface area for speedier decomposition. The newly built beds are performing quite well considering, but I am looking for more performance from my plants. I am using some old soil with composted cow poo, adding some peat moss, and it seems to work. This winter will show how much improvement I will achieve.
@@bjbrown It may be that the wood you used, being aged, was drier and more dead than freshly cut wood. You may have the key.
Having a variety of sizes would be great for the long term. Having a steady supply of food for the fungal life will keep the soil ecosystem happy for decades.
One solution to the settling(and eventually holes in the soil) that we personally use in Alaska, is when we start a bed with this, we spend a few extra bucks on natural wood heater pellets. Theyre natural, and spongey, but also expands when wetted down. Theyre also soft sawdust when the expand which eventually becomes a superhighway for worms all the way up into the bed because the worms seem to follow the flow of nutrients up through the logs. I highly reccomend this, if you use hugelkulture. Its made the whole process better for us in the north. I can imagine it will work even better in warm climates.
Thanks.
We did 28" high cedar/metal raised beds this year with hugelkultur method. Already decomposing giant poplar tree we had cut down 5 years ago at the bottom -( smaller parts of it were like sponge.) We added tree branches from the spring ice storm damaged trees , shredded cardboard/twigs/leaves; topped off wth rotted manure and compost, straw mulch. Everything I grew did well, hoping it will be better next year! this really works! I even had mushrooms sprouting in there!
I remember back in 2011 my neighbor trimmed thier 100+ year old apple tree. And I made a hugelkultur bed from the branches. It still is a spongey wonderful garden hill.
Ive seen a heap of content on this from both yourself and Self Sufficient Me and I decided to do it in my bed. Got a heap of logs from my neighbor (tree lopper) and used compost I had been building up over 6 months. Watered each layer as I put the soil on. It hasn't started to drop yet but its only been a month.
My bro in law, who is a landscaper had no idea about this method so Ima share this vid with him.
Glad to hear it's working out!
I can't get enough of seeing people do this. It's wonderful to see nature doing its thing
Congrats on 10 years of Epic Gardening. Without your channel my garden couldn’t exist.
You two are so enthusiastic about gardening you make me want to give it another shot!
You can buy musroom spores. We have been innoculating under cover for years. All you need is a drill and a wood plug. Itll break down your wood way faster
I did this last year in the spring, and finally got some oyster mushrooms this autumn. However, the older log did not work, probably because something else already colonized it, and the shiitake mushrooms did not work (yet). I also have not figured out how to use the existing mushroom logs to colonize fresh logs, like if I should manually carve out some plugs and stick them into the new logs.
@@FrozEnbyWolf150 well when ever I do bulk innocuoation (not from spores) I find using a media that can be a nucleation point and easily dispensable is necessary. Popcorn works great. Then you can broadcast it. Admittedly this is a bit of a throw it at the wall and see what sticks approach
@@Th3R4junC4jun I don't really have the equipment necessary to sterilize the growing medium. I live in a much older house, which is relatively moldy, so setting up a sterile mushroom inoculation lab isn't going to be feasible. That pretty much leaves me with growing hardier, more aggressive mushroom varieties outdoors, like wine caps and oysters. This means propagation is going to involve taking a sample from a mushroom log, or mycelia from the soil and woodchips, and attempting to move it elsewhere.
When I made a hugelkultur raised bed a while back, I gathered mycelium samples from the forest, made a tea out of it, then watered my new bed with it. I just went into the woods with a mason jar, scratched up the soil in a few places where I could see that white mycelium, and gathered just a little bit. That way I have a variety of fungi that are native to my area.
So fascinating to see the different layers! So what did you do to put it all back together? 😏
We use wood in most of our beds. Raised or not raised. As the wood rots it also helps to prevent everything up above it from compacting. But we don't use huge split pieces of firewood. We use limbs, bark, even wood that is starting to rot that gets clean up from other areas. I think that helps.
exactly and this is a great way to repurpose what is flying around and not have to use the good hardwoods taht would be optimum for the fireplace...
Just a small note for you dear future growers: Avoid using sick plants or Effected leaf's on your raise beds because you may spread the disease and effect your new plants. Thanks for the amazing video guys
Could you burn the diseased bits and then use it in compost?
@@marley7659 Yes, if it's completely ash, but don't overdo it with the ash. =)
I would also recommend not including any leaf matter from certain plants, if you have a potager style garden. The risk from leaf disease is too high, from composting spore-covered peony and rose stems.
I’ve tested that a bit and haven’t really noticed a real difference i think it’s just superstitious. Things will eventually get disease no matter what i think it’s easy to correlate it to the decayed plants having left this disease in the dirt but I don’t think there’s much true scientific evidence to back it up
Best to cycle old plants and leaves and grasses and debris through a composting that raises temps to 150 F before adding to garden.
Hugelkulture is normally done with a mound, not a flat top. So it settles closer to flat from that mounded shape. The mounding has several other benefits as well, particularly with regards to the way the sun hits the mound.
I swear, finding mycelium and an abundance of earthworms in your soil after years of hard work is like opening a present on Christmas morning!
I know, right?
It’s better lol
I got SO excited for and with them and I don't even know what mycelium is😂😅😊
Fungi 👍@@HealthyHabitsGrow
I used logs from a tree that are called Pencil Cedar ( a pioneer rainforest wood that breaks down really quickly, not a true cedar). The result was quite costly over the last two years, in both money and time. I have replaced at least two feet of soil in all my beds. I think a slower breakdown is more desirable as most crops roots don't go down very far.
My favorite gardening nerds. Your excitement is contagious. 😂
As a tree trimmer I can tell you that the type of wood you use will make a huge difference, some wood is more acidic and more dense which if acidic it will prevent growth and if the wood is to dense it will take to long to decompose into fertilizer. My advice would be Silver maple/soft maple and Elm are excellent woods for this project
Edit: and Birch as my friend Harry mentioned 👍🏼
I was about to mention this about acidity. Birch is fairly neutral and decomposes incredibly quickly. You will often find fallen birch logs in the woods with the bark mostly intact, but the inside reduced to almost black dirt with plants and trees growing out of the ends. I'd remove the bark or maybe just leave it with the bare wood facing up.
@@harrypeterson9287 yeah birch would be an excellent choice and is very neutral you're right about that. Birch might be the best next to soft maple a good mix probably wouldn't hurt at all mixed with a lil wood ash in the soil and Shazam
I think we can also confirm that nitrogen consumption by the wood isn't really an issue, especially with the addition of compost.
Same reason you add coffee grounds and food scraps (greens) about 50-50 with dead leaves and other browns in compost
@cosmokramer3081 I mean if it was a 'big issue' there would have been a noticeable harvest issue from that raised container. Only @epicgardening can answer that for us.
And its depth is pretty great since its not robbing shallow rooted veggies
@cosmokramer3081how I understand it is that there is plenty of nitrogen in the wood, it just needs a lot of time for it to be released through decomposition and it needs a lot of nitrogen to do so.
So if you put a lot of sawdust in there if will decompose quite fast and you should end up with a lot of nitrogen.
@cosmokramer3081 I just did a search online and on Wikipedia it says that overfertilization is a risk when using woodchips as they break down too fast. This would be even more so when using saw dust.
Please provide a more coherent and thought through response then "you are deadwrong“ because to most people it would appear that you are.
These type of videos are the best for intermediate to semi expert gardeners. Exploring the soil layers is so important for those of us who have seen all the plant videos
Glad you enjoyed
I did this type of raised bed...making it taller, about 40 inches high. I don't have to hunch over at all. A tru back saver! Half of it is filled with old logs from our forest, with rocks on the very bottom for drainage. Then put clay dirt on top of the logs and brush. The top 12 inches was good soil from our compost/clay dirt/aged chicken litter mix....excellent abundance of tomatoes and peppers harvested. We live in the ozarks with a lot of clay and rock available! Only settled 3 inches, moisture retained nicely...which was great since we are in severe drought area.
I am doing a little different version of this, but the logs are the boards making the raised beds. My son has a mill in West Salem, Oregon and he specializes in already felled trees from various natural issues. I made small (2x1 and 3x10) beds, then fill them with my yard was (in a small yard), some dirt, grow something, more yard waste, then more dirt, then fall garden, then I will toss the container to get to the composts, and then repeat in the spring. The container will degrade eventually, but then I build another with the old screws.
My first 4X8 bed this year. I did the first 1/3 bottom of the bed all seasoned 4 to 6 inch round logs with bark on. Then older potting mix that I blended with fresh cut and dryed grass. Then blended in new to old compost and bone meal. Topped with peat moss, perlite, worm casting, bone meal and finishing compost with worms. I wet each day as I sifted local soil and all compost with 1/4in. It took about three week to complete. I got 60 lbs of tomatoes from the back haft of the bed. The front still has carrots and we got about 20lb out already. I can't believe just how well we did this year. Especially sense this is my first year having a garden. I have to say all last year was about compost and research. Lots of videos here and some others on UA-cam as well. I don't know if it's appropriate to mention the others. Thank you for another great video. If I were to change anything it would be. I would have added biochar.
The bark acts as a protective barrier preventing moisture from entering logs. Would have been better to have split logs to expose inner wood as in drilling holes in larger pieces of wood. Soaking or wetting wood would speed up process of breaking down the wood( acting like a sponge to hold in moisture is the desired outcome) also aids in myciliem formation. Size woody material to size of bed or container. Don't put in larger log in 5 gal container.
I used small broken up twigs in flower pots.
Then use desired compost, leaf mold, potting soil or garden soil materials as desired.
We've built our 2 new raised beds with logs and cuttings, almost to the top. We expect it to settle over the winter, and early next spring we'll top it with 8 inches of good soil and finished compost. We prefer to use time instead of labor, so we compost by throwing cuttings and scraps in a big pile, then coming back next year. No hurry.
We have a fireplace, which is nice for looks but we don't heat with it, so we have more firewood than we need. This is perfect for hügelkultur because it is already cut to size and is dry and partially decomposed.
Wood ash is good for soil, repels some worms
Our sunk about 4 inches or so this year, but it did so uniformly!!
I'd do it again. I don't mind adding soil later on. The benefit is that the expense is spread out over time.
I’ve had similar results. I built my raised beds during Covid shutdown. I cut down 20 trees to make space in an old chicken house bench cut. I put the logs in the bottom and topped off with wood chips and compost from our city’s compost center. Then it all settled and I’ve been adding compost and mulch every year. Those logs will take years to decompose. On the ground they would decompose faster being exposed to more oxygen and water. As I add to my raised beds I’m using fewer logs and more mulch and compost. It still settles but as long as it’s free I’ll just keep topping it off.
I added wood, twigs, leaf matter to the base of my raised beds last year and I see the decomposition already. My raised beds are only 1 foot deep and I feel that adding all that material to the base made for a great harvest this year.
I'm building some pallet wood frame raised beds for my buddy this spring - when we put the logs he has for the base, we are going to drill a buncha holes like you mentioned, because that makes a ton of sense to get them to break down faster - also, more entry spots for water retention and worms & stuff ! love yer guys show - I seem to pick up at least one new thing every show. thanks !
I put smaller logs in my hugelkulter beds-the biggest was probably 5 inches in diameter which I criss crossed as I layered,. Then I layered whatever I could find. Leaves, horse manure, chicken coop clean ups (chicken poop and sawdust used in the coop), smaller branches, kitchen scrapes and worm castings. The first year, I was astounded at how much it all sunk. I am in my fifth year now, and it sinks at least 3 inches every year.
The way you did it is the correct way. Using big chunks of log just makes a shallow root bed.
I have a hügelkultur garden that is 4 years old. I also applied Morag Gamble’s no dig , sheet mulch approach to each bed. Not to pat myself on the back, but my little veggies garden at the forest edge (6-7 hours of sun during the Summer ) is quite the show stopper. The only thing I would add is to suggest people use tree species that have softer wood, that are not alloepathic; such as, alder,apple,
Really loved this I one. Going to drill holes in my tree stumps and logs before dropping them in! Great idea! And thanks for sharing about the mycelium mycorrhizae. A lot of ppl get scared and think it’s mold! Helps ppl understand the science behind the soil! Thanks guys much love.
You bet!
Used to be me 😂
my local elementary school garden has been using birdies and they LOVE them! ordered some for myself! i tried using logs in one of my garden beds to compare the difference with the moisture captured in the soil is crazy!
I always used already broken down logs/wood. Stuff you find in the forest on the ground. There are also tutorials mentioning severeal different layers of wood. Starting with new, then older, and then very old wood.
Should you remove all that habitat from the forest?
That was very interesting. I've used this method so it was great to see what's actually going on down there. I used smaller logs then you at the bottom and did fill in around them with soil. I then put a layer of horse manure and bedding over the logs with organic material from my garden similar to what you used. I finished off with my own compost on top. The beds have been performing well so I guess it's working for me.
We've (Pigtown Food For Thought gardens, Baltimore MD) used old wood from the old beds in the bottoms of new steel raised beds.Definitely had the 6-inch drop. Watering in the soil as you go is a great ideas.
They last for ages. I recently dug out an old burn/wood pile from 1991, or so. 80%+ was dark soil, but there were still a few chunks of rotten wood inside!
I put some 10" cottonwood logs at the bottom of my raised bed, I expect they will be slowly breaking down for a couple decades :)
I can watch you guys geek out all day long❤
I’ve seen the log method, but I chose to use wood chips and dried leaves, (about halfway), then a beautiful 4way mix from local landscaping supply yard in my open bottom raised garden beds.
I’m pleased with how my garden is growing. Every time I plant something new I add compost and mulch. So far, everything I plant is thriving.
We heat with wood, so I don't have logs to spare. But I do have a lot of bark, from debarking firewood when needed, like it is already falling off. I have also been emptying a neighbors woodpile because it was quite old and the bottom layers were rotting. I also have some woods and have branches and leaves. There is also a pile of pruning scraps and 3" logs that were just stacked on my land by the neighbor to the rear, wherher knowingly or not. So now I can make some bigger containers and not worry about filling them with expensive bagged soil. The ground is just too far away at my age.
Love this feed.As a person that grew up in the nursery business and now works in heavy industrial management for a major corporation, this gives me great joy and has allowed me to decompress and learn new amazing things everyday. Keep doing YOU!!!
In the PNW cover ground with hardware cloth before placing the bed to prevent moles and voles from entering the bed from underneath.
I’m absolutely loving these gardening experiments and the scientific way you go about them!
My soil scientist brain is looking forward to this one. 🎉
Would love your thoughts!
I would love to here her thoughts also. You 2 need to collaborate on this video. I have been learning so much from both of you guys.
@@sharowe5295 I could do a winter vacay away from the snow banks up here 😅
I really enjoy how you two interact. A real conversation.
Lovin' the documentaries of your science experiments !
I've planted a few flowerbed areas with this type of method, intuitively at the time, nearly 20 years ago and another just in the past couple of years. A beautiful, very successful and resourceful approach. Mine are not contained, just large mounds to appear more naturalized in time. The ground is frozen now in my neck of the woods, although you have certainly inspired me to intentionally dig down deep in a particular spot next June to see the results of a couple of decades.
Curious minds want to know.😊
Some of us simply cannot afford 15 bags of soil but need the herbs and tomatoes for our health. I have used the logs and things to fill and ive had great results especially with my tomato plants. Good luck on your gardens this year😊
I live in deep south. I put split logs in my beds. Worked great, but the termites have consumed the logs more than the mushrooms (I'm speculating of course) but I live next to a wooded area and expected them! The garden grew great and I regret nothing! The logs completely broke down (I checked)
Glad to hear it!
Do you take any extra steps to protect your house from being invaded by these termites?
@@dinarap6610 It's important to keep these beds away from the house, just like you would with a firewood pile. The best prevention is making sure the foundation of the house is dry.
This is really helpful for putting together new beds thanks guys from Aus 🇦🇺
Bros geekin out over soil. Love it ❤
Also, i spread a cup of espoma compost starter under and on top of the wood chunks. Then layer up the top like you did and give it a good soaking between layers 👍
This is how I filled all of my raised beds. I had a tree felled a 8 years ago and the logs sat out until I put in my beds. Leaves and sticks from pruning also went in. I also had one bed filled over the winter months with sticks and kitchen scraps as a experiment. I did end up with the drop you described in one bed. The logs were too far apart and the soil settled too fast. It didn’t hurt my season but I did need to fill more than I expected later.
Nice. I am a little worried about the kind of wood going in. Some of that looks like it could be black locust. Black locust is 4% fungicide, so a very poor wood for inside a hugelkultur. Also, my experiments with hugelkultur have taught me to go with about 20% less wood than you did - although the size of the wood is perfect!
I’m so happy to see re enforced and bracing system.……… I’ve noticed bowing in my bed otherwise I’m still pleased with my beds. Grateful for improving the progress. Now I’m saving money for my next one. Thanks for sharing.❤️🙏🏽❤️
Thanks for confirmation of what I've been told about decay on nature videos. The changes you suggested (drilling holes, etc.) will definitely help us gardeners. (And observations of the decay of a known specimen of wood over a specific time in a controlled environment should be interesting to archeologists.)
But you would not really want the logs to break down faster. they serve the purpose of buffering water like a big sponge.
We put raw mulch in the base of our beds, no dyes or treatments. Worked wonderfully.
Im laughing out loud that I’m as excited as you guys to see what’s inside the soil layers when you removed the metal bed. Probably bc I only started my garden this year and am completely nerding out and enjoying it way more than this city girl ever imagined.
When I set up my Birdies 6 months (or so) ago, I filled it up about 2/3 with wood chips rather than the logs. My garden didn't thrive because I was lazy about watering during the dry months, but I'm still hopeful for next year. I've topped off the beds with some soil from pots after sifting the roots out so the top layer is just soil.
I hope some day you're going to be able to ship to Europe! These raised beds are beautiful 😍
Me too!
There are brands available here. Not sure the quality, but they look the same.
Freecycle, Nextdoor are pretty easy ways to find free logs. A friend put logs the bottom of large pots, two seasons and the wood turned to mush, blocked drainage holes and killed all plants. I think in an open bottom area it works so much better. Thanks for the explanation.
In my old raised bed, I put active compost between the split logs and there was almost no trace of the logs when I tore it down a few years later
Amazing
Thanks!
i remember thinking "wow those are some massive chunks" when you first did that. i think for those size beds you would want to keep it under 4 inches, to have giant chunks (or trunks) i think you would want to have a bigger (especially longer) bed or bury the logs under the bed entirely. if you had done nothing but like 1 inch branches in there it would probably be nearly undetectable by now.
I'm content w/ the size, but you're probably right if I wanted to break down faster smaller is better - Kevin
I feel like a kid on a treasure hunt seeing all that you discovered! So cool!
Maybe split the logs before dropping them in? Good video. I've been experimenting with Hügelkultur for a year now, in a small way, using branches 6 inches or less between the planting rows of my in-ground vegetable beds. Seems to be working - the branches are disappearing and the soil (originally mostly clay) is beginng to loosen and change color from red to brown.
It's been almost four years ago that we bought our Birdies beds from you. We have a feiend who uses hugelkultur in her yard, and has had fabulous results. We had some old logs from a pecan tree we'd had to take down a few years earlier that were starting to get soft and rot. Using these seemed like an environmentally friendly way to dispose of them, improve the long term soil condition of our new beds, and also save on soil costs.
We did this as follows: We divided our 30 inch tall beds into three vertical zones. In the bottom ten inches, we placed the logs, with the wood grain vertical. We used fresh wood chips (what was readily available to us) to fill in the gaps between the logs.
We filled the middle layer with "mid-sized" branches, and filled the gaps with fresh fall leaves.
We filled the top ten inches with my soil mix that is about 2/3 OMRI-listed compost produced by our county from yardwaste, about 1/4 local (Piedmont NC) red clay produced over the years when digging holes for new plants in our yard, and the rest a blend of Happy Frog potting/raised bed soil, Promix BX M, worm castings and mushroom compost.
My observations:
1. We've had ro add an averare of 2-3 inches of new soil each year.
2. As recently as this year, when I randomly put poles or posts in the beds, I can still sonetimes feel them run into logs.
3. Plants have been growing and producing well.
4. We have to water the beds more frequently than we originally expected.
For the last couple of years, we've modified our soil mix to include about a gallon of a "nutrient-charged" biochar solution. We've seen even better plant health and production since doing that.
Sorry if this is TMI. 😉
This was so awesome! It be cool to have plastic containers to put the different layers and analyze closer. Do a soil test🤔 Great idea Kev to drill holes in the wood. Like all the upgrades👌🏻
I just set up two raised garden beds of that height two years ago in the autumn using decaying wood cuttings from our pine, apple, ash and chokecherry trees and then added wood shavings/hay and manure from our chicken coop. The following spring I added a mixture of compost and garden soil before planting squash, bell peppers, carrots and other veggies. All of the plants grew spectacularly well. The bell pepper plant really took off and produced huge fruit. I have seen some settling, which I expected, but I'm not worried. I added more of the chicken coop and manure material to the bedding this autumn and will repeat last year's soil/compost mixture. What's nice is in the off-season I throw whatever food scraps we have around and the chickens can climb up in there and mix up the soil for me. When I don't want them in there, I set up an arbor with gardening mesh clipped all the way around to keep them out. The squash and peas climb the arbor all summer long.
I have found shorter term beds a great way of getting rid of pruning such as hedge trimmings - I gather them up for a year and then bury them with whatever green matter I can get hold of, and find that after a few years they have rotted down nicely - it means that I don't have to use a chipper with all its CO2 costs and noise pollution.
I put a bunch of raised beds out during the spring and went around the property and found the softest and most rotten logs I could find. I had one bed drop on me in the front right corner but the rest did fine. I also put a nice healthy layer of dead leaves between the brush and trees. Wetting the dirt down as you build it is a really good idea though. Plan to get some more raised bed I will give that a try.
This is something I've always wondered about. Love that you did this and so impressed with your findings! Keep up the good interesting info. Thank you!
I love how informative this video is! [6:49] The tips you shared here are incredibly useful. Thanks for breaking it down so well!
Fantastic, I Love this video! I use hugelkulture & am so happy to watch you deconstruct your raised bed to investigate the progress. Love it! I garden & teach permaculture, sustainability, soil science, etc, on my property on a salt marsh. Greetings from Virginia Beach, VA. ❤😊
Good video. We've used a similar methods over the years just on open ground on a small acreage where composting in place is so much easier than constantly moving brush and other organic material. We've had really good success with planting new wildlife habitats and also sculpting up flat areas for water shed and healthy growth.
Love these types of videos. When you do an "experiment" we get to see and learn so much. These are my favorite of the videos so far, and I've watched a lot! Love your work!
We too filled our 35 raised beds with Hügelkultur, sourcing out spongy,rotting logs,branches and twigs from our forest. We also had soil sinking overtime, but,during that time we made several bays of compost to compensate, topping that with grass clippings and shreddded leaves. The biggest problem was chipmunks,squirrels and mice homing in the bottom of the beds and several breed of bugs and insects growing out of the decay and nourishing themselves on our crops!!😏
That's a good reason to put hardware cloth on the bottom of the bed to keep moles, voles, rats, & other rodents/ vermin from making a home in your beds.
I don't have deep raised beds (about 20in tall), so the settling was a non-issue. Also, instead of actual logs I used small branches and sticks that were probably less than 6in thick. Literally whatever broke off the trees in my neighborhood after a storm and could be carried or fit in my sedan's trunk. They'll probably degrade faster and won't obstruct root growth in the meantime. It's only been one summer so I hope I'll have stronger, heathier plants in the next season. I just hoped I didn't use a branch that had a bad fungus that's been festering in there.
I can’t get ENOUGH of people geeking out on soil building, mycelium, and soil biomes
Enjoy all your videos, but this one was brilliant... I used the Hügelkultur method when filling my raised beds last year and it's great to see where mine will likely be in a couple more years. I love the idea of drilling holes through the middle of the wood to accelerate the break down of the logs. I don't know what kind of logs you used, but I wonder how much wood type matters for breakdown duration as well. Thanks for sharing as always.
Add high nitrogen fertilizer in the drilled holes, that will speed up the process
That soil looks like it smells so good! When i dig wholes in my garden and smell the soil my mouth waters it smells so good. Someone needs to make a candle or air freshner, cologne that really smells like healthy soil! When i open a bag of soil, just keep smelling it over and over again and again! I love that smell!
I've always heard the best way to do hugelkultur is to use old logs that are already rotting or soak fresh logs in water for a few weeks.
I just ordered 8 this morning, got Email they are being delivered tomorrow!
Thats service, now the search for logs!
I made the mistake of burying green crape myrtle wood in my garden beds only for shoots to start popping all over my beds. If I ever do it again, I'll make sure to fully dry it before using it to fill up my beds.
I had the same problem with hackberry
Oh noooo!
@@epicgardeningit’s all good. I’ve been able to keep up with them and pluck them out with no issues. It’s just a hassle and extra work.
Never thought I'd be so fascinated watching two grown men dig about in dirt talking about it
In all seriousness though really great video. Alot of gardening involves talking about stuff that's going on in the soil that's either too small to see of hidden underground so it's fascinating to see an actual cross section of vibrant soil
Also depends on the species of wood that you bury and how long it'll last
Very much so
I’ve been a less than novice gardener for over 10yrs so I honestly don’t know much at all but just based on what I read and hear since every year I do something different. My husband calls me his “accidental gardener if it come back the next year. lol Gardener's have said using logs etc like for a hugelkulture, the wood and soil mix sinks as it breaks down. I’ve been planting in fabric grow bags (AC Infinity & Root Pouch) using all potting soil and it sinks in those every year too and not all from compacting. Which is why we can only plant annuals. It looks like in-ground planting is the only option since it doesn’t happen as much there. For the fabric pots although I haven’t tried yet, I have to take the plants out, add more soil put them back in the fabric. So, after all that, it doesn’t matter what you plant in you still have to add more soil the next year. Given that I’m an older senior… that disappoints me to no end but I’ll get over it. This is why I can’t get past being a novice. Hit or miss..if it’s alive the following year I’m amazed. lol.
no inoculated biochar in the new bed? I heard worms like dried and ground egg shells in the mix. I would have soaked/douse the logs with JADAM/JMS or LAB as well. And if you take an inoculated (fungi) pile of woodchips mix that into the bottom of the bed. Also some native soil (sifted clay here) could provide lots of minerals in the lower pile. my 2 cents
All great options! This is a simple fill method, you could certainly dress it up w/ some of your ideas
Phew...thought there was an ACTUAL PROBLEM with this technique. I used logs in my raised beds last year and just filled the cracks with some free sand that we have here locally. Glad to see you guys fixed your original problem!