Hugelkulutur Bed 2

More free mulch delivered, time to start covering the rest of the back lawn. Moved the pile of timber that was start of the second hugelkultur bed into the middle to make accessing everything easier.



Using the cardboard to sheetmulch the area and then the sticks and mulch on top.


And this is the completed section with the Hugelkultur bed in the centre. Will build that up a little more and then plant some seeds. Meanwhile the apple trees along the fence have more than 100 apples on them - so exciting!

Hugelkultur Bed Today

Here is the first Hugelkultur bed experiment today, with a recently planted banana at the front looking a little sad.

The leaves on all of the plants are enormous and the vines have spread much further than we expected, although we have lost fruit due to the heat and the overhead watering which is a pity. However, we will get some produce and the fact that the plants have flourished so well is a testament to the Hugelkultur bed method. The Papaya Tree has disappeared amongst the leaves but still appears to be thriving....

Hugelkultur Update

We planted seeds into our partially completed Hugelkultur bed as we felt we may as well use the space and that any vines that grew would  assist us with food and with assessing whether it was going to work. Andy took this picture today and it shows that those seeds have grown a great deal and are now flowering which is great. Hopefully it will continue to flourish and we will be harvesting food from it this summer.

Semi- Tropical Grove Update

 The two new ponds that I have created in an old fridge are located in the section that we have been  turning into a semi-tropical grove since August. The cardboard and mulch are doing a great job and we will gradually extend this area. The two bananas that we transplanted in August are doing really well and one has lots of pups. The palm in the pot is protecting a small papaya, which has looked much happier since it has had this shelter from the morning sun. The plastic chair is above another small papaya that I was given by a neighbour and will be left there for this season. The hugelkultur bed is not finished but we thought we may as well try some seeds in it and so far 8 have sprouted.

This shot shows the hugelkultur bed more clearly and the location of a Maqui berry tree which is under the chair closest to the back fence. We have a curry tree leaf plant in a pot shading the Mango tree and that too will stay all summer to protect it. Once they have survived their first summer here they should be fine. The bamboos at the back fence are growing really well and I have now added a passionfruit vine in a bid to provide shade, fruit and privacy. The choko vine on the side fence is also going well and I have moved the tropical guava next to it to do the same.