Hugelkultur

So I'm experimenting in my garden with hugelkulture. If you're not familiar with it you can read up on it here:

http://www.richsoil.com/hugelkultur/

I started by digging down to conserve topsoil, just a shovels depth:

I then added logs, branches, shredded paper from work, straw, the sod I had dug out, peat and compost.

All done! The finished pile is right around 5 feet tall.

I planted it with Pak Choy, Chinese Cabbage, Kale, Broccoli and Cauliflower as well seeds for arugula, mustard, beets, carrots, lettuce and collards. I'll keep you updated on how it does. Planting was completed on 20 September in Southern Maryland.

By the Spring this pile should settle about a foot and therefore the Spring planting should be much more successful than this Fall's. Reason being that it will be more of a mound, right now there are nooks and crannies and sod clumps that don't hold seed well and probably won't lend itself to good root growth. It's like having a new toy though, I had to test it out right away right?