Spring Preparations
- By : Sarah
- Category : Gardening, Land, Soil
- Tags: compost, cover crops, hugelkultur, spring, vertical growing


I haven’t done any real interesting projects lately due to the urgent need to improve the soil for the gardens this year and every year to come. We are focusing right now on cleanup and garden soil. I have been raking leaves, building compost piles, cutting the logs that are everywhere and building trellises. It all works out in a nice, organized fashion that you wouldn’t ever recognize, but it works for me.

Here is my system: I need leaves for mulch and compost. There are too many branches and logs in the way to be able to rake. I go through the area and pick up the small sticks and branches. The rotten stuff goes into whichever hugel bed is the closest. The good wood, big and small, goes into piles for building trellises, indoor heating and outdoor cooking. Then, once the area is clear of branches, I rake up all of the leaves and redistribute them among compost piles, garden beds, and hugel piles. One area provides me with building materials, firewood, cooking wood, hugel materials, compost materials and mulch.

I’m putting up trellises and an arbor for beans, squash, pumpkins, cucmbers, tomatoes and anything else that needs them, using the scraps I have laying around. One trellis, I converted into a temporary greenhouse.

I planted tons of seeds in the new beds, planted cover crops, started seedlings in my window, and many other things that I couldn’t possibly list them all. It has been a really busy spring and I can’t wait to see the results. I don’t expect a phenomenal garden this year, as it takes time for everything to start working. It takes 3-5 years for a permaculture garden to start functioning optimally. Next year will be better than this year, and this year will be better than the year before.

Check out these links!
Raised and Hugel Beds:
Raised beds on the houligan homestead

Compost:
Hot compost on the houligan homestead
Garden Myths- Chop and Drop Composting
Trellises and arbors:
Trellises on the houligan homestead
Cover Crops:
Cover crops on the houligan homestead