hugelkultur over lava?

[lavalinda]

Hugelkultur! Any one try this. It is making raised beds with old branches and wood stumps. Google it for a more detailed info. The article I was reading said you could build it on concrete...so that is kind of like lava. I have no soil all lava and some Puka holes.

[pslamont]

what area are you in linda?

I want to be the kind of woman that, when my feet
hit the floor each morning, the devil says

"Oh Crap, She's up!"

[lavalinda]

We live in Mountain view. We have very little soil. I do mostly container stuff but my fruit trees want more.
Where are you pslamont?

[lavalinda]

and at 1400 feet.

[Carey]

I have used it on the upper midwest, over aqualude clay soils....it does work, but there the beds would last 7-10yrs...here, we have nice soil in Keaau ~400'(soil is not normal around us...but there was a cow involved over decades...)

Gotta think that if the branches & stumps do not sprout, they may not last but a very few years before rotting away & needing replacement... if you have loose rock & sufficient precip., using the rock to make the raised beds & get rid of the rock piles (if you have both a lot of wood & rock, maybe make an inside frame with branches & stumps (moisture retention) then line outside with rock to stabilize the system as the wood rots....but that sounds like even more work!)

[pslamont]

Linda... I am a bit above Mt. View toward Volano on North Glenwood road. I also have a LOT of soil. I am willing to trade soil cow and sheep manure to dig into it for teh occasional help for work that gets too heavy for me. Do you have a truck? My soil is vry clay like, which means you mix it with red cinder for consistency and toss in a bunch of mulch. After a year of patience it is a dream to pant in. /without the patience, some soil amendment from Home Deot works well too. We are talking ruck loads of soil here. I have helped many start a garden If you don't have the trees for branches to pile and let rot to make your own long term mulch there re two answers. 1: I have tons of that. 2: th "dump" in town intermittently has huge piles of it uncured, you let that sit a year covered with a tarp and it is wonderful. Lots of easy options here. B e in touch. pslamont@yahoo.com

I want to be the kind of woman that, when my feet
hit the floor each morning, the devil says

"Oh Crap, She's up!"

[lavalinda]

Aloha Pam,
Lucky you with all of that soil.I would be thrilled to trade soil etc for help. We wil cut out a lot of strawberry quava and will try to use some of that for Hugelkultur.
We are still half there and half in WA. We are going to be getting a small pick up so that will make it easier.
Will let you know when we are back.