by Peter T Leonard
As a water conservation measure, hugelculture (‘hill garden’ in German) is well fitted for New Mexico. We built our first one this spring. First, we dug a trench about three feet wide, 15 feet long and 1 + foot deep. We dug it slightly curved across the slope of land so it would act as a swale to capture runoff water from the roof and the acequia. We then filled the trench with cottonwood logs, branches and finally brush from the pile that had been accumulating for years. When finished, the pile was about two feet above ground level. I thoroughly wet the wood to start the rotting process, using fish emulsion to provide some nitrogen to balance the carbon of the wood. We then covered the pile with the excavated dirt, and soaked it again. We used clover and peas as cover crops for the first summer (more nitrogen). I planted 4 Hazelnut trees around the northern perimeter and will plant some berry bushes on top this fall. Next spring I plan to plant a groundcover of strawberries, thus completing our mini food forest.
The idea is that the wood will slowly rot, providing more than 10 years of nutrients for the plants above and around. Rotting wood also holds a lot of moisture, helping the plants survive the dry spells we are all familiar with. And lastly, we got rid of all that brush I didn’t know what to do with!
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