hügelkultur beds

Taking stock …

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I have always been optimistic about the establishment and progress of the Sombrun Forest Garden Project, and I hope this has always been reflected in the tone of the Blog. In its own gentle way, the project continues to move forward. There have been three notable advances this year:

In six years, the original walnut tree that I inherited has gone from a weak specimen to a healthy vibrant tree. This is not down to external inputs other than the application of urine, but to a general improvement in soil health and unseen mycelial activity. Worm activity has also become remarkable around the tree, and they are literally ploughing up the ground! The garden has come to the aid of the tree. This year there was the biggest crop of nuts ever, and for the first time, they matured properly and fell out of their green casings to the ground. Until now it was the whole, slightly immature unit that fell, and the casing browned and hardened around the nut on the ground, encouraging mould and burrowing insects, making it hard to get at the actual nut. And this new development has in turn led to a far higher percentage of healthy edible flesh when shelled, so far I would put it at higher than 90%.

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Fungi, tree maintenance and nutritious food …

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The hügelkultur beds created earlier this year in the Upper Garden (Blog, April 15, 2023) haven’t had much of a mention since, mainly because they have been left to start their work. Apart from some marigold (Calendula officinalis), French marigold (Tagetes patula) and red amaranth (Amaranthus spp.), nothing has been planted in the beds, as I wanted the soil and organic matter to settle around the logs and branches in the bottom of the trenches. There were some butternut squash on two of the beds, but the seeds must have been in the compost I used, and they came up by themselves!

But the big news is that there is plenty of fungal activity! There are several species – as yet unidentified – (photos below), and there will no doubt be more. This is a key sign that the decomposition process of the wood at the base of the beds is well under way, and that they will soon be able to be planted. Shrubs and herbaceous plants with smaller root systems can go on the beds, but bigger shrubs and trees will go alongside so that their more extensive and larger roots will not be disturbed as the beds sink further. These will still benefit as much from the moisture and nutrition the beds provide – their roots will search it out.

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Hügelkultur beds, suddenly it’s all happening …

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First of all, thank you to all those who have been asking what has happened to the Blog! I’m trying out a policy of writing when there’s something happening, instead of following a strict monthly regime. But it’s reassuring to know that somebody out there is reading what I write!

And something really has been happening here in the last month! I had been waiting for the diggerman for the last few months to create the trenches for the planned Hügelkultur beds (see the last three Blogs for the background to this), and he finally turned up on February 9th; it was quite a wait, and I felt as though he was never going to come, but it was worth it! In just over an hour he created the three trenches for the new beds with great skill, and with the minimum of instruction (see photos below), and the bill was a lot lower than I was expecting!

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The year in perspective …

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I think 2022 was the year that the climate crisis really sank in for me. Quite apart from all the extreme events the world over, served up in copious helpings by the drama-hungry media, if I look back over the year, the one thing that really stands out is the drought we experienced here for over four months. As I wrote at the time (Blog, October 1st, 2022), it was a shock! It made me imagine all sorts of scenarios, right up to whether the land here would be able to support the Forest Garden Project if this was repeated regularly in the future.

The good thing to come out of this was the idea of installing hügelkultur beds in the Upper Garden, coupled with rainwater harvesting. This is still planned, but I am no further forward, waiting for the digger man to arrive. Unfortunately he is very good at his job (he has already done some work here), and so I think I must be further down the waiting list. I will wait until later on in January and then try him again. If that’s still no good, I will have to consider looking round for someone else, as the beds really need to be done before the spring. This involves such a fundamental change of direction, both physically and mentally, that until I can start, I feel as though things are in limbo, although my enthusiasm for the Project as a whole, and my overall long-term hope for an ecologically viable future for the planet, remain undimmed.

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All change, water management is the name of the game …

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This year has been a shock. The garden has suffered from severe frost and drought and as mentioned last month, I have realised that there has to be a fundamental shift in my approach to the Sombrun Forest Garden Project. Frost I can’t do much about, as this will vary from year to year, and will no doubt continue on a ‘win some, lose some’ basis. But there is a high likelihood of extended summer drought from now on due to climate change, and I can at least plan to mitigate this.

It means that the immediate focus needs to be on water management, to develop further from the swale ditches already installed in order to help the trees, shrubs and other plants to survive. This will now take priority over further planting (although there will be some, see below) until I can see the way forward to resume. My thinking is that unless I can give Nature a helping hand to improve the conditions for survival, the Forest Garden will always struggle, given the initial poor soil and the slope on this site. I was even watering this month, September, which has never been needed before.

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Drought, watering, resilience and plans …

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When I wrote ‘Drought and heat – thoughts about the future …‘ last month, little did I realise how this situation would continue and become more critical throughout August, causing considerable upheaval at the heart of the Sombrun Forest Garden Project! I have often said in these pages that I am working hand in hand with Nature, that really it is Nature in control, and this has taught me a valuable lesson this month: in following Nature, we have to be prepared for surprises, and things may not turn out as we thought. This year’s drought has caused me stop, forcibly, and made me realise that I have to adapt.

The photos below are symbolic of the conditions: on the left, one afternoon’s harvest of blackberries, and on the right, partial die-back of a goat willow tree.

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