Tonight I attended a soils class put on by our local agriculture educator, Caitlyn. Always full of stories and advice, Caitlyn is a great knowledge base for our county and state. We tested our own soil and learned or refreshed our memories and knowledge.
I looked it up here in my archived blog posts and I had started my hugelkultur bed in 2013. I was interested in testing that soil. Unfortunately, I made a mistake in my testing and so I didn’t find out too much, past the great looking soil that it is.
It’s a far cry from the simple red dirt that my hugelkultur bed is built on top of! I’ve added many things to my hugelkultur bed over the years, but for the most part, it is my grass clippings and fallen leaves. Oh, there’s compost, more twigs and branches, some chicken coop cleanings, leaves from harvested veggies… but nothing too special. The last couple of years I’ve neglected it and my raspberries and also thistles and grass has run rampant. I’m hoping to send my raspberries in a different direction as they’re invading my garden. I plan on planting more veggies on it instead. I think my squash will be in heaven.
Anyway, the class was informative and interesting.
For those of you interested in all things soil, check out Caitlyn’s page through the Extension Office. Oh, remember our trial plot of ancient grains we grew? The test results and some photos of our place is on that page as well under Forage Trial 2021. Due to that trial, we’re interested in getting more emmer to plant this year.
Here’s a glimpse of my hugelkultur bed as I’m cleaning out the old raspberries. Reagan’s giving it a good soaking of water. It doesn’t look like much, but there’s some great soil in there!
Strawberries are best because they don’t have all of the seeds.
The soil looks wonderful. If I was a vegetable I’d want to grow there.
Look forward to seeing what you grow in there this year. We seem to do better with strawberries than raspberries. I prefer raspberries as they will freeze well – that’s if I don’t eat them first!!!!