Hügelkultur – A New Way of Gardening

Author: Linda Sanford

I am fascinated after being introduced to Hügelkultur, the ultimate in raised garden beds.
I’d never even heard about it until an enterprising local entrepreneur, Sarah Wagstaff of Burlington, WA, shared with me her growing business, SUOT (Small Unit of Time), and the concepts of Hügelkultur.

The word Hügelkultur is a German word that in general terms means ‘raised bed that are built out of rotting wood’ and the concept has been around for hundreds of years. According to Wikipedia: In its basic form, mounds are constructed by piling logs, branches, plant waste, compost, and additional soil directly on the ground, creating a pyramid shape.

Let’s learn more about a Hügelkultur garden and how it benefits us as we incorporate wellness into our Healthy Lifestyles and Healthy Homes.

• Vegetable gardens filled with organic material will lead to healthy meals!
• Air pockets for roots of plants create habitat for soil nutrients.
• From the woody debris, and added seasonal materials from the garden, soil continues to build a richer soil life year after year.
• As the mound shrinks it provides air pockets that acts as tilling, encouraging enriched soil habitat.
• Healthy soils also encourage other habitat within a Healthy Home Garden.
• The woody matter helps keep nutrient excess from passing into the ground, which in turn recycles it to refeed plants later in the season.
• The woody soil also holds water – adding to the possibility of eliminating irrigating over prolonged periods of time.

What a wonderful adventure in recycling and repurposing my yard waste! It gives me an additional opportunity to create a healthy, environmentally friendly garden that will continue to provide for me from its natural beginnings and deliver an ongoing lighter footprint on our environment.

Now, on to a bit more about Sarah Wagstaff and SUOT. Sarah is a practicing Hügelkultur Gardner and is in the process of creating a 66-acre piece of beautiful farmland in our beautiful Skagit Valley to share with us. All Sarah’s products, including flowers, seeds, craft, and food items are locally grown with care and awareness. She is committed to reducing our environmental impact by using reusable, recyclable and/or compostable packaging, mechanics, and marketing material. Please frequent her store at 329 Cherry Street in Burlington, WA!

Looking for more ways to live a Healthy Lifestyle, in a Healthy Home? Let’s have a conversation on Hügelkultur, and how the ultimate raised garden beds can be a wonderful option for both you, and your lighter environmental footprint.