What happens 4 years into Hügelkultur bed

[Meadowlark]

I have upwards of 20 something very large Hügelkultur containers in this age category and curious as to what is going on down there. This video takes one such container apart...and it is pretty much exactly as I would suspect. If you haven't tried Hügelkultur containers, you are really missing out.

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[oneeye]

I dug into mine a few weeks ago, which is about 15 years old, and was surprised to find whole logs in the pit still. I could see a lot of rot and a lot of debris, but still have whole wood. The difference between mine and the man above is how much water was given per year to keep the rotting process going. He waters his beds yearly, and I never watered my heap. I only get about 35 inches of rain or so a year. Water plays an important role in the decomposition time. So I just put the log back and buried it again.

 

[Meadowlark]

15 years...that's interesting. Not knowing I kind of guessed that after about 10 years much of the wood base would be gone. We get 50 to 60 inches of rain annually here.