Hugelkulture

Something fun, not depressing...

Three years ago (?), Elder Brother dug some burial plots in his yard. Not really, but close enough. Six foot by three (?) foot high mounds of dirt over logs. It's a permaculture thing, basically creating a raised bed with logs on the inside that holds its own water. I have watched and waited on the results. His yard's water holding capacity has increased dramatically, and he was barely touched by the flood we all experienced last year. Alrighty, then. 

And, seriously, why wouldn't I want burial mounds in The Swamp? It's been trying to kill me for twenty years. 

The steady takeover by Bermuda grass once Grandma Maple fell has driven me out of The Swamp for the most part. I cannot fight a thing designed by God to feed a million two-ton animals on a daily basis. Because I won't play a game I have no chance of winning, The Swamp - once the joy of my heart - has become a daily reminder of how much I hate life and how much life hates me. 

Last year, in an attempt to be hopeful, I planted a sunset maple, two golden raintrees and a crabapple. I also let four redbuds grow. Shade is the only thing that slows Bermuda grass and I intend to shade the Hell out of my yard. 

TT: In case you didn't know, Satan's lawn is Bermuda grass and his groundskeepers trim it with dull-bladed hand mowers that only cut them, not the grass. 

So, this spring I am building hugels. 

I don't know if that's the real name or just what I'm calling them. I mean kulture sure seems like the German for culture, right, as in horticulture? So hugel would be the dirt-covered pile of logs and kulture would be the practice of dirt-covered piles of logs. Whatever. I'm a Kansan. I don't want to know German. 

I want to play in the dirt. I want my Swamp back. I want to be flood-ready. Mostly I want to be able to tell the city code enforcement officer, "Hey, these piles of dirt-covered branches have their own websites. You can't cite me for being green and cleaning up the neighborhood. I'm may be a conservative, but I can sure look like a liberal when it comes to saving the planet." 

Keep the faith.