Raised garden beds have a variety of formats and can be made from different materials, but there's actually a simple and historical way to create one that will support your plants, save you money, and feed them essential nutrients.
The scoop
On TikTok, gardener Citrus and Cedar (@citrusandcedar) demonstrated on to create a "Hügelkultur mound," which is basically a raised garden bed made out of natural materials.
@citrusandcedar build a hugelkultur mound with me! it's my first, so let me if I did it wrong. 😆 #hugelkultur #garden #pnwgarden #gardentok #plantingseason #cabbagepatch ♬ Homestead - John Smith
According to the Farmer's Almanac, Hügelkultur mounds originated in Eastern Europe and Germany and have been used for centuries. They're created by piling up woody material that's slightly rotted and adding compost and soil on top. The Almanac describes them as a "living sponge," retaining water to release during dry spells, and they are also capable of generating heat for a longer growing season in their first year of creation. The mounds offer increased nutrients to plants as well by hosting beneficial fungi, bacteria, insects, worms, and microbes.
To build her mound, the gardener heaped old sticks and logs into a pile and wetted them down to increase the decay process. Then she added layers of soil and additional sticks, as well as mulch, until she was satisfied with the density and felt it was ready for planting.
After creating her Hügelkultur mound, she planted eight cabbages that appeared to be thriving. "So far, I am a fan of the method," she concluded.
How it's helping
Tried-and-true gardening techniques have been around for centuries because they work. In the case of the Hügelkultur mound, creating nutrient-dense gardening beds with materials you already have around, like rotting wood, grass clippings, and other natural materials, is incredibly cost-effective and cuts down on waste. It also cuts down on the need for artificial garden resources, like treated wood to build garden beds, or even plastic pots that are sometimes used for planting.
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Growing your own produce with your cost-effective garden bed also saves you money, reducing the reliance on globally shipped produce from around the world.
What everyone's saying
People in the comments were astounded by the idea of a Hügelkultur mound.
"That is so cool, I need to look into that method. Can't wait to see how it works out for you!" one person wrote.
Another added, "Way cool, I've never heard of this, but it rocks!"
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