My Humble Hügelkultur Bed || 5th Season Of Grounded Gardening

I've listened & learned from the earth:

I'm no expert from just the 5 years that I've been gardening; in fact, every year I'm gaining more knowledge from being aware of what the garden is demonstrating.

Creating a hügel mound:

Above is the humble beginning of my first hügelkultur bed. I first learned from a friend about how he and his wife created hügel mounds and that they have gardened in for years without toiling the soil or having to rotate crops. I was instantly interested since I had just bought a house and wanted to start gardening. They shared with me the history and how it was sustainable living. If you'd like to learn more about hügelkultur I would recommend an excellent article that @gardenofeden wrote. While you're there make sure to follow this amazing self-sustaining family community they have cultivated.

After the first 2 seasons that I gardened...I noticed that in August the yields were considerably worse and the plants were starting to die. I deduced that I may have a mineral issue.....because they were getting the water they needed and I had even used companion planting so that the plants next to each other weren't in competition. My plan the next year was to condition the top soil with glacial mineral rock dust so that the plants would get plenty of minerals. Sure enough, the next year everything was more colorful, bigger, and even tastier.

Peach tree progress:

When I first moved into my house the prior owner had left a half-dead peach tree on the deck. I decided that it would be my pleasure to plant this tree and to make sure that it didn't die. I conditioned to soil and choose a spot next to where I would put my garden. I also gave it needed attention for the first year and I wish I would have taken a picture of how pitiful it looked that year. I took a picture of the progress the second year and you can see it looked healthy in the below picture.

I'm am very pleased to show you the progress it has made now in it's 5th season....look at all those peaches!

Other things that I've learned along the way:

Along my fence line there are morning glory vines that love to grow every year. The first year I thought they were pretty and let them thrive...to learn that this may have been another reason for the premature wilting of my plants. I learned that these vines can put toxins into the soil that will choke the life out of surrounding plants to further the aggressive and invasive nature of the morning glory vines. I now use a tool to completely pull these up keeping their roots intact to keep from the future spreading.

I've learned a lot more on how to protect certain plants from birds and bunnies by utilizing wildlife netting and creating a structure to surround these plants with the proper room to continue growth.

** Please enjoy these random garden photos and thank you for your time... **

[cantelope]

[lavender]

[rose of sharon]

[blueberry]

[lettuce & carrots]