Gardening

We “core” garden the beds that are built on a contained “hugelkultur” type bed. Wow that’s a lot to digest.
The raised beds were filled with logs and limbs at bottom with straw packed between the wood pieces covered with a layer of composting leaves that layer is about 11-15 inches deep. Then that layer is covered with a layer of cardboard with more straw on top, finished with our soil mixture.

Over the course of a couple years the first layer decomposes so you have to add to the top layer.
We dig out a trench about 12- 15 inches deep fill with overwintered straw (it’s starting to break down) and irrigate heavily then backfill and water in some more. We add soil mixture to top things off. The “core” of straw not only generates a slight amount of heat but holds water so we don’t have to top water as heavily. The original core is still a very slight heat engine helps thawing in the early spring. Our in ground gardens get the same straw core treatment.

That big ole body of water is 15 miles east of me. It’s not unheard of to get weather from the east but most comes from the west, all depends on that circle of circulation.

Have a friend that lives across the bay in the thumb. He has a YouTube channel that we subscribe to it’s nice to be able to get advice from an expert that’s in your same growing zone.

Check it out.
https://youtube.com/@MIgardener