If you're serious about growing your own food and have a bit of land and access to timber then I'd highly recommend building hugelkulture mounds. You basically bury logs in the ground then build a raised bed on top of them using smaller bits of wood, compost, and soil. The logs act like giant sponges that hold moisture and feed the soil as they break down. Soft wood like cotton, apple, and poplar will break down quicker than hard woods and some wood should be avoided all together like black walnut, locust, and conifers unless they're already heavily decomposed. I've built a couple of these and the plants thrive in them. Watering is minimal once established with some of the larger mounds not needing water at all over the entire growing season.
Absolutely, forgot about those. Also, if you're using fresh wood that hasn't had time to decompose you need to add a thick layer of green material like lawn clippings on top and around the wood. As wood decomposes it can tie up nitrogen and keep it from your plants. The grass helps the wood break down faster and spares more of your soil nitrogen for your crops.
Its also not a bad idea to build these in the late summer or fall so they have time to sit and "cook" over winter. After snow melt or spring rains they'll be saturated and ready for planting.
If you're serious about growing your own food and have a bit of land and access to timber then I'd highly recommend building hugelkulture mounds. You basically bury logs in the ground then build a raised bed on top of them using smaller bits of wood, compost, and soil. The logs act like giant sponges that hold moisture and feed the soil as they break down. Soft wood like cotton, apple, and poplar will break down quicker than hard woods and some wood should be avoided all together like black walnut, locust, and conifers unless they're already heavily decomposed. I've built a couple of these and the plants thrive in them. Watering is minimal once established with some of the larger mounds not needing water at all over the entire growing season.
Also avoid willow trunks and branches, as they will sprout even if they've been "dead" for a long time. Then you'll have a willow forest.
Absolutely, forgot about those. Also, if you're using fresh wood that hasn't had time to decompose you need to add a thick layer of green material like lawn clippings on top and around the wood. As wood decomposes it can tie up nitrogen and keep it from your plants. The grass helps the wood break down faster and spares more of your soil nitrogen for your crops.
Its also not a bad idea to build these in the late summer or fall so they have time to sit and "cook" over winter. After snow melt or spring rains they'll be saturated and ready for planting.