Another Turning Day, Continued

Okay, so my Aunt’s pile is freshly turned & aerated.  It looks to have about another 1 to 1 ½ weeks till it is technically finished, barring any more heavy rains since I cannot really cover it.  That will be just in time for a garden project that my Aunt and a Friend of hers will be doing together.  Not to mention the one project I was have talking about earlier this year which is also a raised garden bed.  This project which be growing a variety of squash for a fall harvest, so I actually need to get on that sooner than later. Never enough time and resources. LOL!  Speaking of this specific project, I am going to do a mini-hugelkulture bed with some cottonwood trees that are around my Aunt’s property.  In combination with the fresh compost, I think it will make for some really large squash.  Something that I think she will get quite a kick out of.  Currently, she has several cottonwood trees that are too close to her property line and are in a very wet area. Regardless, they need to come down.  I am going to cut the smaller ones down, cut them into rounds, and place them in the garden bed.  I know that fresh cut logs could become a nitrogen-sink, but I can mitigate that with some horse manure, and place the compost soil on top of that.  Also, the cottonwood should help the garden soil from becoming too wet/saturated by groundwater and allows for proper drainage from rain water.  I am not sure how tall it will be just yet, but probably safe to bet around the 18-inch marker.  I might have to dig down into the soil a bit to make sure it does not exceed that height.   I will post some pictures when I get to building that project, so keep an eye out for it.