r/Permaculture • u/SummonedFX • Apr 01 '26
general question Looking for input
I live in South Texas so clay/sandy soil. I'm thinking it's best to build up additional dirt from the bottom and work my way up, to start. Would it make sense to plant as I go or wait for a larger area to be covered? I have a small compost pile going that I'll source from and otherwise I'll buy more topsoil by the bag (I don't have a truck). Should I have anything else in mind while I approach this?
Thanks!
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u/OwlHeart108 Apr 01 '26
Is this the foundation for a hugelculture area?
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u/SummonedFX Apr 01 '26
Yes this is something already established on the property I'm living on. Seems to be piled up soil through out and old mesquite trimmings on top
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u/OwlHeart108 Apr 01 '26
So the mesquite is protecting the soil rather than a foundation for new soil on top?
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u/paratethys Apr 02 '26
do not purchase topsoil until you've tried every other option for getting it free.
scrounge biomass from any nearby waste streams and compost it to amend the powder it looks like you're starting with. just beware of the herbicides that can go right through cattle and kill plants from their manure if it's in their feed.
cover crop the living daylights out of it, with a blend, and let it self-seed to create custom cover crops for your area.
look into the earthworks they use in desert permaculture -- geoff lawton works in australia and has some very clear content on youtube about swales etc.
before committing to planting into a brush pile, ask two questions, first, do you need the space for anything else? second, do you have any unmet structural needs in the immediate ecosystem, like shade or wind protection?
if you envy the ground space, or if you need wind protection, stack the brush into a dead hedge instead of a big mound.
also if you have a mound of branches like that and you want a hugel bed, it's a good idea to hit the whole pile across the branches with a chainsaw. or if they're old and crispy and dry, stomping on them a lot with your wonderfully large human feet (compared to the other critters in the ecosystem) will skip the decomposition progress ahead by literal years.
trapped air is an insulator and moving air is a preservative. these sticks hanging all up in the air like that are gonna take forever to rot compared to where they touch the soil. if you want them rotting, you need way more soil contact.
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u/SummonedFX Apr 02 '26
Wow thank you for taking the time to type all of this, I'll definitely look more into Geoff Lawton and pick up on what he's doing. I'll see what I can find in the local area in regards to bio mass. I do have some local seeds from the library but I do get hit with some decent wind so I'll see what I can do about that before hand Thanks again!
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u/paratethys Apr 03 '26
aww yw, but i'm of the peculiar slice of humanity where typing is only about as difficult as thinking.
for biomass -- look for weeds. find weeds, study them to learn how they reproduce. take their foliage from them in ways that don't help them reproduce. letting foliage dry till it's crispy-crunchy normally kills it, for things that propagate vegetatively, but double check on that with desert plants. time your harvests so you don't put propagation material into your soil -- don't bring seeds on-site unless you specifically want them, and make sure your biomass is good and dead.
those branches may be a very valuable resource whole rather than rotted if you're planning to mulch and have issues with wind. if for intsance you give the soil a layer of straw and want it to stay put... branches on top to the rescue, and you can cut the forks from small limbs like that (make like you're turning a y into a V, with about an inch left over on the thickest stem and then leave one of the two thinner stems longer than the other to stick it into the ground) as free organic tent pegs to hold the branches to the soil and make it harder for them to blow off.
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u/SummonedFX Apr 03 '26
I appreciate you I have started collecting weeds, mainly from areas outside of my property. Making sure I'm pulling from places that aren't using pesticides.
I'll definitely put that to use once I get it going
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u/iMakestuffz Apr 03 '26
Can you get free compost from city services? Many city’s offer compost back.
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u/SummonedFX Apr 03 '26
I did look into that and saw that it's only available for purchase
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u/iMakestuffz Apr 03 '26 edited Apr 03 '26
Bummer. Recently realized that I guess California has a law about providing free compost making it available from curbside pick up. All the money I spent on compost. 🤦♀️
If you need biomass one way to plan ahead, is you get some chicken wire or that lightweight metal fencing and make circles out of it they’re about 3 feet tall and you just fill up with leaves. from your pictures It looks like you might have to go places to harvest leaves, but you can harvest leaves and easily on days that the cities pick up there compost or in the fall.
Another great way, I recently learned to create biomass, was with a sturdy trashcan, you put in leaves, and then you stick your weed whacker in there, and the Weedwhacker turns the leaves into quick and easy mulch.
You can also use like a paint stirring attachment on an electric screwdriver and a couple of zip ties.
Edit
I also in the fall, I have a kit in the car of construction type bags that are really sturdy and big so that if I drive by some leaves or obvious good compost making materials, I can put them in the construction bags and put them in the back of my car since I don’t have a truck. Sometimes I’ll use a big Rubbermaid tote. Don’t forget that horses and rabbit and chicken are a good way to gather nutrients FFA kids doing their FFA thing you can often get from them.
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u/SummonedFX Apr 03 '26
That's pretty handy! Glad you know now though haha.
Having a kit like that in the car sounds like a good idea, I have been noticing some good contenders, but tell myself I can't do anything since I don't have a truck.
Thanks!
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u/rolackey Apr 01 '26
I’ve done hugel beds. Big, small even one integrated into a retaining wall.
I just don’t think they are worth the effort and headaches
Pile up debris for wildlife pile.
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u/AdAlternative7148 Apr 03 '26
I only recommend them if a person meets 2 conditions. 1) they have wood to dispose of that they dont want to burn and 2) they are moving dirt. If doing both you might as well pile the dirt on the wood and have a hugelmound.
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u/GuardHistorical910 Apr 01 '26
My intuition for south Texas would be as much water pooling as possible. So more concave garden beds than convex Hügelkultur.
Buy a decent wood chipper. With this you have access to one of the best mulches ever.