Reduce, Reuse & Repair

Benefits of Trench Bed Construction

In Florida, you either end up with the grey dirt and yellow clay combo or the black soil that has a stagnant odor after heavy rains. Both of these types of dirt tend to cause frustration in the suburban gardener due to their issue with holding water.

While both the standard Hugel Bed and Trench Composting Bed start out with a large trench being dug, the Hugel has to be laid out in a specific way or die hard devotees will lecture you why it’s wrong. Trench Composting beds are absolutely grunge and get thrown together in a mish-mash fashion.

If you are so inclined to dig your trench by hand with a shovel, feel free to go ahead and do so but it’s an incredible amount of work and these days we are just unfortunately short on time. Do what my husband did and rent an excavator for a few days to not only dig your trenches but move some of the larger items to be buried.

Not only does this style of gardening allow you to rebuild your dirt into viable soil, it reduces the amount of rubbish being taken to the landfills. While there has been a significant uptick in the last twenty or thirty years aimed at convincing individuals that recycling will save the planet, deep research reveals hidden secrets from the public. I may do a deep dive post on the lies of recycling but today isn’t the day to go down that particular rabbit hole.

While we all have the ability to be better shepherds of the land we’ve been given, these under handed marketing techniques lead the consumer to believe that they are not only the problem but the solution to the social justice issues of the world. The subject matter may change in the future, but the tactics of using fear, guilt and manipulation will still be prevalent within it.

The variety of materials needed for this style of garden bed creation, will no doubt help assist you in clearing off unwanted items on your land and even in your home.

• Hay/Straw (check to see if sprayed with herbicide or pesticide before using0
• Tree Chunks (left over from felling a tree on your property)
• Fresh or Dried tree branches
• Bags of grass clippings (neighbors may have plenty but check to see if they apply pesticides or fertilizers to their lawn)
• Compost Toilet Contents (be sure to keep a nice supply of biodegradable trash bags)
• Kitchen Waste Scraps (every little apple core, orange peels and banana peels can break down)
• Spent Potting Soil (if you have any chunks of potting soil that are matted and you can’t use anymore, toss that on in as well)
• Unused Cat Litter (can be added to hold water content into the bed, but avoid using used cat litter due to potential parasites and bacteria)
• Bags of leftover mulch or the remnants of a chip drop delivery
• Dead or dying sod pieces (check to see if herbicide or fertilizer has been applied already)
• Raw fish pieces that you won’t use in soup recipes
• Coffee grounds or tea bags (some coffee shops and whole food stores will gladly give you plenty for free if you ask for it)
• Shredded newspaper or torn up cardboard pieces
• Old magazines
• Animal manure
• Compostable grocery bags (paper absolutely but some stores now use biodegradable plastic bags)
• Dead Annuals
• Dead Flower Boquets
• Hedge Clippings
• Moldy books
• Egg Shells
• and much more!

The world will continue to exist with or without your efforts but if you want to sculpt a piece of land to produce an abundance of food for yourself and your future generations then the time is now to start these processes on your little spit of land.

I can personally attest that the more variety of items I pack into these beds, the more variety of plant life I find popping up voluntarily. Currently, in the bed that I’m installing there are elderberry, lettuce, borage, cantaloupe, balsam, and other native Florida seedlings popping up. Once the mound is fairly high, you can cover it with top soil and mulch and leave the microbial processes to do their magic.

While these beds are not ideal for annual veggie plants, they are excellent if you space out some apple trees, Mexican sunflower and support that with some perennial peanut, comfrey and flowering clover to keep the soil at a beneficial temperature. Don’t get discouraged over the years if you see indentations in the mounds. These indentations actually signal to the owners of the property that as the contents break down, the earth will naturally fall into place and you will need to keep dressing it. The rule of thumb with adding to composting piles, is that if water and earth can break it down fairly quickly, add it to the trench.

For now, happy gardening and feel free to shoot me an email if you need help. I’ll add a better picture once it’s day light outside again. 🙂