Ever since I ventured into the world of hugelkultur, I’ve felt it important to show start-to-finish photos with each season.

Naturally, it’s scary trying something new. Especially when there’s a lot of “talk” out there. That’s the thing about the internet…it’s so dang easy to talk. Right? When I was researching the death out of hugelkultur, I really just wanted to see someone show me from beginning to end their results. Unfortunately, there wasn’t a lot out there at the time. So I did it anyway. And it really has changed my gardening game forever.

Which brings us to today’s post. I’ve shared with you every two weeks since the start of this year’s growing season:

• June 15th
• July 1st
• July 15th

And if you check out my Gardening Page, you will see start-to finish posts and a slideshow of previous seasons.

But in addition to sharing today what’s happening in the garden, I’m really way more excited to share that my family has been featured in the August 2016 issue of Acres USA, largely in part because of our extensive use of hugelkultur and its lending to our self-sufficient lifestyle.

Several months ago, I was contacted by Jill Henderson (author, artist, organic gardener; editor of Show Me Oz) wanting to include my family in an upcoming hugelkultur article that she was writing. To be honest, I wasn’t sure why anyone would be interested in us. We’re not extra-special by any means. And we are doing exactly what countless other families are doing all over the world. I’ve said it before, that- even though I still maintain that I was born in the wrong century– we’re so blessed to live in a time where there’s SO much information available. We live in a time when there’s such an acute awareness of the connection between real food and good health. That we have choices when it comes to what we eat. We have endless resources available to us at our fingertips should we have any questions.

But, nevertheless, I was honored to have been asked and to have done this interview. It reminded me of how far we’ve come. And by that, I most certainly don’t mean it in a snobbish way. Yuck no. It’s just that we’ve learned so much. Grown together as a family. Invested ourselves in this life. Committed to it. It hasn’t been easy, and there are some people who just don’t get it. And that’s okay. Because it’s our life. And we will continue to share it with anyone who is interested.

So today, I’d love to give one of my readers the chance to win a copy of the August 2016 issue of Acres USA!

Additional feature articles include fermented food, biological agriculture, Alaskan birch syrup, using herbal oils & vinegars, small-scale meat production, using goats for clearing land, and more! It’s an awesome magazine for anyone interested in sustainable agriculture. So please and thank-you let me give one to you.

Leave a comment on this post, on my Facebook page, or on my Instagram page. I’ll gather up all the names and draw one in a week’s time (Friday, August 12th 2016).

Let’s take a look at the garden this week.

We harvested about half the garlic. I have no idea what it feels like to be monetarily rich. But I felt like a millionaire this day. And all of this came out of just one 6×12 hugel bed. One. That is why I love hugelkultur/intensive planting so much. You really don’t need a huge space to grow a ton of food. Oh- and this bed is shared by 3 volunteer potato plants, and a host of carrots, radishes, and kale. One bed.

Speaking of potatoes, a couple of my potato beds have started to die back. We’ve been pulling out potatoes almost every evening for supper. Crispy, beautiful, velvety delicious homegrown organic potatoes. Just can’t beat them! And they can’t possibly get any prettier.

We had our very first side of green beans just last night! Super excited about that. Last year’s beans were nearly all lost to rabbits. This year, it looks like we actually get to eat and can some! Despite having to be replanted 3 times after being taken out by the late frost and then some rogue chickens, they are doing great. I have 2 beds, this one has over 300 plants. Again, one bed.

Tomatoes! My favorite. We almost never see a ripe one until much later…but we’ve had a few cute little paste tomatoes ripen early for us. The plants are huge and out of control at this point with all of the heat we’ve had these past few weeks. A big storm topped a few of my best plants, including the striped Cosmonaut pictured above.

The corn, despite being beat up by the storm, is also doing great. Silks just showed up 2 days ago. And the cucumbers growing alongside the corn are showing their first little prickly babies. Pickles, here we come!

The garden always feels a bit like a jungle this time of year. What hasn’t been pulled or died back is growing out of control. Peas are done and replanted for fall, garlic is harvested, potatoes dying back. The tomatoes are plumping up, the peppers are finally starting to take off, onions are getting close, beans are a week from being canned, most of the lettuce has bolted and is bitter, squash are finally setting fruit, herbs are snipped and used almost daily. It’s a fleeting, abundant, beautiful time of year. I love every moment of it.

Thanks so much for joining me for this update. And don’t forget about the magazine giveaway!

See you soon 🙂

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