Uploaded August 2026 | Updated September 2026, 5 days ago
This is the next chapter in my first-year experiment with a hugelkultur raised-bed garden — and after the success I had this summer, I'm really curious to see what happens next.
My summer garden turned out far better than expected. The raised bed became packed with vegetables, and for roughly three months I was regularly eating food that came directly from this garden. For a first attempt at hugelkultur gardening, it was a great success.
Now the summer crops have been cleared, and I'm starting over with a fall and winter garden.
I've planted a variety of cool-weather vegetables, including cabbage, collard greens and lettuce, and I've made some changes that I hope will make the raised bed even more productive. During the original build and summer growing season, I used quite a bit of ordinary native/local soil. This time I've supplemented the bed with commercially prepared garden and raised-bed soils, including Miracle-Gro products, to improve the growing medium for the new crop.
Will that make a difference? And more importantly, can the same hugelkultur bed that fed me throughout the summer keep producing food as we head into fall and winter?
I'm not a hugelkultur expert. This is my first year doing it, so you're seeing the successes, mistakes, changes and experiments as they actually happen.
If you're experimenting with hugelkultur, raised-bed gardening, fall vegetables or winter gardening, I'd love to hear what you're growing and what has worked for you — especially if you have experience keeping a raised bed productive through the colder months. Note that I personally avoid growing spinach and high-oxylate vegetables because I suffer from kidney stones.
I'll keep documenting this garden as the season progresses, so we'll find out together whether those little plants you see today eventually turn into another bounty.
This is the next chapter in my first-year experiment with a hugelkultur raised-bed garden — and after the success I had this summer, I'm really curious to see what happens next.
My summer garden turned out far better than expected. The raised bed became packed with vegetables, and for roughly three months I was regularly eating food that came directly from this garden. For a first attempt at hugelkultur gardening, it was a great success.
Now the summer crops have been cleared, and I'm starting over with a fall and winter garden.
I've planted a variety of cool-weather vegetables, including cabbage, collard greens and lettuce, and I've made some changes that I hope will make the raised bed even more productive. During the original build and summer growing season, I used quite a bit of ordinary native/local soil. This time I've supplemented the bed with commercially prepared garden and raised-bed soils, including Miracle-Gro products, to improve the growing medium for the new crop.
Will that make a difference? And more importantly, can the same hugelkultur bed that fed me throughout the summer keep producing food as we head into fall and winter?
I'm not a hugelkultur expert. This is my first year doing it, so you're seeing the successes, mistakes, changes and experiments as they actually happen.
If you're experimenting with hugelkultur, raised-bed gardening, fall vegetables or winter gardening, I'd love to hear what you're growing and what has worked for you — especially if you have experience keeping a raised bed productive through the colder months. Note that I personally avoid growing spinach and high-oxylate vegetables because I suffer from kidney stones.
I'll keep documenting this garden as the season progresses, so we'll find out together whether those little plants you see today eventually turn into another bounty.
