So we are now working on our second big full sun Hugelbeet, we measured them today as DH and I were not in agreement on the size of them, so the first smaller one is 14 feet by 8 feet by 4 plus feet high, the one we are currently working on is 20 feet by 8 feet by 4 feet plus in height.

Here is layer 3 (left half) with Layer 4(right half) with my big old girl Lily, who is a eighty pds or so lab, thought it would help give a idea of scale for folks.

Now we are working on Layer five and I think we will hold it there for this week, while I continue to add water and rake the yard and add more leaves/mulch before we add the next layer from the well composted and loose from the barn that Miss Piggy has been digging though for me.

I was interested to see if our first bed had “heated” up like a compost pile would, and so I have been checking it, it is warming up and clearly is composting but its not getting nearly as hot as a true compost pile does, I am guessing its the big air holes and solid wood logs as the base of the pile that is stopping it from getting as hot. I will continue to keep an eye on it, I have a good month plus to see what the temp is before planting them. If they stay at a steady temp, and I put a moveable plastic coldframe on top, I think I can start my melons much sooner then normal, as they will have what is in effect, a no-cost heat mat under them at least for this season, I would not expect this effect on the coming years.