The first hugelkultur orchard has been set in the perimeter of the Valldaura house.
In our case, the reasons respond to an environmental and functional demand. First, there are a huge amount of logs and trunks from when the forest was cleaned for the very first time. As well, the area where the orchard has been happens to be located in a place where it would be hard to water the plants in the future. It sums to the fact that the base ground is highly compact due to the constructions conducted in the area during the last years – which sums to the lack of nutrients of that particular soil.ç
Finally, a good reason to plant a hugelkultur orchard is simply to experiment and test it, to see if it will be able to create an environment humid enough to maintain itself and survive a hot and dry Mediterranean summer. That, if successful, is a great reason to create a hugelkultur garden, as summers can be devastating in this area if no rain happens within the hottest months.
One of the peculiarities of this project in particular is that, instead of rising it 1,5 or 2 meters above ground, the inner structure is partially buried. This comes out of a need to adapt the structure to its surroundings. First, the proximity of a wall, that will work as a heat accumulator during the summer. And secondly, its exposure to the wind. Both are reasons enough to try to avoid the maximum evaporation or simple loss of humidity through the sides; problem solved by simply burying such surfaces.
