What Happens When You Bury Logs & Bug Shells in a Raised Garden Bed?

In this video, I dig up logs that were buried in a raised garden bed for over 6 years and I also see what happened to Moreton Bay bug shells after being buried for 3 months in the same garden bed.

Raised Garden Beds: To get Birdies Raised Garden Beds in the USA, go here: https://epicgardening.superfiliate.com/SSME2020 If you have any trouble with the link, use SSME2020 at checkout for a 5% discount.

In Australia, go to https://birdiesgardenproducts.com.au/ and use Code SSMEbird for a 5% discount. In New Zealand, go to https://birdiesgardenproducts.co.nz/ and use Code ssmebird22 for 5% off your first purchase.

For Hoselink Garden Products, such as hose reels, go here: https://l.linklyhq.com/l/5uZu. You will automatically get a 10% discount on checkout!

Plant Doctor Fertiliser: Go to https://www.plantdoctor.com.au/ and use SSME10 = 10% off products (not shipping).

Check out Australian Landscaping Supplies for a 10% discount: https://www.australianlandscapesupplies.com.au/collections/self-sufficient-me?dt_id=1489901 If you find any problem with the link, use “self_sufficient_me” as the discount code on checkout.

Vegepod: https://vegepod.com.au/ Use code: SSM5 on checkout to get 5% off your purchase. Available in the UK, US, Canada, NZ, AUS, UAE, Germany, and Singapore.

Ocean2Earth: https://ocean2earth.com.au/ Use “SSM” on checkout for a 5% discount.

Aussie-made Forged garden tools: Go to https://gardentoolsaustralia.com.au/ and use code SSM10 for a 10% discount at checkout.

Harvest Right freeze dryer website: https://affiliates.harvestright.com/1099.html
For Australian freeze dryer purchase info, use the link above and contact Harvest Right directly.

Rolling Sifter: https://rollingsifter.ecwid.com/ Compostyng (yes, it’s spelt wrong deliberately) for 10% off.

Support me on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/selfsufficientme (the top tier $25 AU enables mentoring from yours truly via an exclusive VIP email where I will answer your questions, etc, ASAP).

My second channel, Self Sufficient Me 2: https://bit.ly/331edDu
New (third) Channel: Self Suffishing Me https://bit.ly/2LiIWqt

Help support the Channel and buy a T-shirt/Merchandise from our Spreadshirt shop: https://bit.ly/3lmqMkr or Teespring https://bit.ly/3neEYO8

Blog: http://www.selfsufficientme.com/ (use the search bar on my website to find info on specific subjects or gardening ideas)

Forum: http://www.selfsufficientculture.com

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/self_sufficient_me

Facebook: https://bit.ly/2Zi5kDv

Twitter: https://twitter.com/SufficientMe

Subscribe to my channel: http://goo.gl/cpbojR

Self Sufficient Me is based on our small 3-acre property/homestead in SE Queensland, Australia, about 45kms north of Brisbane – the climate is subtropical (similar to Florida). I started Self Sufficient Me in 2011 as a blog website project where I document and write about backyard food growing, self-sufficiency, and urban farming in general. I love sharing my foodie and DIY adventures online, so come along with me and let’s get into it! Cheers, Mark 🙂

*Disclaimer: Some links to products in this description and comments sections are affiliated, meaning I receive a small commission if you follow these links and then purchase an item. I will always declare in a video if the video is sponsored, and since starting my channel in 2011, I have yet to do a sponsored video.

#gardening #hugelkultur #garden

good day I’m Mark from self-sufficient me and in this video I’m going to show you what happens when you bury logs and bug shells in the garden we’ll dig down after 6 years for the logs and less than 3 months for the bug shells to see what’s left and what kind of positive effect if any they have made on the garden bed overall let’s get into it [Music] I’m not going to lie it did take a few hours to remove most of this soil and get down to the base of the garden bed where those first big logs were laid I initially moved the soil from this bed to the bed next to it but then I thought H I’ve got a bed down the back that needs filling up why not just repurpose that soil into there because that big long bed needed the soil and I could make good use of it sewing potatoes whilst I was working on this one you can see as I scrape away the remnants of where some sticks were like that that there is a broken down stick you can’t tell now it’s a different color you can scrape it away and it just breaks up but that’s a stick that’s been dissolved broken down by worms that are coming up from the bottom now look at that that’s just powdered wood it’s very fine it’s like dust look at it wow oh that’s interesting look it’s very fine saw dust like material look at it so light big fat earthworms are in the wood look they’re basically right in the wood and eating it after all these years I don’t want to hurt it there there you go they’re fat things they’re not big they’re fat check this out have a look at this look at this wood have a look watch this see how much water’s coming out of that this is what we mean by wood acting like a sponge see how how that is acting like a sponge now that’s been in there six nearly seven years look at it that’s what’s keeping this bed nice and moist don’t have to water as often it’s because it’s wicking up and it’s storing water in the base so here we are on the opposite side and from the old video I can see that here was probably the biggest log and then but there was a lot of big logs placed all around here and of course what you don’t see when I was digging it through as you found out was a lot of the sticks and the debris like the leaves and the other organic Mana that was just pretty much almost disappeared there were surprisingly a few sticks that uh were like here I can see that’s probably remnants of a of a stick probably a hardwood stick um but most of it is completely gone and speaking about decaying things and nothing left there were no whatsoever of those Bay bug shells for those who don’t know a Morton Bay bug is like a lobster they got a very hard outside shell they’re delicious eating probably one of the top Seafoods you can get in Australia the shell is very hard I know that Seafood breaks down quickly because I put Seafood in the garden all the time we’ve got a fishing channel so I do fishing videos I never ever leave fish at the boat ramp or in the bin fish waste that is I always F at the fish at home if we don’t use the scraps for stock or making soups we will put it into the garden because it makes fantastic plant food and it’s just great for the worms and the bugs so I know that Seafood breaks down really quickly but I didn’t realize that those hard shelled crustations would break down so quick I could not find one Remnant at all of those shellfish in this bed in the soil it was just completely gone and disintegrated which is pretty interesting isn’t it imagine the calcium that that would have given the minerals and the calcium uh in particular which is fantastic for plants like tomatoes for example and pretty much all veggies so it’s a critical mineral that plants need and here it is dissolved all in that soil and it’ll probably be very good for that potato crop that I moved over there let’s check out these logs and in particular I want to see this big one here which seems very hard still I showed you how a lot of the log pieces that I’ve been bringing up has been very soft and holding water so there you go some of the logs like this one which I’m I’m going to semi dig out oh there’s still plenty of hard logs in here I tell you so it’s rotting by the looks of it from the inside and not the top this was a really hardwood piece of wood it’s probably Redwood or iron bark here we go some nut grass there we’ll throw that away there we go and look I can feel it there’s the moisture in the in the stomach of the look at that look at that 6 years later wow there’s your sponge and it’s in the center as it’s getting eaten away and then you still got those hard bits but it is breaking down I mean you wouldn’t be able to do that with new hardwood just chip away like that no signs of worms in this but just moisture I might just pull this right up it’s certainly a lot lighter than it was there’s some fungi or something eating the outside of it here there we go this there there’s there’s the fungi eating through here we go see if you can see that fungus so it’s not all animals that’s eating through this wood and again look at the core it’s the core that’s that’s holding the moisture here look that that looks like just normal wood doesn’t it to your eye but watch this it’s full of water in the in the guts of this small log the fungus on the end so the fungus has access to the moisture as well helping it break down I’d say most of this is going to be pretty much the same but I just want to check out this log on this side it looks like it’s drier for some reason and there’s a there’s a stick probably it probably not getting as wet being on the side of the bed there but look at that it’s and again the mo look I’ve got to show you this again the moisture the moisture look break this in half carefully there’s moisture see it dripping out there’s moisture in the middle of it the outside’s dry and the inside has this has this moisture and water it’s quite bizarre look at how easy that crumbles I don’t know about you but I find this stuff fascinating just the the cycle of life and how just everything has a purpose even the way things Decay and break down yeah it’s it’s quite amazing I can certainly tell that this soil is much better than the initial soil that I put in here and I do remember the soil that I did put in here was pretty awful I from memory I got some pretty poor soil from a landscaping supplies company and I winged about it later in subsequent videos and I had to fix and amend the top soil so I could grow things properly in it but um I put manure and all that in here but you can just see that this bottom bit has been because of that decay and the the worms and the microbes being active and the fungi it’s adding some extra richness and value to this soil in the garden bed so it’s definitely doing its job so like I always say hugle culture Mound culture it’s not just about saving money on Phil it’s about a long-term approach to ensuring that you’ve got a garden bed that is alive with living things and that has that symbiotic relationship with the soil and with your plants so that you can then work in with nature look and see the Earth through her eyes and grow better that’s that’s the bottom line well the digging isn’t finished I’ve got a lot to go and of course the bed then needs to be filled but first of all I need to fix it because you can you see it from there I think you can it’s bowing out that way that other side’s not too bad but this side is bowing out basically from the force of the logs and the soil it’s pulled that bed apart and I need to pull it back together again and I’ve got a really cool way to show you how to do it for this bird’s garden bed and the other thing I have to do is fill it but this is the thing I’m not going to fill it with soil that’s right I’m I’m going to perform a modernday miracle of filling garden beds without using any soil can you guess what it is I bet you can’t you just would not have a clue so you’re going to have to wait for that next video that comes out pretty much several days after this one and I’ll show you how to do it plus I’m going to plant potatoes as well so fix the bed fill the bed plant some potatoes in the next video I hope you enjoyed this video if you did make sure you give it a big decaying log thumbs up share it around and subscribe to the channel if you haven’t already cheers thanks for watching