Sawdust, woodchips, wood.

[Inodoro Pereyra]

When I was a kid, my grandfather had a farm, not too far from my city, I used to spend weekends at.
One day, we started downing small trees, and cutting them in pieces, about 4 feet long. Then, he dug 3 big holes in the side of the house (I used to joke they were tombs), and buried those tree pieces in them.
A year later, he planted grapes, where those "tombs" were. Those grapes grew like they were on steroids, and produced the best grapes I have ever tasted.

My point with this little story is: wood is food.

If you have less than perfect soil, you don't need to buy expensive (and, most times, nasty) fertilizer. You also don't need to start downing and burying trees. Go to your local lumber yard. Most times, they will have tons of sawdust and wood chips they will be glad to give you for free, or very cheap.Same if you have a carpentry shop nearby, or a furniture factory. Just mix it with your top soil, irrigate, if needed, and let it rot. You will be surprised how fast your land will transform into the best soil you've ever seen.

[ogfor]

Hugelkultur is a German organic method using wood scrap to make very fertile garden beds.

Hugelkultur is nothing more than making raised garden beds filled with rotten wood. This makes for raised garden beds loaded with organic material, nutrients, air pockets for the roots of what you plant, etc. As the years pass, the deep soil of your raised garden bed becomes incredibly rich and loaded with soil life.

http://www.richsoil.com/hugelkultur/

[ogfor]

A few words from Paul Wheaton about how using wood in our gardens can help the planet and store CO2 emissions:

Hugelkultur is a type of raised gardening bed that has wood in it. And yet, this simple thing can save the world.

- reduce global warming by sequestering tons of carbon in your back yard
- reduce world hunger, and better feed your family?
- reduce overconsumption of water by eliminating garden irrigation
- reduce consumption ($$) of hoses, sprinklers and fertilizers
- gardening becomes dramatically easier: fewer trips to the grocery store

Using hugelkultur, gardens have thrived in deserts without a drop if irrigation or fertilizer. Any gardener can make one and eliminate the chore, the hoses, the cost of the water, not to mention just living lighter on the planet while making it far easier to provide food. And can this help to solve world hunger?

This practice can sequester carbon right in your own back yard. Dramatically lower your carbon footprint, and reduce carbon in the atmosphere while getting a huge use from it.

Perfect for places where trees have been downed by storms.

A use for branches, twigs and trees without having to haul them to the dump.

http://www.richsoil.com/hugelkultur/