UCP Partners (and 40 others you can't see in this pic).
Reedswood Community Oasis 311 S. Reed St. Joliet, IL 60436
The Reedswood Community Oasis is a project that has united neighbors, is upgrading a school yard and will create a meditative labyrinth that could be unique in all the United States. Intrigued? You can also be part of it.
The first phase was October 15, 2011 when there was creation of a traditional garden bed using sheet mulch technique and 3 garden spaces using hugelkulture.
Hugelkulture incorporates several Permaculture principles but essentially you get more bang for the buck. Hugelkulture uses old logs; Logs that would rot away, not good enough for firewood and too expensive to haul off. The logs are now work horses for plants. They soak up water from the ground, so you don't have to water the hugelkulture bed as much, if any. They decompose over time (20-30 years) releasing their nutrients that plants can use as food, so no extra fertilizer is required. They provide a wind break from the North winds and there is a large area for planting. Plants are more accessible, especially for those who have movement limitations.
Stay in touch. We are hoping to have trees brought in before the snow flies this year. The soil dictates what kind of trees there will be. Reedswood Elementary School (UCP) was built on land created out of "fill". We are having the soil tested.
It's beginning to be revealed that in several areas of suburban Chicagoland some fill was toxic.
The hugelkulture beds were created on top of the lawn and the source of logs, hay, manure and topsoil is known.