- Hill Country hugelkultur: Likin' lichen

I've become a lichen farmer. Which is to say, I'm deliberately saving lichen-laced deadwood from the burn pile and relocating it to areas that were scoured by heavy rainfall. Hopefully the branches will slow the flow of water and cause soil to drop out of suspension into the spaces between the rocks ... while simultaneously supporting continued lichen growth.

In this photo the newly laid wood chip path runs from upper left to lower right. The windfall branches covered with lichen are spread into the washed out area at the lower left corner ...

The idea had its genesis in Grace's suggestion that we use our brush cuttings for hugelkultur, but we have too many critters that would eat anything we might plant unless we build fences ... which isn't in our current plan. 

But lichen ... now that's something worth nurturing! And where better than along our trails?

Of course, we already hauled a large quantity of deadwood and brush to the burn pile ...

But I've started to pick through it to rescue the lichen-bearing branches. It's not something I'll ask Don to help with ... which goes back to my supervisory days when I used to tell student workers "If I ever ask you to do something and then decide I want it done differently, then I promise I will be the one to re-do the job." It was a good technique which made me think twice about how I wanted things done and made for a good lesson learned if I miscalculated.

So tomorrow is burn day (unless the wind picks up again) and I'll alternate fire tending with lichen hauling. With a little wildflower gazing thrown in ...

                          

And this is for Grace: one of our breezeway anoles admiring the lantana ...