Gardening Series: My basic hugelkultur method

Hugelkultur is a great way to 

1. Start with great soil fertility in a defined space (bed).
2. Continue generating rich soil even as the bed ages.
3. Save money on soil to initially fill the bed
4. Utilize available materials on or around an existing homestead

There is nothing earth shattering about my method. It utilizes materials that are available to me and make sense in relation to my landscape. More of less I use a similar method on any new bed with good results.

Steps

1. Place broken branches of various thickness at bottom of the bed. Some Hugelkulture articles show people using small log sized wood at the bottom. In my experience this is absolutely dependent on the depth of the beds. If creating 2-3 foot deep beds big is OK.  My bed walls are typically around 10" high + digging down 1 -2 inch inside so around 1 foot.  Wood that's too thick will take too long to decompose and I want the nutriment available sooner.  I use twigs, small branches and bark collected from our forested area to fill ~ 1/3 - 1/2 way up the beds.
2. Next is wood chips. A small-medium sized wood chipper was one of the few investments made when starting out on the homestead which drained me for a bit but turned out to be a great investment. I chip any collected branches between 1-3" thick. If purchasing wood chips try to avoid any with colors or treatments. Hardwood chips are the best but pine chips are great too. Fill the bed to about 1/2 way.
3. Next I like to add partially composted leaves and partially composted wood chips. These are leaves that have been breaking down in a pile for about 6 months or wood chips that have been breaking down for about a year. 
4. Next I like to add my less expensive soil sources. This can be back fill from soil dug out initially or soil from other places around the garden.  My favorite is using a screen to sift the top layer of soil from the forested area.  It's a lot of work and will have some rogue saplings popping up the first year or two but the garden plants love it.  Should be getting close to 2/3 full at this point.
5. Next I like to add a thin layer of wood ash from the wood stove over the winter.
6. Next I like to add it some crushed shells. We live far from any coastline so rely on saving any shells from what we cook.  Oyster shells are amazing but are the toughest to break up in my little rock crusher so the majority is clam and mussel shells. This adds calcium and is supposed to help with harmful nematodes and root issues. Rock dust can also be added in areas with especially depleted soil.
7. Next I like to add compost. This can be fully composted leaves, grass clippings, woods chips, garden scraps, top layer of soil from the chicken coop.
8. I'm a big fan of bone meal.  It's possible to make one's own bone meal from well cleaned, dried and ground chicken and fish bones.  However that's a lot of work so i mostly purchase granulated bone meal.   It's one thing I spend a little money on to add to new beds and all our fruit and nut trees. (no picture available)
9. Finally, top it off with a purchased bag of high quality soil mix. At this point only one bag should be needed.  Usually local gardening shops have some better quality mixes than the big-box stores.  I really like "Happy Frog" and anything from "Coast of Maine" but there's probably tons of other great options out there.   Mixing some mycorrhizal powder into the top layer is helpful to get plants established.

That's about it. Throughout the year I sprinkle on some compost, wood ash and bone meal. Keeps everything growing!  

What special additions do others like to add from their area? Let me know!