New House Comes With Hugels

Well, my brother Brian and his wife Wendy’s new house in a Courtenay cohousing community is very nice, but what I really liked were the hugels.

 “What’s that?” I asked when I spotted “active hugel” on a sign stuck into what looked like a mound of brush and leaves. We were on a tour of their new nine-acre community, some of which remains deliciously wild, with a creek and pond, treed areas and lots of space for gardening-related activities. I learned that hugel – a new word to me – equates to mound of garden waste being transformed into excellent new compost. The community my relatives have joined take composting very very seriously.

Garden waste on the active hugel.

Besides the hugels at three stages of decomposition, there were four big wooden bins for kitchen waste, each dug through weekly. By week four (and there’s a marker, you bet!) the banana and potato peelings are black compost, ready for use. 

The finger fence hedge for bugs and critters.

Then there’s the finger fence, where branches thicker than your little finger are piled into a long hedge with other garden detritus to provide homes for critters and insects. All this composting is an indication of the gardening bent of the community, which includes a large garden area with both individual and common plots. Residents can help themselves from the latter, where the early-October tomatoes were still delicious, the kale was flourishing, and anyone wanting herbs for a recipe needed only scissors. 

Great veggies grow here.

Garden shed hints at hard work and relaxation.

The passion for gardening was also evident in the residential area of the community, where three pods of six duplexes each nestled into a landscape of trees and plantings that would put many botanical gardens to shame. Common areas and house fronts all sported a wide variety of trees and shrubs; I wasn’t surprised to hear that an experienced arborist is among the residents. 

Brian and Wendy's front door, behind the trees.

Brian and Wendy's new home, a three-bedroom duplex, was very pleasant, but once again the natural surroundings were a major feature. The front door was almost hidden behind the front-yard plantings. The living room opened out into a back patio in a small garden. Best of all, the dining area looked out into a narrow, beautifully planted side garden with a rose arbor, a birdbath, and plantings providing privacy from neighbours. 

 It seems that my relatives didn’t so much buy a house as join a gardening community. I'm already benefiting – now I know what a hugel is!

Common house for events and get-togethers.

Tree house in the woods where kids can play.