Since I am on a new and much bigger property I was hauling fallen branches out to the road for the city to pick up...then I stopped...and dropped the branches into my new raised bed. After making a layer of branches I added various plant material then topped with my own planting medium. Have no clue how this will work but so far the plants are looking good.

By the way, at home we like to call it "Kugel-kultur" because we liken it to making a layered casserole.

You should have a great " kugle-kultur". Mine is in it's third year. So far I have had some bumper crops. I have slowly been converting all my raised beds. I love not bending over to plant or harvest.

I am curious about how much fresh compost you add to the raised beds each year. Things break down so quickly in my coastal climate where it is damp and hot. We have significant sink holes where there were buried tree stumps/roots. I envision losing about 6" minimum a year in a bed like this. That's a lot of fresh compost to add unless one were just doing annuals or veggies. What am I missing?

Greene, you are in my neck of the woods, I would be interested in hearing how your bed works out.

I have been taking photos periodically but won't know the true result for a year or two.

What a fun idea. I am in So Cal, zone 9 and have a woodpile not being used due to a chimney problem. I think I'll try it.