Strawberry harvest and hugelkultur update

We are harvesting strawberries now and the hugelkultur beds seem fine for them.

But not for the asparagus.  So sad...this is my second year planting.  I planted some asparagus in regular dirt for a control and it came up fine.  So there's my disappointing experiment.

I think the hugelkultur beds are best used for annuals until the wood starts to break down, which is already happening.
The peas, beans, cucumbers, and melons did great in the beds last year.  And planting something that puts nitrogen back into the soil helps, since during decomposition the wood needs nitrogen to break down.