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Summary
part 2 of a 2 part podcast
Paul, Alan and friends continue the hügelkultur smackdown
They discuss about sources for wood to build hügelkulturs, and what to avoid due to the risk of herbicides. They also talk about how to remediate various toxic materials. Alan comments about the benefits of bio-remediation, vs. "conventional" methods like removing contaminated soil. Paul says he has about 200 hours of comment about this, but he's tired of saying it.
Paul advocates for starting with clean ground, but as Alan points out, it's becoming harder and more expensive to get genuinely clean ground, and he wants people to realize that it's possible to fix many issues, but it's important to do that before you grow food on it.
The next question is about making a garden in a water trough. Paul is dismissive of this idea. The questioner also mentioned hickory flooring. Provided it hasn't go anything nasty on it, or surplus metal, it should be good to use in a hügelkultur.
The next question concerns bio-char. Paul says bio-char is a lot of work, and often done wrong. Alan agrees that often is the case but bio-char does have its uses, especially in very sandy soil. Paul does admit that bio-char does well in tropical areas, where hügelkulturs aren't good. He also feels if you have bio-char, it will be handy to put into a hügelkultur for diversity.
A question arrives about incorporating hügelkultur with livestock rotation. You can harvest what you want from the hügelkultur before the animals arrive. Paul likes to advocate that moving the animals along after they have eaten around 30% of the material.
The final discussion is about not making small hügelkulturs. The bigger the better! Paul is now incorporating chunky blocks of wood as steps, which is very effective.
Relevant Threads
Hügelkultur forum
Washington Hügelkultur post
Biochar forum
Rotational grazing forum
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This podcast was made possible thanks to:
Dr. Hugh Gill Kultur
Kyle Aster
Sasquatch
Bill Crim
G Cooper
Mehron Kugler
Bill Erickson
Julia Winter, world's slowest mosaic artist
Sean Benedict
Rita Bliden
Brent Lawson
Song Zheng
Dana Martin
David Lucey
Janelle
thomas adams
Clay McGowan
Shay Riggs
Dr. Jackie
Keith Kuhnsman
Cindi Duehmig
Banter Couch
Eric Tolbert
Paul Tipper
Paul F
Gerald Bernard
