Nathan Ryan

That's fair. I guess I've just seen a few instances where people try to, in my mind inappropriately, use hugelkultur methods because it offered all these amazing benefits to soil management. It seems often like its spoken of as a universal fix, a snake oil. These same people then neglected the basics of preventing soil erosion leading to a bunch of poorly structured soil on top of some logs. But I suppose as with any tool, the effectiveness stems from its user.

Okay so I guess I'm trying to wrap my head around the hugelkultur craze. I understand the benefits in terms of better soil management, but in terms of labor costs the practice is really impractical. I mean its alright for your home garden, but the only way its possible to scale to any degree and still be profitable/possible is with vast amounts of unpaid volunteer labor OR large inputs of fossil fuels (via machinery use). Why is there such a push for these practices rather than simply good soil management practices with perennial species, no-till techniques, livestock integration, and such? Am I missing some key ingredient as to the superiority of hugelkultur?

Hello all,

Me and my girlfriend are moving to the Madison area soon. We are graduating college and are looking to find a community of people with similar interests. We're interested in starting a small farm, and looking to rent land. Are there people in the area who have any advice?

Thanks