|
|
Post by Joseph Lofthouse on Mar 21, 2010 2:26:30 GMT -5
So I just finished reading the thread about Terra Preta, and then did
some on-line reading... and one of the sites I read was recommending
one pound of charcoal per square foot: That is more than 20 tons per
acre!!!!! If I were to manufacture that myself I'd have to start out
with something like 60 tons of organic material, and who knows
how many dozens of cords of wood it would take to fire it all???
One thing about bio-char is that it wouldn't have the huge weed
seed problems that mulches/manures so often have. And I expect
that it wouldn't drain the nitrogen out of the soil like wood based
mulches are known for.
I'm wondering from an economic/labor perspective if bio-char
is actually a cost effective method of improving farmland in
areas like mine where organic matter is scarce??? I can see
it being beneficial/economic in areas like Missouri where trees grow
thickly on every unmowed spot of ground... But I sure wonder
about how effective a strategy it is for the badlands?
Regards,
Joseph
|
|
|
|
Post by grunt on Mar 22, 2010 2:48:22 GMT -5
Joseph: Probably in the long run it would work out to be cheaper than trying to boost the organic matter by the other usual methods, because you only have to do the charcoal application once, not continuously as you would have to with the other methods, in order to keep the organic materials level up. As for it taking a lot of extra wood to cook it, it doesn't have to. See curiouslylocal.com/2009/07/biochar-gardening-comes-to-waterloo/ , and note that the interior barrel is unnecessary, as this page shows www.puffergas.com/historic/rules/rules.html. Marry the method of that page, with the design of this page terrapreta.bioenergylists.org/artileafkiln , or the lid on the one from the video, and you are in business. If I ever get caught up here, or close enough to it that I think I might be, I will be making just such a combination. |
|
|
|
Post by Joseph Lofthouse on Mar 24, 2010 21:01:11 GMT -5
Grunt, Thanks for the explanation.
Ha!!!!
And then there are the social implications of bio-char.
My farm is on the main highway through town, and
if the soil had a dark black tone to it from bio-char
then people would say "Look how black the
soil is. It sure must be nutritious. I must buy vegetables
from that farmer".
And I bet the soil would warm up quicker in the spring,
especially if I applied bio-char on top of the snow.
Not to mention the awe people would hold me in for using
the newest "sustainable" techniques...
Regards,
Joseph
|
|
|
|
Post by mnjrutherford on Mar 25, 2010 7:52:55 GMT -5
We are at the end of the first year of our experiment. The bio-char deal didn't work in my head. I think that terra preta was really the trash heap and it was fired periodically to reduce odor and insects. Our experiment is SUPPOSED to be that the current pit gets raked over to flatten in out somewhat, then covered with yard clippings or something like that and left to ferment or cure for another year. Meanwhile, a second pit, right next door will be built over the current year. Next year, the idea is to mix, test, and spread the contents of the first pit, settle the 2nd pit for it's second year period and start up using the first pit again.
|
|
|
|
Post by maricybele on Apr 1, 2010 22:34:50 GMT -5
If I had a farm, I would make a plan to incorporate boichar into the soil, probably try manure char if there weren't many trees. Also I would char my charcoal able spent veggie plants annually and try a hardy bamboo area and chickens for renewable charcoal materials, I would probably take a while longer and make it part of the plan until I was satisfied with the soil fertility as 60 tons of materials is an enomous amount to think about, unless I had the resources to make it happen.
On my urban 1/4 acre I am going inch by inch. I have added so far about 170 lbs to my beds and compost pile so far as it take times to do boichar with an urban method (buy wood biochar in bags and crush).
|
|
|
|
Post by Joseph Lofthouse on Apr 2, 2010 17:58:13 GMT -5
On my urban 1/4 acre I am going inch by inch. I have added so far about 170 lbs to my beds and compost pile so far as it take times to do boichar with an urban method (buy wood biochar in bags and crush). Do you feel like it is helping your garden? Noticing any differences between biochar treated areas and non-treated areas? How much is necessary to make a difference? Thanks, Joseph |
|
|
|
Post by mnjrutherford on Apr 3, 2010 14:04:09 GMT -5
Our neighbors burned a large pile of wood chips over the last few months. They started it in the rain and it burned for about a week if I recall. It never did burn completely, just slowly smouldered. They fired it again on a rainy day and finished it off. Then they gave it to us. We have it spread over our corn field which is about... oh, 100' x 40'? Anyway, it's spread but I've planted some greens out and we are going to let it weed and grow till the last week of April and we will turn it all under again then plant the corn. We will probably turn over a small corner before then because I'm testing the germination rate of our saved corn seed from last year. If it sprouts, we'll plant it out in the field. If not, we are gonna have to purchase some corn seed.
|
|
|
|
Post by maricybele on Apr 9, 2010 0:58:47 GMT -5
The soil structure is nicer in my depleted beds that have been resting. The baby plants in the green house are doing well and the plants dont seem to wilt when the soil feels dry, I have noticed that the trays seem heavy although they look dry. Right now I have about a 5 gallon bucket per 4x4ish beds, and a little less in my other beds, plus about 15 lbs added to my compost pile, at the bottoms 10 per cent of pots and I add granulated to my starting and potting soil. I haven't done any side by side experiments, because I have added it to all beds and everything I do. I believe my green thumb with house plants as a child was due to the fact that I used charcoal a the bottom of plants, not much else and my plants were fabuloso, when I stopped using that technique, I couldn't keep a house plant. e-terrapretarooftopexp.blogspot.com/ |
|
|
|
Post by Joseph Lofthouse on May 11, 2010 19:18:16 GMT -5
I can see it being beneficial/economic in areas like Missouri where trees grow thickly on every unmowed spot of ground... But I sure wonder about how effective a strategy it is for the badlands? I've hauled so many truckloads of twigs to the composting yard this summer that I withdraw my wonder about how I would ever find enough wood to make enough biochar. One of these days I hope I drive up the canyon and bring home enough clay to make a charcoal retort. Regards, Joseph |
|
|
|
Post by maricybele on May 18, 2011 11:11:33 GMT -5
Another method you could evaluate is Rock dust remineralization with rock dust/compost mixture. My new cheap amendment. I went to the rock quarry and got 10- fine gravel and powder and mixed around the garden and compost. I filled my station wagon cargo area up for $5 at the feed shop 50 lbs is $8 and that is a fine powder, I may buy a bag of that strictly for watering to add minerals that way. YouTube - Rock Dust Organic Remineralisationwww.youtube.com/watch?v=M4co_pfmJxA&feature=youtu.beYouTube - Landward the Rock Dust One!YouTube - Grow Larger Vegetables with Rock Dust - Benefits and How to Apply One of the videos shows folks in Scotland who had super duper veggies and excellent results with compost and rock dust. It didn't sound harmful so I tried it. It didn't act like cement in my beds, actually like an aerator but I mixed it in right awy. I will let you know how it goes, already my plants are standing taller after just 12 hours. I want giant, strong long lasting veggies so I tried it, because the dust also will help my worm herds throughout my garden. Free amendments - If you had a wood chip pile (free from tree trimmers just tell em to dump it free at your place) you could add in effective microbes and some rock dust and get it rocking although wood chips take a long time. Along with your other composting methods. |
|
