Bio-char

Today has been interesting. I went on a search for a mortar and pestle large enough to grind to powder char for adding to garden beds. Biochar is easy enough to find on you tube. A good friend of mine, David Yarrow has a few good videos posted there. TED also has a good overview of what it is and how it works in soil building and carbon sequestration. My favorite video is done by a fellow with an English or Australian accent who uses tin storage bins with tight fitting lids to make char. First he fills them with dry sticks or dry wood chips, then having put the tight fitting lid on, he pokes a fairly large hole in the center of the lid with a screwdriver. Next, he roasts the whole thing for about an hour over a fire. Basically, it is using pyrolysis to reduce the wood to charcoal. In a handful of char, there are acres of surface area. Billions of tiny little structures within which bacteria can reside. This is the true base of the food chain. My readers know that over the years I have written extensively about the need for broadening the base and increasing the trophic levels of the food chain rather than squashing the living biosphere into a series of monocultures.

In my quest for the tool I needed, I went tot he Hmong grocery and picked up a few things we need to go with my new tools. I must have had a funny look on my face because the young lady behind the counter asked, "Do you need anything else?"
Indeed, I was so excited to share what I have been learning about the char with her, I did need one more thing, to tell her about it. I stared by asking if there was a shaman that she knew who could help spread the word about this amazing soil building additive. I told her that I was a gardener and that from what I knew, there are many Hmong gardeners. She got really excited, but when I explained, she said, "We always did that in the old country." I wondered whether it was a system that they had abandoned when they came here. Now that I think about it, much of what I learn has had an extremely long history. just because I never knew about it before certainly can't mean that it never happened before.

I am currently working on a container that I can use for the same purpose, but it will be a bit larger and designed to be reuseable. When I get things up and running, I'm thinking of making a video of the process myself. We need to share as many techniques for sustainability as possible, but as for myself, I'm going to be doing this in a pretty primitive fashion. I am also trying to use cast off items and waste products for producing my bio-char.I have been varying the amounts of powdered char that I have been adding to my garden beds, but through this season and next I will be experimenting to see just what it will mean for production and water/nutrient cycles. Blessings on your journey.