This Solstice

At least in Wisconsin, we are averaging forty-five degrees above normal. This in a time when we have recently changed the definition of normal and rather than averaging temperatures since record keeping began we now only average the last thirty years of data. Still, nearly fifty degrees warmer than the thirty year average is pretty good. It certainly is not feeling like midwinter. Six weeks from now, the back of winter will break and if the past few years are any indication, we can begin planting cold tolerant crops around April first (six weeks after that). It has rained almost six inches in December alone, more than double our typical December moisture. The strongest El Nino seems to be combining with a warm Gulf of Mexico to bring us Spring weather in December. Perhaps there will be a January freeze this year, rather than a January thaw.

On the darkest days of the year, it helps to reinforce the return of the light.

There is no better time to re-post information about biochar. This single resource has a proven track record and is a viable way to build soil, sequester carbon and stabilize soil moisture. It also has the power to double crop yields.

Many people worry about the "end times" or even champion them as "god's will". These people are conspiring against all of humanity. When faced with truth, we often triumph over difficult odds in spite of our limitations. It is what humans do. This is the case for climate change. Building soil by adding biochar increases the stability of life within the root zone of plants. Bacteriologic balance, provides healthy habitat for both roots and critters whose "waste" can be utilized by plants. We have the power in our hands to make char whenever we sit around a bonfire, it is cheap and easy to make, just throw some dry organic matter in a cookie tin with a few holes poked through to let flammable gasses escape and viola'! You can make char.

I have always felt that the Rainbow Warrior was alive in me. Peace and justice drive me from my soul level. By making biochar, we heal the planet from the ground up. Those people who participate in building soils are transformed in ways that are hard to quantify, but living a life that leads to the transformation of soils has profound impacts on those who do. When I was a more avid brewer, I always wanted a shirt that said, Yeast Lord. Because of the throngs of billions of generations of those lowly yet exalted strains that I shepherded and gave rise to. There may still be remnant colonies of organisms that trace their history back to my brewing days.

Certainly there are colonies in and amongst the char that I have created that owe their existence to my handiwork, perhaps hundreds of trillions of discreet microscopic organisms. The areas that I have added biochar to are still far from frozen, yet the areas in our yard that have not been treated with char are holding the little snow that has fallen, showing that billions of microscopic organisms have enough metabolism to change the surface conditions. Under the mulch, there are thriving communities that have not yet stopped for the winter. Life wants to teem, what we have done, almost without understanding, has been to systematically sicken, poison and reduce the soils of the planet to dirt. This solstice, I am pledging to redouble my efforts to teach others the important skills needed to produce char and nurture it so it can become the most amazing soil.

All of the beds that I have enriched with biochar doubled their output. Growers, please share!

Fourteen acres of surface area per handful of char. On an acre of healthy soil, the microbial community alone, has as much biomass as a cow and her calf. Not only will the char harbor and hold six times its own weight in water, the bacteria, fungi, and other microbes hold even more moisture withing their cells. I frequently describe char as being like the condo complex, the pantries and refrigerators need to be stocked, but then the whole thing is ready to be inoculated with live soil microbes from healthy soil. When they are given optimal conditions, they reproduce rapidly and form life giving, healthy soil.

Please contact me for information about classes and consulting services.