I have written about the importance of adding rock dusts or subsoil, herbs containing minerals or I have even experimented with supplements like a person might take. I have written about several sources of locally available natural sources of nitrogen, but what makes the most difference is the time it takes to inoculate the char with living organisms.
No matter how we make it, when made, it is like having a pet. Anyone who has made beer or yogurt has the basic skills needed. If you have had chickens, it is a plus (although certainly not required) Bakers and brewers, vintners and distillers all know how to create the perfect environment, for a specific kind of life. Charmaking and transforming char to biochar actively creating soils, requires a complex diversity of organisms, not just one kind or type of life (ie:spirits). I believe char making, and biochar are the most important gift one could give, to civilization. Growing twice as much food in the most healthful and efficient ways has no down side.
When making char, some add straight compost, some like adding micorhyzae, others make compost tea, which is just water that has been enriched by adding a cheesecloth bag full of compost to a bucket of water and then leaving an aquarium-style air pump bubbling in the water overnight. The resulting tea is teeming with microbes and the oxygenation of the water translates to billions of healthy soil microbes per teaspoon of liquid. I came upon a great way of thinking about the char and how it develops over time into biochar. I compared it to a three dimensional petri dish.
Depending on the warmth and activity of natural processes, I may stir char that has been inoculated two to five times a day, folding the surface critters into the low bin containing char. Some healthy soil microbes double their numbers in hours, some in days, or even weeks,but when things are rocking, I typically stir and mix those developing organisms throughout whatever vessel I am making it in.
A shallow but wide container works best because even the pollen grains that fall from the air and microscopic dusts that find their way to the char can add important nutrition for soil organisms. Like we humans find along the paths we take, "What are the chances? 100%! That's why the Police named an album and wrote a song about it, Synchronicity. In fact, when I make char, I usually add loess (wind transported dirt) because it is high in minerals, the soil nutrition it adds is well known for long term fertility on loess and it is already full of the embedded energy energy it took to lift it into the sky and bring it to me on the wind.
The photo at the top is of a particular method of bio-assay that is done by finding some local soil that has worms in it. That is the lighter color material on the left side of the container. I have used worms from a bait shop as well, but if you can find a dozen or two worms in your garden, they will work fine as well. I start by putting a piece of cardboard or tag board in the middle of the container and the soil containing worms on one side, then fill the other side with what I have deemed to be finished biochar. Next, I pull out the cardboard divider and wait a few days...at least overnight. If the worms "like" the char, and invade it willingly, I consider it done.
Another thing I have learned over the years is that when the char particles start out, they have a texture like "singing sand", as if there are millions of tiny pieces of sharp glass shards roughly squeaking past one another while I stir. Keep in mind, the mixture is about as wet as a wrung out sponge. No puddling or ponding in the bottom of the container, not completely saturated either, because I typically add a bit of compost tea or rainwater at the very end of my process. The primary ingredients during the weeks of stirring that I do is my own loving energy, moving the microbes through the material, fresh air and warmth. I have had great success when the temperature is at least over 50 degrees Fahrenheit (10 C) In colder weather, the time required to get things going in the char can double triple, or even take longer than that! Here's the coolest thing...as a coating of microbial life develops, the "hand" of the material changes slowly to almost like downy feathers, or a very light marshmallowy texture.
It is still hard to imagine fourteen acres of surface area per handful...that's a hella lot of petri dishes!
 |
| The smaller you can micronize your char, the better. the largest particle sizes need to be smaller than 2mm, so worms can consume the char and fill it with worm castings... |
No comments:
Post a Comment