BioChar
Ancient Soil Amendment
06/27/2019
By: Daniel Quintero
It is fascinating that ancient human survived before modern technology existed, and often thrived. I often associate the process of making biochar with a very primitive side of cultivation and agriculture that brings me a great deal of satisfaction. The process of making biochar is an ancient technology, and we owe our gratitude to those that came before us who carved the path for this amazing technology to flourish. After several trials and hands on experience; I would like to share how I make char, and further process it to a usable form, as a soil amendment.
The burn is one of the more exciting steps, although it is not as easy as it may seem depending on the conditions, material and equipment used. The burn condition is more of a safety issue, as with any burn it is important to use caution and respect fire. Material should be completely dry, as wet material can cause undesirable results, unevenly cooked batch, or send a huge smoke cloud into your neighborhood. The equipment used to make the char is known as a TLUD or Top Lit Up Draft stove, and was found on youtube where it is also known as an Estufa Finca.
It’s important to gather dry burn material, or gather it before it rains. I often let the material dry to ensure little to no moisture is present. We then simply load the material into the TLUD stove and light it from the top. Once we have an even burn going a lid is placed onto the TLUD and we sit back and enjoy a nice fire.
After the material has burned down and the flames are low we remove the lid. Then give the material a poke with a stick, and listen to the sound it makes. The carbon should sound like broken glass, as this indicates the material is ready to extinguish. Finally we extinguish the burn by pouring the red-hot burn material into a container, and placing a lid securely on removing oxygen, and extinguishing the burn. What is left is pure carbon and if we timed things correctly little ash.
At this point the carbon is not quite ready to be used in our soil mix just yet. We still need to add some biology to the carbon via a compost tea brew. AACT or actively aerated compost tea is an excellent way to add soil microbiology to the carbon skeleton. I like to go with a recipe that includes high quality ingredients including; worm castings, a salt called SEA90, black soldier fly larvae, sugars, fish protein and our carbon. These are just some of the ingredients used.
After we inoculate the carbon the compost tea is used as it normally would be used in the garden, while the carbon can now be mixed into the soil. This is where we can get really creative and layer up some containers with biochar and potting mix for a container garden. The bio-char can be mixed into a raised bed. I like to get the biochar down near the root zone where it will be most effective.
Biochar has the ability to change the chemical, physical, and biological properties of the soil according to Capital RCD Winter 2018 Webinar Series; Biochar Production. Biochar will increase the pH because of the ash content. I don’t aim to go to heavy on the soil science but it can increase the CEC or cation exchange capacity substantially. All this means is that biochar has the ability to retain + positively charged nutrients and ions. It can hold fertility and prevents run off of things like nitrates. It has the ability to conduct electricity. The webinar goes on to explain that biochar will change the physical properties of soil or the texture it can reduce soil density or increase tilth by increased porosity, increased aeration, water infiltration, and water retention. The biological properties include the ability of biochar to maintain a perfect environment for things like soil micro-organisms to live, for example soil fungi, bacteria, nematodes are just a few.
Finally I would like to thank all those that came before us that had the foresight to live in peace and harmony with their environment and used carbon on a large scale to thrive in a harsh environment. I often like to think what a beautiful world this could be if we just aimed to live a sustainable life like the ancient people of the Americas did. The people from the central Amazon the Incas the Cloud People the Maya and Mexica all the way up to the Native original people of the Great Lakes the Beautiful Plains people, Navajo, Seminoles, Iroquois, Cheyenne, Lakota, and all other Native people that I didn’t mention. Bio char is an amazing tool with many uses that will most definitely have a role in mitigation of climate change and carbon sequestration.
The Secret of ElDorado
Living Web Farms Biochar Workshop
SeaChar Estufa Finca biochar stove
Winter 2018 Webinar Series; Biochar