In article ,
songbird wrote:
Billy wrote:
...
Keep up the good work. Your efforts are very interesting.
it sure beats tv. 
You may want to invest in a metal trash can. Once the fire is going,
throw in the small stuff, and put the lid on the trash can.
i suspect there is too much oxygen
and opening the lid would introduce more.
from what i can tell there has to be heat
and lack of oxygen. if i filled the trash
can with stuff and then was able to get
another fire going in a larger trash
barrel like a 55 gallon drum and then
set the smaller metal trash can on top
of the fire in the drum that might do
it, or not, that would be one of the more
simple designs.
the question would be about how much fuel
i would have to put underneath to bake the
contents of the trash can to charcoal. and
i probably would need some sort of one-way
valve to let off the steam and gasses.
this being a low tech and low budget
operation i only have access at present to
some flat sheet metal pieces that i can
use to lay over the top of a trench.
piling dirt around the edges to seal it
up and some wet dirt on top to keep the
metal cool so that it doesn't warp is
about the level of technology here.
1491: New Revelations of the Americas Before Columbus by Charles C. Mann
http://www.amazon.com/1491-Revelatio...umbus/dp/14000
32059/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1296839060&sr=1-1
p.344
GIFT FROM THE PAST
Terra preta exists in two forms: terra preta itself, a black soil thick
with pottery, and terra mulata, a lighter dark brown soil with much less
pottery. A number of researchers believe that although Indians made
both, they deliberately created only the terra mulata. Terra preta was
the soil created directly around homes by charcoal kitchen fires and
organic refuse of various types.
---
Charcoal isn't particularly high tech to make. Locally, they used to dig
a cave (short tunnel) in the side of a hill. Fill the cave with wood.
Set the wood on fire, and then bury the mouth of the cave. The charcoal
would be removed a week later.
More in the vein of your approach would be the "Chuckwagon Hoedown Bbq".
You need a backhoe to dig a hole big enough to accommodate
several cords of wood. Use hardwoods, apple is good and fenceposts
are acceptable, but do not use treated or creosoted wood. Once the
wood has burned down to a bed of coals several feet deep, about four
hours, prepare the beef: cut into large chunks of 15 pounds each,
wrap in butcher paper and then in wet burlap bags; tie securely. Toss
the packages directly onto the coals, quickly cover with a large
sheet of tin, and cover the tin with dirt. The secret is to keep out
oxygen so the coals do not burn quickly and burn the meat. The beef
is left to cook- allow 12 hours for this.
After the 12 hours are up uncover the bundles; they will not be
charred. Unwrap, slice and serve with baked beans, fresh bread,
salads, pickles and for dessert 60 assorted pies and 30 cakes.
Yield: 480 Servings
Not only do you get charcoal, you also won't have to cook again for at
least 4 month ;O)
i
almost scored some heating duct tubes from
my brother but he forgot i wanted them and
took them to the metal recycler. oops.
one other interesting aspect is that
by firing the stuff in a trench in the
ground any liquids given off that aren't
driven off as vapor are absorbed by the
soil under and around the trench. i'm not
sure if there are much in the way of
nutrients in that liquid (i suspect most
of it would be water or alcohols, but my
reading so far isn't very detailed on the
volatile byproducts) but a steel contraption
would lose that. it remains an item i'll
continue to look into as i get time and
rainy days.
i don't have enough new dry materials to
do any more test burns until either this
fall or next spring. the metal instead of
cardboard over the trench will likely be
the change i'll make to see if that makes it
much easier. i'm not looking to scrounge
new organic materials either at this point.
too much other stuff going on that needs work
or weeding. a few interesting angles are
possible with some local enterprises yet it
will be a bit before i'll get a chance to
explore them.
Tropical rain forests have laterite soils, not clay. Water absorbs CO2
from the atmosphere, and becomes carbonic acid (H2CO3). The carbonic
acid, in turn, disolves metals in the soil, leaving a soil rich in iron
and aluminum. The soil is usually very porous and will not hold
nutrients (being a rain forest, water retention is not a concern).
thanks for the correction/information, i knew it
was very poor soil (not what you would expect from
such a rich canopy overhead) and was surprised to
find out that most of the nutrients are quickly
recycled or leached away.
The classic example is from a book called "The Ugly America".
The Ugly American by Eugene Burdick and William J. Lederer (Jan 1, 1999)
http://www.amazon.com/Ugly-American-...318672/ref=sr_
1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1307818900&sr=1-1
(Avalable at a library near you, until they are closed)
IIRC it
concerned a tractor salesman in the 1960s,
I didn't remember correctly, the book was published in 1958.
who was spreading the word
about the "Green Revolution" in farming. He plowed a rice paddy as a
demonstration, somewhere in South East Asia. When he finished, the rice
paddy disappeared, because he had destroyed the lining of the paddy
(organic or clay, I don't know), and the water went down the laterite
like water down a drain.
never heard of this one before. huh.
similar to the design of terraces and
how much a simple change like introducing
a different species of worms can destroy
the ability of the edge to effectively
hold water requiring a change from rice to
different crops.
Keep us up dated.
sure thing.
songbird
--
- Billy
Mad dog Republicans to the right. Democratic spider webs to the left. True conservatives, and liberals not to be found anywhere in the phantasmagoria
of the American political landscape.
America is not broke. The country is awash in wealth and cash.
It's just that it's not in your hands. It has been transferred, in the
greatest heist in history, from the workers and consumers to the banks
and the portfolios of the uber-rich.
http://www.politifact.com/wisconsin/.../michael-moore
/michael-moore-says-400-americans-have-more-wealth-/