songbird wrote:

...about making charcoal and testing the
results when mixed with clay...

nothing failed to sprout, there was some
difference in height of the buckwheat and
the green beans, but that didn't make any
difference longer term.

by the end of the season it all looked
the same height as the surrounding plants
that weren't growing in the test strips.

a few days ago a friend dropped off
fourteen bags of shredded leaves and i had
no place to bury them except the trench i
keep going for discarding miscellaneous
organic materials (of the non-weedseedy
kind). it was about a third full, in
they went in layers with dirt.

the back part of this garden is where i'd
buried the charcoal and soil mix for testing
so that also was excavated and spread into
a wider area to benefit the heavy clay soil.

the major improvement is to the texture of
the soil. it is much easier to dig, move
and the charcoal makes it come off the shovel
instead of sticking to it. i'd add it for
that reason alone if it harms nothing else.

along with the layers of leaves and soil
i turned in some of the green cover crop
(mixed perennial legumes) as an added nitrogen
source and that along with the roots from
the buckwheat will be a great help. next
spring, a few weeks before planting, i'll
give it another stir to see how it goes.


songbird