[/quote]

Hi All,

I've been doing more research on charcoal due to the conflicting evidence as to the leaching of soluble carbon from said charcoal.

There is more and more evidence that it depends on the type of wood being charred, as in, not all charcoal is created equal.

This would seem logical to me, tree species I believe char at different rates, there is also the question of green burning and seasoned burning. I also believe that soft wood and hard wood charcoals leach soluble carbon at differing rates.

Then you have the difference between twigs, branches and trunks. However if you mix as many different types and sizes of wood you end up with charcoal which leaches soluble carbon at different rates.

The bottom line is that soluble carbon will always be available over thousands of years, this is the reason why I believe that VAM's have such great longevity within a Terra Preta soil.

The rate of soluble carbon leaching, is I think directly related to the mass, density and water content of the wood being charred.

It is also useful to note that the trees of the Amazon delta store most of their nutrient in the spongy bark of said trees. If this nutrient were sent down to the roots it would be lost to the nutrient deficient soil. This I believe is one to the reasons why the bark of these trees became a source of food and medicine to these ancient natives.

I never fail to be amazed by the incredible intelligence at work within the world of Mother nature. Each and every life form has purpose, the fact that we humans don't see it is due to our having detached ourselves from Mother nature and the natural world which gives us life.

These are just my thoughts

PS:- I will be bowing out from this site for a while, however I will keep posting on Allotments UK for those of you who wish to be kept informed of what is happening on this quest for a better soil.

Allotments UK: Allotments Forum, blogs, articles, TV channel, Maps …

Uriel

The mind is like a parachute, its totally useless unless its open

Hi All,

I've been doing more research on charcoal due to the conflicting evidence as to the leaching of soluble carbon from said charcoal.

There is more and more evidence that it depends on the type of wood being charred, as in, not all charcoal is created equal.

This would seem logical to me, tree species I believe char at different rates, there is also the question of green burning and seasoned burning. I also believe that soft wood and hard wood charcoals leach soluble carbon at differing rates.

Then you have the difference between twigs, branches and trunks. However if you mix as many different types and sizes of wood you end up with charcoal which leaches soluble carbon at different rates.

The bottom line is that soluble carbon will always be available over thousands of years, this is the reason why I believe that VAM's have such great longevity within a Terra Preta soil.

The rate of soluble carbon leaching, is I think directly related to the mass, density and water content of the wood being charred.

It is also useful to note that the trees of the Amazon delta store most of their nutrient in the spongy bark of said trees. If this nutrient were sent down to the roots it would be lost to the nutrient deficient soil. This I believe is one to the reasons why the bark of these trees became a source of food and medicine to these ancient natives.

I never fail to be amazed by the incredible intelligence at work within the world of Mother nature. Each and every life form has purpose, the fact that we humans don't see it is due to our having detached ourselves from Mother nature and the natural world which gives us life.

These are just my thoughts

PS:- I will be bowing out from this site for a while, however I will keep posting on Allotments UK for those of you who wish to be kept informed of what is happening on this quest for a better soil.

Allotments UK: Allotments Forum, blogs, articles, TV channel, Maps …

Uriel

The mind is like a parachute, its totally useless unless its open[/quote]

Hi All,

Forgot to add this to the above posting, the topic is "The Terra Preta Experiment and can be found in the Topics for 2011 section.


Apologies

uriel13

The mind is like a parachute, its totally useless unless its open

[[/quote]

Hi All,

The rhizosphere is the depth to which micro-organisms have influence within the soil. Now in most soils this is relatively shallow, however If enough inoculated charcoal and home made compost is dug deeper into the soil,I believe that this changes things.

I was reviewing some of the documentaries which I have kept for reference and relocated a gem of information which I don't think that I have put up before. I have a file relating to this information however I'm sure that I may only have sent it to Tony and squirrel.

The rhizosphere of the TP soil is directly related to the depth of inoculated charcoal within the soil. One commentator said that the rhizosphere of TP soil was on average 4 to 6 feet in depth. In other words the depth of the native charcoal containing TP soil is the depth of the rhizosphere.

Now soil temperature and humidity would have had a great influence on this, but I believe it is possible to increase the depth of the rhizosphere in a zone 6 to 8 environment.

The soils which would benefit most from this deep amendment would be sandy and possibly chalk soils. These are soils which tend to dry out relatively quickly. Now if these soils were deep dug with inoculated charcoal and home made compost what a difference this would make.

These soils would begin to retain their moisture, the long term target is 30% by volume of deep dug inoculated charcoal. This would obviously be an ongoing process due to cost for those buying lump charcoal.

The introduction of the inoculated charcoal would also help to breakdown and I believe and separate the chalk soil making it more friable.

Year after year of adding inoculated charcoal and home made compost will I believe within 5 years produce a soil which will not dry out easily. Not only that but once the 30% inoculated charcoal by volume is achieved such a soil would I believe have the means to retain its fertility for hundreds if not thousands of years.

The population of VAM's would increase year upon year due to the leaching of soluble carbon from crops to VAM's during the growing season. The charcoal would supply soluble carbon during the winter season to the multiple VAM spores during dormancy.

This is why I say that inoculated special charcoal is essential, and why VAM's have an affinity with said charcoal. Both this charcoal and VAM's are the essence of TP they are the catalyst for other good micro-organisms to play their part in the process.

Having said that any soil which can be deep dug, as in 2 feet or more in depth before hitting clay will receive the same benefits.

However, to give a TP type amended soil a good environment in which to thrive we I believe, need to employ EM's.

These micro-organisms not only breakdown toxins within the soil, they actively suppress bad micro-organisms and disease. They will create the conditions for a TP type soil to prosper, I may be wrong but this is what I think.

With regard to the application of EM's to the soil I think that this is best done by means of a watering can when once you have prepared your soil for the seasons cultivation . This will prime the soil with immense numbers of EM's ready and willing to be of service, in a way its like having your own army of good micro-organisms fighting for you in the soil.

Isn't Mother nature wonderful when you work with her and not against her.

Now EM's if properly cultivated have a pH of approximately 3.1, as in highly acidic it is therefore necessary to pH test your soil.

The closer to neutral pH 7 or slightly below and in good health , the greater the need to dilute the cultivated EM's, as you go up the scale to pH 8 and above the less dilution I believe is required. EM's I think have the ability to lower the pH of soil if applied in sufficient quantity in their cultivated form.

This I would say maybe best done in the autumn if you have nothing left growing in your alkaline soil.

It may well be of use in its cultivated form to drench all soils with when your last crops are lifted and said soil is dug over for the winter. This action may I believe be effective against over wintering pathogens within the soil.

This is not a proven method of reducing pH, or protection against over wintering pathogens. It is up to you, I am not advocating this as a method of pH reduction or soil protection. I am only informing you of the possibility that such an amendment may have this effect.

It is becoming more and more obvious That EM's will be our saving grace in the fight to revitalise our earth, rivers seas and oceans. However this is what they have always done, but we humans have been totally unaware of the cleansing and balancing work that they do.

Not only that but Squirrel has found an amazing number of uses for EM's within our homes and to make health giving tonics.

See squirrel's post on "EM's Effective Micro-organisms", this is need to know information!

These EM's and other good micro-organisms are the only reason that we exist on this planet. When we kill them off we also kill the ecosystem which gives us life!!!

It is still my belief that sandy soils will reap most benefit from EM and TP amendment as they are closer to the nutrient deficient soils of the Amazon delta. These soils can be deep dug allowing the inoculated charcoal in the TP amendment to conserve moisture and promote EM and VAM activity. And as you are already aware VAM's have the ability to unlock Phosphorus and other nutrients from within the soil to be fed to all Endomicorrhizal crops within your soil.

Now this might seem odd, but if you dig out clay sub soil, allow it to dry, and put it through a shredder on a 2:1 ratio with charcoal you release all the nutrient within the clay. There is a lot of locked up nutrient within clay which can be released. The clay can never bind together again because it has been thoroughly mixed with the charcoal. This could be dug into sandy soil to provide a nutrient base along with home made compost, its just a thought.

I may be wrong but it is my belief that once clay has been separated and mixed with charcoal it will give up its nutrients for cultivation. This is a theory which I intend to test in the future, the mixing of clay with charcoal should prevent these clay particles from ever binding together again.

Once mixed and wetted the clay will bind to the charcoal and be fixed. The charcoal will soak up this nutrient making it available to VAM's bacteria and yeasts.

All life on this planet is carbon based, every living thing has carbon in its make up, we just need to think smarter as to how we utilise this carbon to repair the damage that we humans have done to the eco-system.

The deeper the rhizosphere the greater the potential for crops to thrive in an environment which is stable. This stability comes about with the forming of mutual symbiotic relationships of VAM's bacteria(EM's) and yeasts.

The varying seasonal temperatures may slow down their activity during winter in a zone 6 to 8 environment, but I think that these micro-organisms are well capable of adaptation to circumstance.

These micro-organisms have survived through the many ice ages which this planet has been subjected to, so it would be logical to think that they would survive in a zone 6 to 8 environment.

As always these are only my thoughts others will disagree

Uriel13

The mind is like a parachute it is totally useless unless it is open

Is there a way to measure as to how much limit or amount of charcoal ash may be added to compost mixing? I know it has been mentioned that it may not be beneficial but thinking about the process that it may help start and develop throughout composting, it may be enough to put interest in it. I am just thinking about amounts, parts or ratios to soil and other contents.

Hi Soren,

Ash has little or no long lasting effect in the soil, however charcoal, especially if inoculated with nutrient will have great longevity within the soil.

The ratio of compost to charcoal is 2:1, as to ingredients for said inoculation, it is your preference as to what you see as a good inoculation mixture.

Personally I use blood, fish and bone granules together with molasses in liquid form poured over the charcoal in hot liquid form and allowed to soak for at least 48 hours. The charcoal is then allowed to sun dry and used in the ratio as stated.

I use a shredder to mix the charcoal and compost together to ensure that said charcoal is thoroughly mixed in a finer form.

See my previous posts.


uriel13

The mind is like a parachute it is totally useless unless it is open

[/quote]

Hi All,

It is necessary I think, that we begin growing heirloom crops again because F1, F2 and F3 hybrid seeds do not produce seed which can be saved for cultivation, as in such seeds don't grow true to type.

We must now look to this proven seed stock for our survival as they are the only seed stock type which can be saved which will grow true to type.

They may not initially give the yields of these hybrid varieties, but they can be cultivated at no cost other than seed stock saving.

As oil and its derivatives become more expensive so will the seed of hybrid cultivars which must be purchased year after year.

The multi-national companies have us locked into their products, if we want to go and grow our own way then it is essential the we return to heirloom seed stock.

Now many of the old varieties were subject to disease and low harvest potential, however we now have three new tools in our locker in the form of a Terra Preta type soil, VAM's and EM's.

This soil and these micro-organisms were not available in past, and it is my belief that we can produce greater and healthier crops from these old varieties.

The amendment of our soils with EM's, inoculated charcoal and VAM's in conjunction with home made compost inoculated with EM's will I believe produce heirloom crops which will benefit from this soil remediation.

It is also my belief that the use of diluted EM's as a foliar amendment to crops may give extra protection to these heirloom crops against succumbing to disease.

If we seed save those crops which prove to be unaffected by disease due to this foliar amendment and plant them in the next season their disease resistance will be enhanced.

I believe that once a plant recognises the disease resistance of such an amendment it will automatically seek to create a mutual symbiotic relationship with these bacteria. I maybe totally wrong but I think that any life form when presented with a means by which to sustain, and or, extend its life would do so!

The prime directive for all of Mother nature's life forms is, "do what you must do in order to survive as a species!"

Many of the diseases suffered by heirloom crops have not been properly addressed as to cause and effect. The primary cause of disease is lack of specific nutrients, and or, failure to effectively rotate crops.

I also believe that adding salt water to our EM cultivation techniques will supply these vital trace elements to our soil.

As I previously said we now have a superior soil type and a range of hand picked bacteria and fungi to aid us in the reintroduction of heirloom crops. The results of such a reintroduction would be breaking new ground in terms of the results.

We I believe will be the first to have tested these old varieties under such new conditions. Everything which we achieve will be new information in terms of growth, harvest, disease resistance and longevity within this soil and its amendments.

The most positive aspect about this is that we will be in control of our own destiny, nobody will have the right to say you can't do that. We will be taking the first steps into deciding what does and does not give us the results which we require.


Uriel

The mind is like a parachute, its totally useless unless its open

[/quote]

Hi All,

I found this link in my favourites while deleting some of the old links which had been disconnected.

It is a simple barrel within a barrel method of creating your own special charcoal put the chicken carcasses bones etc in first. Having done that load the rest of the inner barrel with forest wood and proceed as per the instructions.

A 30 and 45 gallon drum would be better suited to the task, however 30 gallon metal drums are hard to come by these days.

Just thought that this would be of interest.

Simple method of charcoal production


Uriel

The mind is like a parachute, its totally useless unless its open

I tilled abundance into the vegetable garden for the potash, carbon and trace elements. I use a aggregate of charcoal briquettes and hickory ash (I accept three ample hickory trees). You can add a small amount of ash to a admixture bin, but too abundant may stop the composting process or accession pH.

Hi markenejackson,

I don't use charcoal briquettes because they have chemicals in them which are detrimental to the micro-organisms within the soil.

I think I made mention of this in an earlier posting, it is becoming increasingly more difficult to purchase real charcoal. This is due to the barbeque market now being flooded with easy light charcoal in the form of briquettes and the like.

Personally I have not found that inoculated charcoal approximating 30% in a compost bin hinders the composting process. However in the case of my bins they are watered with EM solution to encourage the breakdown of vegetation.

Charcoal sweetens the soil therefore pH would I think only be a problem in a high alkaline soil. The ash content will be short lived as a nutrient source only charcoal has longevity within the soil.

However this is your experiment so don't be put off from doing your own thing.


The mind is like a parachute its totally useless unless its open

[/quote]

Hi All,

Found this site whilst browsing the net, It I felt vindicated my thinking on trace elements and plant diseases. There however some aspects, as in the use of sewage which I am not all that happy with.

It is a good read and worthy of looking further into, the essence of the subject matter is weaning ourselves off chemical crop production.


"Poison Free Agriculture, Poison Free Gardening

Uriel

The mind is like a parachute, its totally useless unless its open

Big companies really does not care about the effect of there product they only want the best of there interest. We can stop this by going some into the public and let them know the fact of what have happen to our mother earth

Hi Rachel,

Could not agree with you more, unfortunately modern humans don't see Mother nature as the giver of life.

They think that the air which the breathe, the food that they eat and the water that they drink will always be there to sustain them, and therein is the problem.

In reality modern humans don't care as long as they have some soap, or other media reality show to keep their interest.

Its a sad world we live in!!



Uriel

The mind is like a parachute, its totally useless unless its open

[/quote]

Hi All,
I would urge you all to experiment with EM cultures and organic materials as they have the ability to render down all organic materials into a form which is readily assimilated by crop roots.

In this case I'm not going to tell you what to use, I want you to think this out for yourselves, weeds and herbs have much to offer in terms of nutrition for our crops.

I'll give you a clue most so called weeds are in fact herbs, we have just got used to the fact that if they are a problem we tend to call them weeds.

Put the roots of these herbs into a blender then add them to your EM culture and let the EM's work their magic.

To do this properly you require to take notes of your experiments, as in the weight of roots used, the dilution used in a way in which you can see what is happening. It would also be beneficial to take notes on successes and failures.

Mother nature's laboratory requires that we understand what we are doing to her soil, if she does not like what we are doing, you will, if committed to the task, understand why the experiment did not work.

This an essential aspect of our work, as in, was the amendment too overpowering for the crops to assimilate we must remember that Mother nature works at her own pace.

However to verify this, grow crops in the same location the following season, if they prosper, then it is obvious that you must reduce the amount of the active ingredients by dilution of the fermented brew to ensure that your crops will be enabled to take advantage of the nutrients available to them.

Best of all they don't cost you anything to use, so get on the internet and find out what they have to offer in terms of nutrition for our crops.

You might find that they have much more to offer than continually buying chemical fertilisers which kill the life within our soils.

Again I say that simplistic thinking is the key, you need to disconnect yourselves from science and understand how Mother nature actually works within her eco-system.

We modern humans who live on this planet seem to have scant respect for what she does for us, it is best that we remedy this situation before its too late!!!!

Use shovel along with charcoal ash compost.Use another compost like brown and green matter such as leaves, soil, branches and bark, and fruits and vegetables.

Hi Allan,
The only thing missing from your mixture is charcoal, charcoal ash is short lived within the soil as a nutrient source.

See my earlier postings on this subject.


uriel13


The mind is like a parachute, its totally useless unless its open