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[bobf <bobford79 AT yahoo.com>]

This concept was recently discussed on the list .  The article is from the 
new issue of Mother Earth News.

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Excerpt:

Make Biochar — this Ancient Technique Will Improve Your Soil 
Charcoal made from brush can increase your soil’s fertility and help slow 
climate change.

February/March 2009 By Barbara Pleasant  


 Last year, I committed one of the great sins of gardening: I let weeds go to 
seed. Cleaning up in fall, I faced down a ton of seed-bearing foxtail, 
burdock and crabgrass. Sure, I could compost it hot to steam the weed seeds 
to death, but instead I decided to try something different. I dug a ditch, 
added the weeds and lots of woody prunings, and burned it into biochar, thus 
practicing a “new” soil-building technique that’s at least 3,000 years old.


Build Better Garden Soil 
Caring for the soil is the key to growing more of our food. We should never 
take fertile soil for g... 


What’s biochar? Basically, it’s organic matter that is burned slowly, with a 
restricted flow of oxygen, and then the fire is stopped when the material 
reaches the charcoal stage. Unlike tiny tidbits of ash, coarse lumps of 
charcoal are full of crevices and holes, which help them serve as life rafts 
to soil microorganisms. The carbon compounds in charcoal form loose chemical 
bonds with soluble plant nutrients so they are not as readily washed away by 
rain and irrigation. Biochar alone added to poor soil has little benefit to 
plants, but when used in combination with compost and organic fertilizers, it 
can dramatically improve plant growth while helping retain nutrients in the 
soil.

Amazonian Dark Earths
The idea of biochar comes from the Amazonian rain forests of Brazil, 
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http://www.motherearthnews.com/Organic-Gardening/Make-Biochar-To-Improve-Your-Soil.aspx