Skip to Content.
Sympa Menu

livingontheland - Re: [Livingontheland] Biochar questions

livingontheland@lists.ibiblio.org

Subject: Healthy soil and sustainable growing

List archive

Chronological Thread  
  • From: Harvey Ussery <harvey@themodernhomestead.us>
  • To: Healthy soil and sustainable growing <livingontheland@lists.ibiblio.org>
  • Subject: Re: [Livingontheland] Biochar questions
  • Date: Fri, 13 Nov 2009 07:22:37 -0500


The question was "Which would be better for the soil, biochar or
>chippings?" If done properly, the BioChar is much better and longer
>lasting. How else can we deal with the sticks and brush that even the
>goats won't eat? ~Don
False choice. Wood chips don't belong in the soil anyway; unlike cellulose,
lignin takes too long to break down and robs nitrogen from growing plants.
Wood chips make great mulch, and mulch pays for itself in weed control,
yield, soil improvement, and irrigation costs. ~Paul
If you have a place to pile it up over the next few months, a third option is Hugelkultur. ~yarrow

Thanks to all for an interesting discussion. I agree with Paul--mulching with wood chips is something I do to the maximum extent I can--lotta benefits. However, I chip-mulch only when I can get big loads dumped by the power line clearing crews: I am *not* going to bring yet one more power machine onto my place to do something I hope can be done with natural processes (and patience) instead. That is, when it comes to my *own* "sticks and brush that even the goats won't eat," I'm looking for an alternative to chipping with a purchased machine, hauling to the landfill, or burning.

So I'm interested in the Hugelkultur option myself. I have assembled a hugelkulture bed, out of sight behind my poultry house (doesn't matter how long it takes to break down), using all those "sticks and branches" I generate here. I dump on "pony poop" from neighbor's horse operation, residues from crops and weeding, etc.

The twist is that I'm going to put chickens on the resulting mass from time to time. They help speed up the processing of less lignous materials along the lines of "The Lazy Gardener's Compost Heap"
http://themodernhomestead.us/article/Composter+Chickens.html
--it will be interesting to see if they help speed the breakdown of the heavy stuff in a hugelkultur bed, and what complications there are re "harvesting" the resulting compost.

I'll report on progress, but of course, could be quite awhile!

~Harvey

PS: Should add there is one application where I combine Paul's wood chips with Yarrow's hugelkultur: When I prune the fruit trees, I lay the prunings down on my permanent paths through the forest garden, then cover with a heavy wood chip mulch. No need to chip or burn. Great fungal activity.

--
Harvey in northern Virginia
www.themodernhomestead.us

A person dependent on somebody else for everything from potatoes to opinions may
declare that he is a free man, and his government may issue a certificate granting him
his freedom, but he will not be free. He is that variety of specialist known as a
consumer, which means that he is the abject dependent of producers. How can he be free
if he can do nothing for himself? What is the First Amendment to him whose mouth is
stuck to the tit of the "affluent society"? ~Wendell Berry





Archive powered by MHonArc 2.6.24.

Top of Page