Healthy soil and sustainable growing

[richard green <greenrw71@hotmail.com>]

Deb I put the crushed charcoal in a 5gal plastic pail covered the charcoal with the liquid fertilizer and let it soak for a few days,I got a snap on lid from tractor supply to cover the bucket, some reccomend soaking for two week but I only did it for three dayish. I grow both summer and winter gardens here in north florida. I have garden beds 12ft by 4ft as the beds were being converted to winter crops I tilled(small hand claw) in two buckets per bed on average along with COF and compost. I purchased 10 bags of all natural hardwood charcoal, two bags of which await crushing and one bag thats being soaked as we speek the bulk has been incorporated into the beds. Ive recently been puting it into the compost pile as a nitrogen source after soaking.

Rick

 

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Date: Wed, 8 Dec 2010 11:13:58 -0800
From: lbirke1@yahoo.com
To: livingontheland@lists.ibiblio.org
Subject: Re: [Livingontheland] Charcoal Crushing/inoculate the charcoal??

What/how to inoculate the charcoal Rick?  Deb

 

 I wish to add to the line concerning the use of charcoal, I live in north florida and have very sandy soil. In my back yard I have a small vegetable garden approx. 1000sqft. that I've had for the past three years. The first year the yields were nothing spectacular but good. Use of COF as Steve Solomon recommended, also chicken manure and some horse manure used in moderation. Leaf and garden clipping compost from a former garden site. The second year the production yields were way down both summer and winter gardens. The first half of the third year was not good either. I happened across several articles concerning charcoal, having nothing to lose I tried adding it. I crushed ten forty pound bags of hard wood charcoal I soaked the crushed charcoal in a liquid solution of 1 part dry chicken manure, 1 part leaf compost and 1 part comfrey tea (the part being a 2lb plastic coffee container I use for measurement) I put the dried parts in donated panty hose and soaked in 25 gal. of tap water maybe 2 weeks prior to use. This being a liquid fertilizer I commonly use. I am now into the last month of the third year and the yields thus far have exceeded my wildest expectations. I am growing the garden I had wished for. Simply put the ground/sand has come alive.
 
**** Inoculate the charcoal prior to amendment to the soil.

Rick

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