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livingontheland - Re: [Livingontheland] Bio-Char test garden

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Subject: Healthy soil and sustainable growing

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  • From: "John D'hondt" <dhondt@eircom.net>
  • To: "Healthy soil and sustainable growing" <livingontheland@lists.ibiblio.org>
  • Subject: Re: [Livingontheland] Bio-Char test garden
  • Date: Thu, 17 Feb 2011 22:34:35 -0000


The results could be a lot better science if you made sure the nutrients in all three plots were the same to start with. Bed 1 gets much more nutrients than bed three and bed two where you supposedly test compost is definitely worst off. If it is a matter of nutrients you are biassing the experiment from the start. I suppose a lot depends on how good your soil is to start with and of what quality your compost. If your soil is very good to start with it may not make much of a difference but if not then it is obvious from the start what result you hope you will see. Bad science!

You might make more scietific sense if you left out the compost in bed 1 altogether and added more to bed 2 to compensate for the extra nutrients in the COF in bed 3. This would at least tell you whether charcoal in your soil is any use and also whether your compost was any good. My compost gets a lot of fish to digest what is in yours? Some commercial compost is actually bad for growth.
I am absolutely certain that COF is good fertilizer but unfortunatly I think unsustainable as you might soon find out with rising food prices. Seeds with 40% protein content can't be cheap for much longer.
john


I'd be following decades of highly successful methods reported by Rodale Press and Organic Gardening magazine, instead. I hope you do understand that tilling in charcoal won't even begin to create Terra Preta as found in the Amazon. But it's your call.

paul tradingpost@lobo.net

*********** REPLY SEPARATOR ***********

On 2/16/2011 at 10:15 PM richard green wrote:

I am expanding the size of my garden in my back yard. The work
crew(two-piglets) were installed inside four moveable hog panels Sunday
noon (easier to be forgiven by code enforcers,than to get permission.).
And promptly escaped by means of breaking the zip ties holding the corners
togather. Now held togather by bailing wire, Houdini and Houdini 2 have
spent four nights and days tearing up the grass preparing the soil and
gaining weight. I expect within ten days I will move them off the plot and
divide it into three raised beds of equal size. In Bed 1 I will
incorporate 40lbs of crushed charcoal I currently have soaking in a liquid
solution(Magic Juice)of chicken manure and plant juices. Additionally
compost and COF will be applied to bed 1. Bed 2 will have an equal amount
of compost only. Bed 3 will have an equal amounts of COF and Compost only.
I will plant each bed the same with equal number and type of plants. If I
determine the need for liquid fertilization(magic juice )is needed it will
be applied equally to all beds. All harvested vegetation will be weighed
and recorded per bed. This test should determine if biochar increases
yields. The photos record the future garden plot, the green mound is an
old pile of grass covered with soil(bed 2 future location) that grew
pumpkins last fall and currently planted in dakon radish the pigs ate. The
compost used will be a pile I've made and is ready to use. COF is made
following Steve Solomon's instructions. Any comments or suggestions, be
nice....
Rick



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