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  • From: Allan Balliett <aballiett AT frontiernet.net>
  • To: Market Farming <market-farming AT lists.ibiblio.org>
  • Subject: Re: [Market-farming] Tera Preta Soil Technology
  • Date: Thu, 8 Feb 2007 22:03:20 -0500

Marlin, I assume you are screwing with me for not believing that VIrginia Biological Farmers actually exist!

You didn't learn about terra preta in school because, although it is projected that 30% of the Amazon is comprised of this man made soil, it was outside of mainstream science's assumption of how the New World worked so it was never 'discovered.' Oh, European discovery of it was presented to science as long ago as 1860, but terra preta was never really looked into until recently, because, of course, it was 'not possible.'

Read "1491" by Charles C. Mann to find out about recently demonstrated limitations of science and the history of terra preta, and, even better, the history of civilization on this continent.

Terra Preta does work in this temperate zone. Cornell has already claimed yield improvements of 800% through 'terra preta nova,' modern man-made terra preta.

Terra preta, it is currently believe, does not work primarily through the carbon content, but through the arbuscular myco. (AM) that thrive in hi carbon environments. It's the AM that makes the humus that actually GROWS in terra preta beds. This is emerging information, of course, I wouldn't run and start putting charcoal fines or coal dust in my soil if I were you until science knows more about terra preta. Of course, we are doing it here this year because there appears to be nothing to lose and so much to gain (water control and nutrient management, for starters). If you need sources for terra preta quality charcoal or bio-char or coal, let me know. I'll turn you on to some sources.

In the meantime, the cover story of the current issue of ACRES USA: The Voice of Eco-Agriculture is something like "TERRA PRETA Magic Soil of the Lost Amazon" This magnificent article gives a lot more detail on what we know about terra preta than I've given here. I wrote that article. I'm happy to send you a pdf of it if you send me an email at info AT freshandlocalcsa.com

Which reminds me: carbon placed into the soil, like logs into a lake, is considered to be 'sequestered.' Charcoal incorporated into reasonably good soil promotes microbial life so profoundly that tremendous amounts of additional carbon is sequestered within the bodies of the microbes. It is possible to produce bio-char and incorporate it in the soil and achieve a negative carbon situation for 'incinerating' agricultural waste (or bio-mass). In theory, in the future, US farmers will be paid for the amout of carbon they sequester.

-Allan











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