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market-farming - Re: [Market-farming] Charcoal in soil - Terra Preta

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  • From: "Bill Shoemaker" <wshoemak AT inil.com>
  • To: "Market Farming" <market-farming AT lists.ibiblio.org>
  • Subject: Re: [Market-farming] Charcoal in soil - Terra Preta
  • Date: Fri, 9 Feb 2007 07:47:23 -0600

Allan

This is an interesting topic. Wood is not much more than sugars (C-H-O) connected into lignins so wood becomes food for many microbes, particularly fungi. Creating charcoal probably changes the profile of the food content of wood, perhaps making it less palatable for some microbes, more palatable for others. What do you know about the actual food content of Terra Preta for AM? Does the charcoal become a long-term food substrate for the AM population? Do you know if this principle holds in temperate zone soils like our prairie soils in the Midwest? It's intriguing to me as I consider that prairie fires were a normal part of the cycle of soil-building in the prairie. But we no longer allow it for the most part. Thanks for your comments on Terra Preta.

Bill Shoemaker, Sr Research Specialist, Food Crops
University of Illinois - St Charles Horticulture Research Center
www.nres.uiuc.edu/faculty/directory/shoemaker_wh.html

.

Everyone should note that char raises pH and terra preta depends on a
very active microbial community.





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