permaculture

[jedd <jedd@progsoc.org>]

On Sunday 17 December 2006 9:40 am, Allan Balliett wrote:
 ] Jedd - Can you point me to some 'good press' for terra preta? Yes, I 

 I haven't found any really useful sites on specifics yet - how you
 make it on a small scale, ideal ratios for different types of soils,
 other recommended amendments, etc.  I'm guessing you've gone to
 WP?   (  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Terra_preta  )  -- Wikipedia's
 my usual first port of call for things these days.

 Everyone who mentions TP tends to point to the Nature article
 about black being the new green (costs $'s at nature.com, but
 a few other people seem to have reproduced it).

 I've asked on the http://groups.yahoo.com/group/soilandhealth
 list, but surprisingly very few people on there seem to be actively
 experimenting with this stuff.  I'm similarly surprised that more
 permies aren't getting stuck into it, too, given the promises made
 by proponents.

 ] think that ash doesn't count for the 'terra preta' effect because it 
 ] has been subjected to too high of heat and has lost structure and 
 ] (some tell me) 'sugars.'

 Hmm, charcoal does seem to be the key word - but I don't know
 enough of the science of charcoal .v. ash (other than the former is
 far from fully combusted - starved of Oxygen during the heat, rather
 than burn process).

 Jedd.