permaculture

[Toby Hemenway <toby@patternliteracy.com>]

On Nov 16, 2011, at 8:22 AM, Steve Bonney wrote:

> On 11/15/2011 8:03 PM, christopher nesbitt wrote:
>> That charcoal will be full of microrganisms in a short amount of time.
> 
> Is there any research to indicate this? I am thinking about the practice 
> of charring the bottom length of posts before burying so that they do 
> not rot (or at least have a much slower rate of decomposition).

I've seen photos. The microbes aren't eating the charcoal; they are using all 
the pore space in it to adhere to, and consuming nutrients that float past in 
soil moisture. The charcoal itself is more or less inert. Same as in a reed 
bed; the bugs cling to the gravel, and they sure aren't eating that.

Toby
http://patternliteracy.com