permaculture

[Toby Hemenway <toby@patternliteracy.com>]

Thanks for the link to the Biochar Journal, Steve. 

There’s an excellent article there by a woman who is very active in biochar 
circles, Kelpie Wilson. I’ve met her at conferences, and she knows her stuff. 
The article is an in-depth overview of the various properties of biochar and 
how it works. There’s some chemistry in it, but it’s not overwhelmingly 
technical. One of the best I’ve seen on the subject.

https://www.biochar-journal.org/en/ct/32-How-biochar-works-in-soil

Toby
tobyhemenway.com

Just out: my new book on urban permaculture, The Permaculture City. Order it 
at your favorite bookseller or get a signed copy from me at  
http://tobyhemenway.com/book/the-permaculture-city/



> On Jul 5, 2016, at 10:08 PM, Steve Hart <stevenlawrencehart@gmail.com> 
> wrote:
> 
> Great debate, greatv subject I was waiting for Christopher & Toby's  input
> before I offered my 20 c worth. Here is a valuable site
> www.biochar-journal.org a good bit of science in there. I have been working
> with New Zealand's leading soil scientist for over 9 months www.ef.net.nz
> where biochar is made on site and several products from this are part of
> several different soil fertiliser mixes. One of the unheralded realities is
> the carbon factor. Carbon is a huge conveyor in soil biiochemistry. The
> whole soil ecology is incredibly dynamic and I do look fwd to the continual
> communication that Toby has recently jumped into. Love the intrigue....
> Steve Hart
> 
> On 6 July 2016 at 04:37, Lawrence London <lfljvenaura@gmail.com> wrote:
> 
>> On Tue, Jul 5, 2016 at 11:12 AM, christopher nesbitt <
>> christopher.nesbitt@mmrfbz.org> wrote:
>> 
>>> No, pulverizing it increases the effectiveness. You are making more
>>> surface, more edge, and more edge means more colonization by soil biota.
>>> Biochar, itself, is empty space. What we are looking for is how to
>> colonize
>>> that space. Earthworms eating biochar, thats what you want.
>>> 
>> 
>> Thanks!