Biochar in a Food Forest II_0001.wmv

[turuanu]

It was helpful indeed. I am also doing it for agricultural reasons, and I also concluded, after seeing tons of videos about retorts and optimal production, that a bit of ash is only good and welcome for my soil anyway. However, my medium is rice hulls, and I don't know how I'd keep it glowing red like that without anything of substance like your huge chunks of wood. I might have to mix in some wood.

[snookmeister6]

Also, charcoal which has been extinguished with water is a superior product for agriculture in that the pores have been expanded with steam. It will more readily absorb nutrients and makes better habitat for microbes.

regards

GT

[snookmeister6]

Good stuff. Build a fire, extinguish the coals. I've made charcoal by every method I've heard and read about and this is the easiest, most simple way. I do generally use stoves so as to produce less smoke but the result is the same, produce coals and extinguish them, crush and incorporate into the soil. The indirect methods wherein organic matter is cooked in an oxygen free environment is just way too much trouble for me and it uses far more wood.