How to make a FREE Biochar Retort (in less than a minute!)
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 19 พ.ค. 2024
- Don't buy one when you can make one for free! In this video, I will show you how to make a biochar maker for free! I feel that biochar is one of the best amendments you can add to your soil, with the goal of creating soil that is regenerating and getting better and better each year!
Regeneration is the result of soil biology, and biochar provides that perfect environment for all that soil life you work so hard to enable! Next to compost, I feel it's the BEST thing you can do for your garden!
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If our videos have made a difference in the way you garden, you can now help us in our mission to teach people how to live (and survive) on what they grow by donating via PayPal at: paypal.me/liveonwhatyougrow?country.x=US&locale.x=en_US Any amount, even a dollar, is appreciated to help offset the costs we incur in making these videos!
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HERE ARE MY OTHER BIOCHAR VIDEOS
If you haven't seen my earlier video that explains all the BENEFITS of biochar, click here to learn about this amazing soil amendment: • Perhaps the most impor...
Click here to see how I MAKE Biochar in my woodstove and how I ACTIVATE it
• How to make a FREE Bio...
Click here to learn how to incorporate your biochar into your soil for the maximum benefits: • 5 ways to incorporate ...
If you want to purchase the crimping device from Jounjip to make a free biochar "cooker" please visit the following link: amzn.to/3WYBek9
If you use Amazon and want to buy anything at all, you can help support our work by entering the Amazon site with this affiliate link: www.amazon.com/?tag=liveonwhat...
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David the Good sent me. This is awesome. Thank you!
Thanks for visiting! Make sure to watch all the Biochar videos in the playlist.
@@LiveOnWhatYouGrowSame, and I will too.
Same
@@TheSwiftCreek2 Welcome!
me too
Thank you - I shared this on my main blog this morning. Good thinking.
Awesome, thank you!
We tried it last night with a pair of #10 cans - put in wood chips and sweet gum seed pods, then put the retort in our fireplace for the night. Worked like a charm - perfectly carbonized.@@LiveOnWhatYouGrow
Here because of DTG!
@@hamburger512 me too
Also here because of @davidthegood
I am a 63 year old, 4'11" woman, who, until this point, thought that I could never make my own biochar because of the huge drums and welding equipment seemingly required. You have made it possible, and for that, I am so grateful. Thank you for your video; I've already passed it on to friends and the Permie website. By the way, I love that I will be able to use all of the bones and get rid of them in a worthy way! I had prime rib for Christmas, and was bemoaning the fact that the ribs are so large. Not any more! I have a solar digester which is almost full. I'd love to remove all of the bones still in there...they never have broken down...and make char with them; then, I'll have room to just put in the fat and soft debris. Win, win!
Fantastic Barbara! I'm 63 also, and I never would have imagined how this one simple idea would change so many lives! It's not like I invented biochar, but that I just came up with an idea to make it easily, and inexpensively... like for free! Make sure to watch the other biochar videos I made for ideas on how to make and activate it and use it in your garden, and subscribe and hit the notification bell so you'll be notified every time we put up a new video!
I'm right there with you. The last few years I was interested in biochar, but the process seemed overwhelming for me. I'm 62 and just moved into my forever home. I'm super excited and watching all his videos today. I have a long way to go. Compost areas to set up, etc etc etc. But I am truly thrilled to finally start this journey
Remember, we're here for you if you need any help. A whole community of us!
I'm your height and almost your age. We have a woodstove we barely use. We also burn garden waste out in an incinerator. Guess what I'll be doing. Just need a crimping tool. We really only have the smaller cans, but still worth it. I've been thinking of making biochar for a couple of years now and this makes it so easy. xx
@@ameliagfawkes512 Let us know how it turns out. In case you didn't see it, you can get the crimper here. I think they're on sale: amzn.to/3WYBek9
When 2 cans stick, open one of them with the can opener, crimp that end and you have a 3 can cooker. Just a thought.
David the Good sent me.
Takes up too much room in the woodstove. Plus I have an unlimited supply of cans! Not worth the time.
How about blow on the junction with a warm hairdryer or warm water, until the outer can expands and you can easily slide them apart?
Bamboo is an excellent thing to make biochar out of. Grows fast and has nice straight sticks for packing in the retort.
I found bamboo charcoal burns clean , lights fast, gets real hot and lasts longer and the food is delicious when used properly. Use it on a big green egg almost daily.
Thank you SO much. I've learned something new to work on for next year. Here in SE Wisconsin, Zone 5, I'm nearing the end of my growing season 😞 but I'll work on biochar while I can
It is good; however, it explodes in a quite entertaining and sometimes dangerous way if you don't split it open between the joints.
@@davidthegood funny seeing you here
Mom lets me go online sometimes@@aig9672
“Living Soil”..! A revolutionary concept. So take that Monsanto !
We need to help Mon....to go broke and finished!!!
👍
Another viewer that found you through David the Good...
Thank you!
Actually, for can sets that are are stuck together but still able for one end to be opened with a can opener, they
could still be used by making and adding another crimped can to fit on the top as usual. This would extend the
length of the char cooker. (hopefully still possible to fit inside the fire box.) If you were worried about it coming
apart at the middle can, you could fix one of the end cans to the middle can with two or three self tapping sheet
metal screws. Just an idea if you needed to fit longer pieces of wood or bone etc. into your biochar maker.
This biochar maker built for free is such a great idea!!!! ...... T H A N K S !!!!!!
Those were my thoughts too. Also, since before it's charged for gardening it's just charcoal-this would be great for making your own lump charcoal for grill cooking or fire starting (same method as making char cloth, just a larger scale) and you could use bigger pieces then. Set the next batch in your fire and you're ready to go again.
David the Good sent me here. Thanks for the brochure making instructions!!
Let us know how it works out for you!
I have been wanting a way to make biochar for years! I am not handy, and intimidated by big projects. Besides by now I am 80 and no longer on an acreage with plenty of wood. This is perfect!
It IS perfect. Let us know how it works out for you!
Some places like golf courses will offer free wood chips, or check with tree trimming services.
People will argue better cookers, but miss the context. This is perfect for you and what you described. I like it. I could see tossing them into a firepit while sitting around, chuck a couple on there and bury them in branches your burning anyway & in a while you got some char. Simple and cheap. I dont want to spend money. Frugal not cheap.
I agree. I don't have money to spend on fuel for my furnace. That's why I heat my house with free woodchips and get over $12,000 of biochar for free every year! Because of the biochar I get lots of food from my garden with less work and save even more money, plus it's more nutritious food!
How "Good" of David to recommend your channel! I live in a town and have neither fireplace nor wood stove nor are open fires permitted😢; but our son has just purchased a property on which they hope to homestead so I'll definitely be recommending this to him!
Yes, he is a "Good" man!
Are you allowed a barbecue? I think that could work.
David the good recommended your video thank you
Thanks for stopping by. Let me know if you have any questions.
Great video. Sent here by David the Good. I bought the crimping tool. We've been making biochar for a few years now, but using a 55-gal. metal drum. I like your method for small quantities.
I like it because I can heat my house for free AND make 600 lbs./year!
@LiveOnWhatYouGrow trying again, sorry, but does all the material need to be completely dry? IE bones have marrow, etc.
Thanks
@@ninemoonplanetno they don’t have to be dry. Green wood, leaves, bones with marrow will all turn to Biochar. You just wouldn’t want to fill it with water.
Thank you so much! Found you through David the Good.
@@lindawillenburg6626 Welcome!
Awesome video! I have been trying to source a 30 gallon barrel for almost a year (after watching another biochar video) and had no luck (lots of 50 gallons out there though) and after seeing this, I just smacked myself in the forehead! Of course this is by FAR the most sensible way to make biochar. Everytime we have a campfire this year, I'll be throwing in a few of these cans in there - it helps the fire burn too as the flamible compounds outgass, and I end up with a healthier soil for my garden = win, win, win
Thank-you very much for sharing your idea, it is a game-changer!!!
I made my first can on biochar! I used 2 14oz and put it in my grill when we cooked. Now i don't feel afraid of it. I've made larger ones for the fireplace. I'm so excited!
That is so awesome!
Great idea to put in the grill!
I, too, found you from David the Good.🤗
Thank You very much!
What a great idea. The one thing I would suggest is running the cans through a heat cycle once to burn off the plastic lining that is in the can. You also may want to keep that in mind when you are doing this first burn. If you are doing it in an indoor stove.
Yes I do talk about this, but at such high heat anything reactive, that is, anything that could be toxic to you or your garden... that part will vaporize and burn off with all the methane, wood alcohol, and tar that's coming out of the wood.
Another stunning video about the production of biochar. I just love the simplicity and intelligence of the whole process. Thanks again for sharing these gems.
Glad you enjoyed them! Make sure you watch all the Biochar videos in the play list here: www.youtube.com/@LiveOnWhatYouGrow/playlists
And make sure you subscribe and hit Notifications so you won't miss the new biochar videos I'll be coming out with over the winter!
Just stumbled upon this video! I was just saying yo my hubby I needed to add this to my garden but did not know HOW to do it. What a God send! Thank you! I subbed to your channel!
Great use of available materials reflecting a modern "permaculture" mindset.
I also appreciate that this guy doesn't care he could be dubbed the " nutty professor" of biochar. Kudos! And looking forward to more on this channel.
Just subscribed because I found exactly what I needed ref biochar , CEC , etc. The retort is on my "to do" list. I'm restoring my polytunnel and all of this helps tremendously. Your other video on biochar and the " black soil" was illuminating. Many , many thanks. We're nowhere near feeding ourselves 100 per cent yet but that is our target. Cheers.
Thanks for your comment, cheers to you. I'm renaming my process for building regenerative soil, I'm calling it a Mostly No-work Garden because we don't have weeds, we don't till or turn the soil, and we hardly have to water! But I always say, in addition to that, that it takes a lot of work to build a mostly no-work garden!
Because the microorganisms drill down deep bringing up nutrients and concentrating them in the growing area, we eventually won't have to add any amendments to the soil for fertility. I'll always make compost but I won't have to make nearly as much once the microorganisms are flourishing and I get the depth of aerobic soil. Biochar is a very important facilitator for both of those!
I’ve been doing this with single soup cans and coffee cans for several months now. I love the crimping idea to make a larger retort!
I usually fill mine with broken twigs that I pull from fir trees on the property. It allows me to clean up the undergrowth and not waste all the twigs that would normally burn up in a fire.
It IS a game-changer. You will make more, and higher quality, biochar much more efficiently!
I can understand why people would try to save money by not buying crimpers, and some people really can’t afford them, I totally get it. But the value of the biochar I make is in the thousands of dollars, like over $10,000 a year, and you want it to be the highest quality possible.
When you have wide gaps in your seams because you’re using pliers to make the scallops, you’re going to let too much air in and lose way more than the cost of the crimpers by the lower value of the end product that turns to ash!
So when YOU CAN afford the crimpers, IT PAYS to get them! Here’s a link for the crimpers to look at: amzn.to/3WYBek9
Thank you for showing this. I love the idea of making small amounts - mostly because I don't have a 50gallon drum yet, but also because I can use a wood stove indoors to make biochar. Good video, and you are a good person.
You are so welcome!
@@LiveOnWhatYouGrow Update: I bought a crimper on Amazon, and I hit up my local pizza place for the cans. You're right, they were delighted to give me their gallon sized ones. It's the beginning of winter now, and my woodstove is ready to start making a winter's worth of biochar. Thank you again for making this video!
Blessings upon you.
Here via David the Good's channel, instant subscriber, great stuff! Thank you for this great idea and all you're doing to encourage self sufficiency, self reliance, and a community spirited mindset. Great channel! 👍
Thanks and welcome! Check out the other biochar videos in the Biochar Playlist!
@@LiveOnWhatYouGrow Many thanks! I've been watching a good few from your back catalogue of uploads. Great stuff and very much appreciated. Thank you from the Highlands of Scotland! 👍
@@trockodile I appreciate that. What's your climate like there?
@@LiveOnWhatYouGrow Odd at best! We're a late last frost (end of May), coupled with an early first frost (beginning of October), so a fairly short growing season. Summers rarely go above 20C. We get snow every winter for multiple bursts of a couple of weeks, but rarely colder than around -6C and usually only to a maximum of a foot or so in depth at a time. High winds (60 to 100mph is not unusual, below 20mph is unusual!) with a lot of coastal high salt wind burn, high rain fall (daily!), shallow soil over granite bedrock but of a medium to good growing capacity.
We spend a lot of time choosing the right varieties, sheltering our gardens in one ingenious fashion or another, building soil using any organic materials we can lay our hands on, growing in containers/pots which we can reposition or protect from the weather, and making raised beds to get the best out of the place! We have access to a lot of free and abundant coastal resources (seaweed is an absolute godsend) and all my immediate neighbours farm to some extent so are helpful, tolerant, sympathetic, and generous people to be among.
It feels like the kind of place you either love and spend your whole life learning to work with, or you loath it and leave, or at least it feels like that at times. We have coasts galore, mountains, space to grow, wildlife, and good neighbours who still know how to raise their own food... and we have Highland cows who are cute, good natured, hardy, and delicious in equal measures. It's a pretty phenomenal life here! 😁👍
Thanks for getting back to me, The reason I'm asking is, it looks to me like you have the same growing conditions that we have here in Connecticut in the US. So a lot of the things we do on the videos may be applicable to you as well. It sounds like we both have the same mindset about gardening and self-sufficiency as well! I look forward to getting to know you better!
Finally, an accessible way to make high quality biochar (compare to my previous interest in the Hookway retort and impossible-to-find small steel barrels to put inside larger ones). Thanks! I'll be visiting some pizza restaurants soon...
And the best thing about this method is that I get to heat my house for free throughout the winter instead of letting the heat go to waste like with other retorts! By the way, it helps if you buy pizza from them!
Unfortunately, my favorite pizza-maker (my wife) just uses little glass jars, but thanks for the advice! I'm sure you're right that it helps to be waiting for a pizza when I ask!
David’s shoutout sent me here. Thank you for sharing! Great work and I hope you have a killer 2024 season
Thanks
There was a product made called "Bio-Charlie" which was a cute name for this style of either in stove / in fire pit appliance.
It looked simple enough and was made apparently out of a section of stove pipe and the same sized end caps right off the hardware shelf. Some kind of handles were on the end caps.
Splendid recycle project you have shared! Thank you!
Thanks for posting. I learned about the Bio-Charlie a few years ago. But in my opinion it has three major drawbacks compared to my method.
• First of all is the cost. My method is free.
• Second, you would need to purchase multiple units: one to put in the fire, one to have cooling before opening up, and one _to have ready_ to put into the fire.
• Third, you can make much more biochar with my free method.
I usually have three large retorts In the fire (made from #10 cans) and six smaller ones also in there made from soup cans, with all nine at once.
While those nine are cooling I already filled nine more cans that are ready to put into the fire. While the first nine are still cooling AND the second nine are in the fire I'm already filling up nine more.
So I can make a lot of biochar this way AND heat my house for free all winter!
@@LiveOnWhatYouGrow Maybe I missed this somewhere, but approximately how long would these cans take to become finished biochar? Are we talking of a few hours? Also would you need to top up your fire with logs periodically? Perhaps just when you put a new set of cans in? This is fabulous. Thank you.
@@avrileley4534 It takes me about an hour, but it all depends on how hot your fire is and the moisture content of your feedstock. You may need to add wood to your fire because you need your retorts to get up to about 1500°F (815°C) to make the best quality charcoal. Very conveniently, the steel cans turn cherry red at that temp so you have a good indicator of when it's finished.
David the Good sent me. I love the simplicity of this!
Welcome!
I have 15 acres, goats, and grow. Lot of food but I am always looking for easier ways of doing things as I age. This was a great video. Thank you.
Glad it was helpful!
Thank you for being here, Sir; David the Good sent me, and yes, I subscribed.
Welcome aboard!
Brilliant !!! Thankyou so much! I have made Biochar for several years now - fantastic soil amendment!- BUT your production method is GOLD! Wishing you all the best.🥰🍀🥰
Glad it was helpful!
I have been looking for a DIY biochar retort, this one is perfect! Thank you for the idea
Glad it was helpful!
This is great! Can't wait to try this. David The Good sent me too.
Let us know about your results!
Just saw you on Survival gardener and ordered my crimper right away. This is truly a blessing for so many gardeners. Thank you for sharing your knowledge.
Welcome!
Wow! I'm so happy to have found this video, so useful as I build a fire every day in winter. Thank you!!!
Glad it was helpful!
You, sir, are an absolute genius!!! You have no idea how much you've helped me. Thank you, thank you, thank you!!!🙏🏿❤
Glad to help! The best way to thank us is to subscribe and hit the bell and like buttons so we can get the content out to more people! Plus you'll get notifications every time we put up a new video! We've got a lot more to say about biochar.
David the Good sent me. I burn wood for heat, now ill make Biochar too! Tyvm.
If you can get a tree company deliver a load of woodchips for free, you can use them to heat your house. Just bring them into your house before it rains on them. It'll take twice as long to turn to char, AND you'll burn through your retorts twice as fast! BTW, you can also use the chips as a mulch, for your walkways, and as a brown component for you compost piles!
@@LiveOnWhatYouGrow Oh interesting, I'll look into burning woodchips for heat, tyvm!
@@AngryPeasants ONLY if you burn them in the retort. They won't burn like regular firewood! I think you probably know that, but I wanted to make sure!
Ordered some crimpers just now! This will be a perfect technique for inside my pizza oven! Now to source some larger tins (and some free wood chip). Thanks for this great technique!
Don't forget you can use bones, corncobs, hair, cardboard, twigs, dead chipmunks, sawdust, or anything that was once alive and turn it into biochar!
Indeed, Pine cones are perfect size once it brakes down. Now porosity is key, heard soft wood has a lot more porosity like pine, vs. say oak or magnolia.
…but x the grill, We pick hard woods to make charcoal to grill mushrooms lately.
@@LiveOnWhatYouGrow haha, it’d be quite a feat to get a dead chipmunk where I am. I’m more likely to get kangaroo bones, if you catch my drift. But good to know about the bones. We don’t eat a lot of meat but some. I’ve been wondering how to get the bones into the garden without attracting vermin.
I use whatever the power company gives me. It's all good! Now back to the mushrooms...
DAVID THE GOOD STRUCK AGAIN! SO GLAD HE TOLD US OF YOU!!!!
I appreciate that!
David the Good sent me over! Great idea! 👍
Welcome!
David the Good (who should maybe be called: David the Best), sent me as well and I'm really glad to be here. Thank You.
Welcome!
David the Good sent me. Great instructional. New subscriber.😁
Thanks for the sub!
David the Good sent me. This idea is pure, simple genius ! Thankyou !
Awesome, thank you!
Came from David as well and bought the crimper with your link! Amazing idea!
Welcome!
All the way from rehoboth Namibia🇳🇦...great idea 🤔
Do you know the "Food Forest Namibia" guy ??? He is trying to help spread permaculture to the poorer communities in Namibia. Check him out if you see my reply to your comment
Absolutely brilliant….and I can not thank you enough for all the information you have shared.
You are very welcome! one thing you can do to help us get the message out to more people is to subscribe and hit the like buttons whenever you learn something from the videos. Both those things will help us get the message out to more people who need to hear about this! Thanks!
Awesome! This is very helpful.Thank you!
😀Thanks
Thank you! Been trying to figure out how to make a small ant of char in my own Dallas size, metropolitan back yard, and this is it!!! I came because of David The Good. Great minds..... :-)
You're very welcome! Just make sure you get the retort up to the temperature where the retort at least partially turn cherry red. I'm not talking about David, but there are a lot of people talking about making biochar that don't know this, and wind up making very low quality biochar with a lot of impurities still in it!
Thank you for this, tried it and it works great glad to be able to get something more out of my stove and use up the old bamboo canes I have.😊
Fantastic video and great advise. Thank you for taking the time to explaining everything. Keep up the good work!
Glad it was helpful!
This is GREAT! Thank you for sharing! May God bless you and your family.
We're here for you if you have any questions!
THANK YOU SIR! This was very simple to understand, and is sure to be of great benefit to many.
If you use the method be sure to give us an update!
Thanks for your clear presentation!
You're welcome!
Thank you very much! This is really quite a valuable guide to healthy soil! I’m excited to learn the next phase, activating the bio-charcoal !
Please subscribe if you haven't already, and click the ALL button to receive notifications. The new video is already up!
O my god, so smart sir, I was burning my wood the hard way. Thanks
You're welcome!
After watching this I bought the tool and now I’m trying to figure out ways to use my cans that I have in the pantry to make retorts. It is so much fun! I can’t wait to start making biochar 😊
Awesome!
Came over from David the Good. Looking forward to watching your playlist.
We're here if you have any questions.
David the good sent me here. Very pleased to find your blog
Thanks for joining us!
Thank you SO much. I've learned something new to work on for next year. Here in SE Wisconsin, Zone 5, I'm nearing the end of my growing season 😞 but I'll work on biochar while I can
Nicely done 👍
Thanks 👍
Excellent video. One of the best I’ve seen in a long time.
I appreciate you saying that! I went to your channel and watched your videos. Really nice garden! Do you think you'll have any more coming soon? Don't forget to plant garlic around Nov. 1st!
@@LiveOnWhatYouGrow thanks it’s a small garden but it keeps us well stocked. I don’t know about the videos, I was just trying it out, kind of wasn’t my thing. I do make compost, compost tea, and of course, bio char,(a few different ways) and I laughed when you did the bones because I do that also. Again, appreciated your video and will be checking out your other ones.
Your IRIE channel recommended by King David the Good below my comment!Thank you for sharing this priceless information, 👍,subbed and greetings👋for your family and you from central Mexico!🤠
Awesome, thank you!
David sent me an I also was on the hunt so this helps so much thank you for making my garden better
It's news so good that it makes you want to share it with everybody! Thanks!
David the Good posted your bio char maker and I subscribed so I could get more great ideas
Welcome!
Wonderful information. Thank you!
Glad it was helpful!
Thank you for this video, I found your video via David The Good.This is a great idea!!
I hope it makes you garden better... easier!
oh my gosh...I love this channel!
Sent by Davidthe Good. Love this. Thank you.
You're welcome!
I use this little Altoids metal containers, they Re perfect for pistachios shells or anything small like bamboo pencil sticks. Made a few x xmas presents. Lotsa fun watching your video. Thanks.
Now, there's an example of being creative, Any metal container that excludes air while letting the wood gasses escape can be your retort! Thanks for sharing!
Thank you for this video. I have been looking for an internal can for my cooker. this if fantastic.
Glad it was helpful!
2nd vid of yours I've seen. You explain things so clearly. I ordered the crimping tool thru the link you gave. Will check out more of your videos. Will probably sub, too.
Glad it was helpful!
Great info! Thank you.
Thank you for this wonderful idea! I have been making bio-char in my wood stove in the small dark blue oval roasting pans that have lids that fit fairly snugly. I love your idea so much more, Free, any size matching cans and so practical in sizes that can be tucked in all spaces around the burning wood.
I'm glad that I could help!
Your last two videos are amazing! THANK YOU!!!! This is the most expedient technique I have found. (Ordering crimpers in 3...2...)
Thanks, I appreciate it a lot. Let us know how you do with your biochar!
Thanks for the great idea.
You're welcome!
Thank you! Thank you ! Thank you!!! I really believe that I finally UNDERSTAND!!!!!
Wonderful! Let us know if you need any help in getting it going for you now in your garden!
Great! We're Vietnam 🇻🇳 want to say thank you very much
cảm ơn bạn (using Google translator)🙂
This is awesome.. thank you!
Glad you liked it!
You make it seem so doable! I did subscribe.🙂
Have you made a retort yet?
Thanks for Good Information
You're welcome!
thanks for the share!
Our pleasure!
Got the link from DTG! I liked and subscribed and will be sharing with my friends.
Awesome thank you! Reach out to us if you have any questions!
Great idea ! I collected about 100 those tin cans from somebody that threw them out and was thinking about how to put them together to make bio char. This is perfect. Thank you
That's what I like to hear!
Thank You very much!❤
You're welcome 😊
I made a couple of these retorts and put them in the firebox of my smoker after I was done cooking. Worked great! thanks for the idea!
Glad to hear that! Thanks for posting!
I saw an older video where a stainless steel steam table pan and lid is used the same way. I obtained a couple, started the process, and pretty soon I had a couple metal 35 gallon garbage pails full of very nice charcoal. The process is really easy.
Thank you for sharing!
I've slowly been making biochar and adding it to my garden for a few years now. This method seems much easier and more efficient than the open system I've been using. I also love that in your other video you say it's not necessary to grind it to dust! I've been adding it "chunky" because otherwise I get too busy to process it.
Same here. I was too busy, and it was too dusty, and I found out it was unnecessary to grind it to powder! Thanks for commenting!
Astonishing work you’ve just shared with us. Buying crimpers today and starting to salvage tin cans from local restaurants. It’s still winter in northern Ontario, so my woodstove is still fired up in the workshop/greenhouse. Biochar in my future! Actually, more biochar in my future, because I’ve made a lot in barrels to this point..
Thanks Garth! I'm working on a way to use the same #10 cans to make a cooking stove so we can make biochar all year without letting the heat go to waste.
Thank you thank you! I watched this video went out got the cans and the crimper and so far made two 5-gallon buckets then charged and started adding it to my garden beds and flower soil. Spring is coming this will be the first season adding biochar excited to see the results.
Make sure you watch the activation video here:
th-cam.com/video/bNJ-Mon4TL8/w-d-xo.html
I always activate it for at least thirty days BEFRE adding it to my garden beds, and then I still add it on top of the soil and cover it with a layer of compost. This method will prevent the char from sucking the nutrients out of your soil. Here is a video that shows you 5 ways that I use it: th-cam.com/video/J3wPr4hwS2o/w-d-xo.html
Thank You Brother
You're Welcome!
Thank you for sharing.. excellent idea to use tins. The ones which got stuck and you cut out the top, you could reuse with a third tin to go over.
I don't need to, I have unlimited cans, and it won't fit into the stove.
Awesome thanks ❤
You're welcome 😊
Interesting bro. Thankyou from Dubai
My pleasure
Amazing idea friend. I love this video and I have saved loads of coffee and dog food tins and wondered what I could use them for. I have a very big garden and the grapevines and apples trees need some help so this is a great way to provide some nutrients for them. Thank you 🙏
I know what you mean, but just to be clear for all the readers, biochar doesn't provide any nutrients for your soil or plants but provides homes for the microbiological life IN the soil, as well as to help increase the CEC (cation exchange capacity) of the soil, so the soil itself CAN hold more nutrients.
@@LiveOnWhatYouGrow understood thank you. Important point to remember. I will be watching your videos for more information. I have a lot of mulch from last year so I will be adding that. 🏆
thank you ! very smart
Appreciate that!
I'd never heard of biochar before and it sounds like exactly what my garden needs so I'm glad I found this. I have lots of metal cans I can use but, alas, no crimper and no idea of how to make one fit in the other without the specialized tool.
You're eventually going to want to get one of the tools because it's so much easier to do AND you get better quality char with it. But for now, you can try to twist the edge of one of the cans into that zig-zag shape so it looks like what I show on the video, and then you jam that can into the other one without the zig-zags. I hope this helps. When you want to get the tool, you can get it here: amzn.to/3YasuYM
Thank you - Ill try that in the meantime@@LiveOnWhatYouGrow
Thank you for the video.I enjoyed it a lot. I am from Pakistan. In age of 39, I saved just enough to buy a small lot and build a small home in the city. When I see this kind of videos that teach how to become self sustaining, I feel sad because I don't have such property to be able to live with nature, keep some birds, some cattle, a few fruit trees and some vegetables, etc. I saw some vids of people generating electricity through burning wood chips. This is hard to achieve in our cities (cramped spaces and lack of wood). I wish I could afford to buy a property somewhere in countryside.
Just be faithful with what you have, and learn all you can where you are. Perhaps your situation will change and you'll have learned the skill to be self-sustaining. But you can make a difference where you are, even if you can only grow in pots!
David the Good sent me here. Great video!
Awesome! Thank you!
thank you so much.
Always welcome