Biochar Workshop Part 2, Why to Make Biochar
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 19 ก.พ. 2014
- Visit our website at www.livingwebfarms.org for workshops and many free resources for growing food organically.
Watch the whole day of the recent Biochar Workshop led by Bob Wells, soil scientist Jon Nilsson and Patryk Battle. Learn how to make biochar and its many beneficial uses including greatly enhancing soil life and fertility. Discover innovative ways to maximize its uses for dynamically carbon negative farming and gardening.
To read the article in Cape Cod News and a great turnip recipe, click here.
bit.ly/1jdsIX4
Special thanks to Steve Heaslip and Cape Cod News for use of the image of turnips and Bob Wells at the Eastham Turnip Festival.
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covid times very useful channel... I prefer home schooling my children with this material.... greetings from philippines
Me too. Nice material and great content applicable to practical life needs
You filter the onlooker from the curious types by making the first part and then give this second part as gift of life, to those who are curios, for being curious. THAT'S A Nobel WINNER STUFF.
Bob Wells! You are fantastic. Its rare to find people who do something to save the environment and energy. .You have a unique style of presentation too. Please continue your good work. You are a genuine unsung hero in our midst. Most of the ordinary blokes just abuse and destroy nature to make their pockets full. No foresight about our future generations to come
This video series was among the first I came across on the subject of making biochar, many years ago now. Still among the best I have seen. It set my mental gears into action.
I have no way to prove it but I think making Terra Preta started as a household sanitary practice. A clay bowl chamber pot also serving as a place to put kitchen scraps with some fire pit charcoal mixed in to hold the smells down which then gets tossed onto a pile in the jungle just outside the village. Sometimes the bowl is saved and reused, sometimes not. Subsequent generations discovered the fertility of those disposal locations and the technique became embedded in the culture.
Occam's razor in action. The explanation with the least number of variables ...
Years ago I have been to these type of events and I was basically the only guy in attendance, good to see more people taking interest
How to easily crush charcoal: use an electric chipper - $80 at Harbor Freight.
To those who say it produces clouds of dust, I tell them to use water. Soak the charcoal and then lay it out in the sun to dry for 2 to 3 days so it isn't wet. Too wet and it becomes mud that clogs the blades. Too dry, lots of dust. Just right % of water, you get pieces 5mm to 10mm in size with just a bit of dust. Cover the bucket and outlet of chipper with a cloth and you are good to go.
I can crush 30 gallons of char in 10 to 20 minutes.
This is the kind of stuff that should be getting taught in grade schools worldwide. The next question to enter your mind is WHY IS IT NOT TAUGHT.
All peoples world wide need to start asking WHY.
If everybody knew how to grow their own food and enrich their own soil organically with homemade nutrients it would cripple companies that pay governments around the globe lots of money.
I made my channel to answer this and even bigger WHY questions. ⚡
Frank Johnson 👍🏽😃❤️
😉That's what she said, why is it not taut???
You don't need the bullshit conspiracy to make it interesting as it is.
I see a lot of questionable content on You Tube but these folks are making this into something better. Really relevant info nicely delivered that a person will be able to use to help themselves. Kudos
instablaster.
They found algae in the soil. I think they were using the river seaweed aka algae to charge the char with. It would make sense as the black soil is around the river and the place where the most nutrients are found is in the algae. What better than algae. Must be an integral part of the system. I live on the ocean so I have been studying seaweed in the garden. I have tons of bull kelp I can get truckloads at a time. Putting it thru the wood chipper is fun too.
Wow! Never heard that before but it makes sense! My friend’s uncle has a pond in his backyard that we fish out of. Every year these massive algae blobs start to grow and he kills them with copper sulfate. Too bad he doesn’t have biochar and a garden.
Nice to now I’m going to try this year thanks from delta Manitoba ,
Could you use food waste to’ Make char?
Thank God for Smart and Innovative people. Thankyou Living Web Farms! You bring hope to our world, i will teach this to my high school students and my family and practice in my garden.
Keen to take this to my peoples in AUSTRALIA!
Thanks for this video. I'm in Rwanda the country of thousand hills, then how can I get more information about building that system of a simple bio-char?
A good example of mother earth's ability to reconstruct is most evident
In the observation of the fauna and fish population..
Before ...during ...and after..
Mt. St. Helen..
I'm glad I found this series. I make my own organic fertilizer with wood ash/char, blood meal, bone meal and my compost.
I have been adding biochar to my soil for 15 years without realizing it.😁
❤❤
And do you see Results?
When I lived in Mexico. The people in Zapopan made their biochar in an old fashioned way. I wish I had watched and learned more.
That area was recent farmland transformed into bedroom communities for Guadalajara. They were probably using techniques from centuries of experience.
As a old soil scientist I am very interested in this topic. Having lived in Alaska and worked in a fish-processing plant, I would love to find a solution for the waste that is discharged into the sea. creating anoxic piles of debris. My concept is to stage tankers with char to receive the ground-up fish waste and ship them to a large port to offload and package the product. Many different ways to utilize this for beneficial purposes.
Also, please explain how biochar can sequester phosphorus which exists as an anion [PO4]-3 in nature?
This process is whats been happening for thousands of years in the Australian outback, I worked in mining in the Pilbara, after bush fires which were started from lighting strikes, a month or 2 later where the area that was burnt, new greenery used to grow back not as fast as it burnt but the whole area grew back within 6 months to a year & Im speaking an area of 1550339.16332000 km2, 383097150.3556746 acres, 598589.29743074160069 square miles.
Wonderful. Now we know how to fulfill the creation mandate and rule over the planet by caring for it as God intended.
Amen! Well said. Thank you.
Amen!!
Can't believe i watched this again but im glad i did. Excellent, honest & down to earth.
Thank you.
Guys, I'm flabbergasted by all the good factual information, watching the whole lot for sure! Keep it up, it's stunning!
Agreed
Sir, I must say a huge thank you I live in a country where resources are stretched ore than they should in no small part due to the actions of your country, your videos has reminded us of some the better qualities of your nation, all of this say coming from me and the people of the US, thanks for sharing your extensive knowledge for the betterment of all.
The book to start with is
1421....the idea is not to become too obtuse .
Great stuff...sharing is
Caring....
Great workshop! Just wanted to add, I believe the book 1491 is by Charles Mann, not Thomas Mann who was a German Novelist of the early 20th century.
Wao my prayers answered, I have high clay soils. Cannot wait to try this along with composting.
Didn't know Andy Bernard was advocating biochar making. Good stuff!
Dewight Bernard*
Bernard beet farms 😂 perfect clonebination
@@MadNlGER 😆
Yeah i started using biochar last year and boy did the weeds take off like never before, I dont remember the weeds being that prominent in my 15 plus year of gardening, even my tree's were treated to a couple shovel fulls, I still have two more burn sessions before being done this fall. Last year I experimented also with fresh wood chips with the leaves and twigs and when i peeled them back, I was amazed by the blackness of my central Californian patch of dirt out her in my zone 9 hot arid dry and cool winters ( although it's feeling offly mild this year ) it was soft and full of worms, in that patch i grew 9 monster chiletepin pepper plants, and I've grown some monster out her, but this year's was so huge I'm taking 3 years off ( they were a head ect to harvest.......20 min - 35 min per plant ) back to regular cayenne pepper, jalapenos, Fresnos, Serranos, Thai, Chillones,Pequin, and hopefully some habanero, there projecting a dry winter so I'm having to water my fully cover back yard ( had my wood chips guy bring a few loads and loaded up a truck load of dried horse,steer manure ) can't wait to peel back my soil this upcoming February 15th.
I'd like their view on using biochar in concrete. I think some studies have been shown adding powdered biochar to cement mixes increases strength and impermability, and locks carbon into buildings. I wonder whether they've looked into this application.
Thank you so much! This is fantastic!
Thanks
For sharing
Thank you Bob
This is great stuff.
Watching this in Winter is killin' me! Soaking in this incredible knowledge my brain is like biochar and come planting time I’ll hit the ground running. It's all coming full circle now. However, one insight I note that needs to be in tandem with biochar is the microbial, fungal, and nutrients that make it all possible. KNF (Korean natural farming-check it out on TH-cam) makes the whole puzzle come into focus. Collecting and growing indigenous natural microbes from leafy ground and adding them into the soil is the perfect symbiotic relationship to biochar. Master Cho is so akin to these guys, discovering how nature does it and facilitating it to work for us where we need it. Biochar and KNF techniques, talk about a match made in heaven!
Yes, a lot of burning still goes on in the midwest. I kind of came to the same conclusion myself about the soil. We were always told that the prairie held the soil and the grass composted down to create more black soil, but looking at soils around the world I would see that composted soil isn't black. Fire and char was the only thing that came to mind. We used to plow under green chop fo amend the soil, but the bacteria compost it to nothing so fast you don't add much. Now you try to leave things on top for mulch and only chop it up enough to plant and have the soil warm up. The fired clay in the Terra Preta is also very porous and very erosion resistant. My grandparents used to heat with corn cobs and would spread the ash/char on their garden. It grew great!
The author of the book "1491" that he is referencing is named Charles Mann, not Thomas Mann. He has a number of excellent book, worth seeking out
❤️❤️❤️ thanks for sharing this very important stuff ❣️👍🏽😃
Thank you! This was highly informative and your presentation is very generous!
I actually tested wether pigs will eat charcoal as Bob Wells says, and they do! They were hesitant about it, bordering to suspicious, but they crunched up every tiny bit I gave them :-)
It works on them like it does for us. As grandpa used to say, "Cleans you out!" The Rainbow Family of Light and Love always has it at their medical tent. A friend makes a moo shake for his cows, which love it, then he does not have to spread biochar through their paddock.
I would like to see a vid on how to insert it into fields.
what's the best form of application, disturbing the soil for the last time, or something else
This is such an interesting video. I have learn quite a few things. Thank you so much.
This has really widened my knowledge on biochars. Many new and interesting things. Thank you for such a nice presentation video.
This blew my mind
Wow! Good stuff.
Really impressed
great content I subscribed
Awesome thanks
This channel is incredible. If all the topics that you've uploaded videos on are as well presented as these ones, it looks like I'll be coming here for knowledge for years to come.
I am extremely grateful for you putting this video together. Thank you for presenting this information.
Thank you
I suspect that the roots were also growing upwards for the air exchange. Air exchange is very difficult in compacted heavy clay soil.
Please continue to introduce people
Understanding about soil…
Even for houseplants…
How to. Keep them alive…..
It’s Charles C. Mann that wrote 1491 and there is an audiobook version!
Very important to understand
About the soil
I appreciate your helping. I now understand the unbalancedanced use
This is gold information ⚡️
Hmm this is explain why agriculture near volcanoes are great... Its black soil also
Appreciate to understand the science…
About the process
Wow Wow Genius just amazing, The Lord bless you, just wonderful
Hi Bob. Thanks for taking the time to make the video.Another big plus for using bio-char is its effect on lawns that dogs use as a toilet. My border collie pees in the same place every single time he goes out. An increasing circle has been developing over time.
Looked at your videos and thought this might help.Burnt grass area was up to a 6 ft radius before addition of bio-char After adding char and 3 weeks later now 2 ft radius. I know its early days but its something that I believe is really promising. Wish I had taken photos of before, but in my haste,didn't. Worth looking into.
Scientists only care about *how* it works, which is fine. It's engineers who deal with how to use it. Different but complimentary skills which feed back on themselves.
Thank you for the great info. I just wish to ask you a question. If I use a small diesel burner like they use on small boilers, would it effect the product due to burning fuel? I see many here use wood to heat up. Where I live supply of wood is limited, so
I can heat up using fuel such as diesel or cooking oil. would appreciate suggestion in drawings as I will be building my experiment soon.
Am interesting in lorning more about therpreta
I was just looking at this as I am interested in gardening although I don't have a garden at the moment, Some thing I was wondering if you put a run off pipe at the bottom of the inner cylinder would it be possible to produce a pitch from pine, and also harvest charcoal giving it a greater value,
Where can I find the handout that Jon Nilsson is using here? Thank you!
You're the first person that has mentioned Charles C Mann's "1491" in a long time! Incredible book, but I either missed or have forgotten the biochhar part, so thanks for mentioning it! Great video, thanks so much.
Hi! Where can somebody get that amazing forgotten book?
Abesbooks has multiple copies $4 to $10 (some sources charge for postage).
Very much interesting and want to be exampleray to use the technology
The reason that roots grow up is to capture the nitrogen in the rain water before it runs off as well as oxygen. Roots need oxygen, leaves need CO2.
FYI, Your consultant erroneously cites Thomas Mann as author of "1491: New Revelations of the Americas Before Columbus". It's Charles C Mann. Great videos, keep'em coming!
Does anyone know where I can find out more information about his boat idea at the end? If he has done it or goes further into detail about it in another video?
This idea would be absolutely in the state of Florida where those algae blooms can be major problems!
I believe the name of the author of 1491 is Charles C Mann, not Thomas Mann. Great videos btw, I am loving it and trying to figure out how I can do this myself. I wish more people knew about this. Spread the word people!
I teach classes in all six steps for making biochar. This past year I saw research that found biochar enriched soils human-made (anthropogenic) soils that were over seven thousand years old. Anyone can do this, but to get the best results, you need to do all six steps. If the particles are too large, for example, the char will never mature or fully utilize the life supporting qualities of biochar. This is a frequent mistake, that is why I mention it. Particle sizes of the char need to be 2mm or less.
HERE IN KY OLD CHRISTMAS TREES USUALLY BECOME HOMES FOR FISH IN LAKES
thanks your good presentation
what is ingredient of cubic charcoal for BBQ and HOOKA
I wonder if the biochar is more or less effective at retaining mineral and nutrients if it's broken down into small pieces or if it's wise to incorporate larger pieces to your compost as well. My intuition suggests that you're going to need larger chunks of the stuff as well as small and that larger pieces of biochar can be loaded with more nutrients over time, hold them longer, and release them for longer periods of time, with the only drawback being that it might take longer to load it properly in the first place. I'm curious.
@Harley Ed You think; therefore, I am!
I wonder if that is what the natives were doing with the pottery shards? Maybe the pottery shards are porous and serve as large bacteria mansions that are essential for soil development? Idk, just a thought.
I came across several studies about biochar and it seemed like the smaller size had better effects. It also allows it to migrate deeper into the soil where larger pieces have to be really tilled in which isn't bad unless you have to do it multiple times and tilling wrecks the soil biology.
@@yeshuadvargas5552 the terra-cotta is a moisture trap, from what I understand, but clay has similar adsorption properties to charcoal … it may react differently to Amonia for eg.
@@kade426 Thanks for that. Cheers.
Good Info. Thanks. Question, what about giardia in human urine? how do you deal with that issue when using human urine?
Hi Bob. Great videos. A quick question... I got interested due to rice farmers where I'm living in Central Vietnam burning the crop residue after harvest. It's understandable as they can burn off a field in a couple of days and move on to tilling it and preparing the fields for the next crop. But its a big health hazard. Would your biochar retort work with crop residue. Thanks again. Nick
was there already someone testing "and maybe showing" a one by one comparison with tera preta, comercialy fertilised soil and maybe thik kompost growing???
Sooooo, will it be good to soak the chips in a liquid fertilizer to load it, if we don't have compost, if we did that, how long would you soak it, and should you then let it dry out to use over time as you are potting plants
Whether you can use that Mexican charcoal x gardening?
Hi. I am a biochar enthusiast planning to start a micro scale business based on Biochar made from agriculture waste. My question is can I use retort system to carbonise agriculture waste? What I have seen in most of the video is that they all used open burning system.
Your suggestions will be highly appreciated.
The indigenous peoples of central America probably figured out tera preta by acident. Probably what happened is after years and years of dumping ash and bits of char in the same place one observant person noticed that plants loved growing in that soil, and whala you have tera preta
Any thoughts on the way Sepp Holzer uses wood directly in the earth compared to going thorough a biochar process first? Maybe what is the best way depends on the climate on the spot? Rain and temperature....?
One of the problems you have got is carbon theft, as wood decays in the soil it uses up carbon which is taken away from that available for plants, thereby making the soil less productive...or at least that's my understanding.
Is resin used in the manufacture of pressed coal?
Can liquid IMO made from IMO2 works or replace IMO4? I am asking cos it's hard to get OHN ingredients where I am (Nigeria)
thank you for this information.
i live in kenya on a small farm. i am passionate about bringing this knowledge to my community in nyeri let me know if we can corroborate
Paul
I hope you have found guidance on making the best char possible.
Amazingly entertaining captioning...LOL
I would like to buy your bio char barrel system. The smaller the better. Do you sell one?
In Korea and Japan they char their wood siding and there’s some houses with it hundreds of years old, they say it’s because no organisms can live in the char.
they do it because it's harder to catch on fire if its charred and termites don't like it.
Charred wood keeps water and bugs from getting to the center of the wood, so it works like a preservative.
Hi- great video. If all Cape farmers were using biochar, do you think it would affect the water table over time, make us too heavy in the soil? With sea level rising by 2020 (NASA), would Cape farms be mud puddles? I currently don't add anything to my small yard / containers (Yarmouth), but biochar is very interesting, even on very small scale. Thanks for video
hey, it's been 7 years now, 2023! I wanna hear more now
Can we get a PDF link to what he is reading at 17:03?
Anyone know if bio matter density changes the charge capacity of the finished product?
Native grasslands with roaming large herds of herbivores - i.e. bison - this acts as a massive carbon sink into the soil. Search for TEDx Dubbo soil carbon Tony Lovell for an amazing discussion of this.
Neil Blanchard thanks Neil. :) appreciated
Biochar aim is Converting all biomass of so much residue and waste of agriculture in order to reduce cost of chemical fertisers and save the soil microbes
Do you need to crash it to small
Around 2 inch
Thanks
Can you use walnut wood for biochar?
Now this is getting much more interesting. Have you considered using fermented urine as part of the carbon loading?
We thank our American brothers for sharing this important information
Can you soaking brochure in compose tea
Carbon Sink - Footprint Gone .Winn WINN
Could you use hardwood pellets to make the biochar with on a smaller scale? Would be the perfect size no smashing to deal with. My only concern with those would be is their any toxicity involved when they make the pellets or do the pellets themselves include toxic glues, etc? Or if there are toxins would the toxins be mitigated through the charring process? A response would be greatly appreciated.
Two comments around 40:00. First, creating and using char in this way is doing a great deal to sequester CO2. Though you may be introducing some by creating the heat to create the char, the char you've created is 100% carbon sequestered and in a stable form that (unless burned in the presence of oxygen) will NOT turn into CO2, unlike composting and other methods of organic breakdown. Also, not all waste is truly waste. That is to say garbage isn't useless. Eventually our landfills will be the goldmine of some future economy because they'll be the place to find large hordes of useful materials long since mined to nothing from nature.
👍
Marcus Gaskamp i
I wonder if it would be feasible to use char to accelerate the growth of trees and sequester more carbon faster, including the amount used to create the char. Because trees are great at sequestering carbon but everyone says that they take too long to grow.
They can stop building all of these concrete buildings. They need to use all of these abandoned buildings first
Kansas farmers still do this annually
I have heard recently that new evidence is being found of human habitation in the American continents as far back as 30-45 thousand years ago. Potentially people have been improving the soil far longer than we have thus far given them credit for.
Can it work with tires?