I have enjoyed several of your videos. This is the first year that my garden has had biochar added. I’m not doing raised beds so I was able to rotor till my biochar and compost mixture. I only had enough ready to do half of the garden and am amazed at the difference in the soils looseness after rains and heat. I have heavy clay soil on a flood plain of which at times is under 2 feet of water in the spring. Although we didn’t have a major flood this spring we’ve had a lot of rain and temps lately in the 30’s . The biochar area is not compacting as it would usually and my corn, squash, pumpkins, water melons ,cantaloupe and asparagus are doing way better with the biochar. Thanks for the education and keep the videos coming.
Awesome to hear your observations, yes helps with soil compaction for sure. It really is something you have to see and feel, I wish I could capture that part for the videos. We have had rain almost daily, some snow and frost as recent as 2 days ago. My corn is an inch tall, lol. I'm happy to hear you are seeing results. The biochar mixed with soil on a flood plain makes me think you will have some very fertile soil once it is loose and better draining than just the clay. You will have soil to make me jealous, lol. Thank-you my friend, very inspirational to read your comments, awesome. Have yourself a great week my friend!
@@halfmoongardens3345 follow up. I have made the high quality charcoal twice now. Working on the inoculation process now. With the weed and water fertilizer,how many times do I need to use it, and how long until it becomes usable biochar?
@@jamrsanful this is amazing to hear, you have really made my day! It takes a good 7 - 10 days for bacteria and fungi to start flourishing. Frequent watering with the diluted weed fertilizer over this period should be enough. The longer it sits the more biology will develop, but you can use it without worry after 7-10 days. Sounds like you have things well in hand, i am grateful you are letting me know. Now I'll be curious how you find using it to improve your soil. Don't be a stranger, you are always welcome here in my garden my friend! Have yourself a great day, you've made mine better!
@@jamrsanful I just noticed I had replied with my music channel, how embarrassing, lol. That was my reply, just wrong channel, hope it didn't confuse you. Have yourself a great day!
We have very similar beds, mine are 2ft high with logs cut to 1ft long stood on end in the bottom, working on the theory water will wick up easier, I intially filled them with woodchip compost but in only 2 seasons the compost had dropped so much the logs were sticking though, I bought in 20 tons of 'premium' topsoil to refil, which although it was loam on the texture triangle was an almost yellow colour with >0.5% OM, I make char in a 55gal oil drum on it's side with a 10" slot cut down the length, it limits O2 just enough, stays smokeless mostly, same style of burn, lighting a small fire and adding to it as ash forms until almost full then quenching, I get 3 of those 35 liter floppy buckets full of char from one burn, put it through the garden shredder to get ~1/4" size, I'm charging it with different charges, aerated comost tea, LABs, liquid IMO with rock salt, also tried urine but I wouldn't recomend that unless your doing it in the fall for next seasons growing, I planted in the urine charged char straight away and beans were swamped with blackfly, attracted to the high nitrates I presume, same beans in an established bed were untouched, I've since done a soil soak with LAB to get rid of the nitrates, they convert them into long chain amino acids more easily taken up by the plants (the boffins reckon it saves the plants 18% energy), I'm nowhere near the high ratio you've got of biochar yet, but I'm on track, trying to get in front so I can amend each bed as I turn the crops over, just subbed to see how you get on.
Awesome to read your comments. Very interesting. I don't find I need add any nitrogen, I can't grow radish and am told it is too much nitrogen. Healthy soil biome will fix any needed nitrogen from air and water I am convinced. My high ratio is a result of trying to find the right ratio to permanently change the physical structure of my native soil so it remains loose and well draining. This entire experience has been a struggle to find a way to grow in a challenging soil condition. I have alkaline silt from an ancient ocean bottom and more recently a salt lake. Rich in minerals but offers a very thin topsoil on top of hard packed silt/clay. Tilling in the char is the way to go for large areas, a few times and enough char you will see some beautiful soil I would think. I always like to return any support people show. UA-cam has some great people sharing their skills and experience. Together we are community and I am grateful for access to videos and creators like you. Your channel has been added to my subs, if you put up videos I'll check them out for sure. Thanks for hanging out in the garden my friend! Hope you are having a great weekend, thank-you for the great comment and support!
Spent a rainy Sunday watching your video from New Brunswick there eh! Thanks for sharing nice to see the whole process in one video... like to see some results of some of ur vegetables...
I'd love to see some results too, I'm hungry eh. Would you believe we had frost a few nights ago and temperature to drop again on Thurs. I haven't put out peppers, tomatoes, cucumbers, herbs, etc. This has been a strange season, I need a greenhouse. Thanks for spending some time hanging out, you know you are always welcome eh. I like seeing your beautiful property, the gold fish are cool my friend!
I used to do a radius equal to the depth. So, think twice as wide as deep. There’s plenty of room for error. I now do retorts with coffee cans and soup cans, but this method is really solid. It doesn’t require anything special.
This is a small cone about 18-22 inches deep and a diameter of about 36 inches I do believe. The shape is more important than the dimensions, get the geometry correct first. Dig a hole relative to your feed stock volume. Thank-you my friend.
When you’re charging your biochar, you said you use compost tea. Which is best? the anaerobic jadam method, or an aerobic method with a bubbler? Does biochar also help with moisture retention? Is there a point where I might put too much biochar in?
Hello my friend. Yes, I'm using anaerobic tea. Jadam offers some very practical solutions, no pun intended, lol. I stir it around with a stick very low tech. Different teas have different purposes, the aerobic teas are better for treating the foliage for pest and disease control. I should just call what I'm using liquid fertilizer as there are many ways to make 'teas'. Both methods produce good results. Hope you are well, thanks for the great question, sorry for the not so great answer. Have a great day!
Yes, biochar helps with moisture retention even though the soil is now well draining. Worry more about not enough being added. If made properly plants will grow in straight biochar, it will not damage soil.
Hi, sorry. Yes there is a point where too much biochar in a nutrient rich soil may increase soil conductivity (electrical) and inhibit nutrient uptake. I am looking in to this, but am so far confident the biochar would need to be in excess of 60-70%. I will look into this further and get a meter to test. Thank-you for asking these questions my friend!
Hello! Thank you for the tips! I’m going to be working on an acre of land to get it ready for cherry trees. I have heard ash and char will make stone fruits have explosive growth so I am extremely interested in testing out your method. If you have heavy clay dirt, will it take more than average carbon materials to improve it to the point of being good soil? Like 3:1 instead of 1:1?
I use as much as it takes till I see and feel the character of the soil change. Yes, if your soil is heavy clay you may need a higher volume of biochar. The biochar will inhibit the re-compaction of your soil. You will need to mix a test patch to see what you are dealing with. Once you mix a bit you will see and feel the changing physical character of your dirt and know how much you need to till into your acre. Good luck, you are always welcome here if you have questions or just want to share what you are doing. I enjoy reading these awesome comments. Thank-you my friend!
but you are doing wrong. you just burned the woods in open air. no. you have to do this in a metal box. put woods in box and close the tap. fire around the box about 3-4 hours. that is it. you have charcoal
No my friend, I do no wrong. Only very top layer is exposed to air and all layers are flat so no air gets under. This is science, if you understand how pyrolysis is achieved and why you need to then you will see and understand what I am doing. Please watch and you will learn. I produce the highest quality charcoal on UA-cam. I hope you are enjoying your weekend!
I have enjoyed several of your videos. This is the first year that my garden has had biochar added. I’m not doing raised beds so I was able to rotor till my biochar and compost mixture. I only had enough ready to do half of the garden and am amazed at the difference in the soils looseness after rains and heat. I have heavy clay soil on a flood plain of which at times is under 2 feet of water in the spring. Although we didn’t have a major flood this spring we’ve had a lot of rain and temps lately in the 30’s . The biochar area is not compacting as it would usually and my corn, squash, pumpkins, water melons ,cantaloupe and asparagus are doing way better with the biochar. Thanks for the education and keep the videos coming.
Awesome to hear your observations, yes helps with soil compaction for sure. It really is something you have to see and feel, I wish I could capture that part for the videos.
We have had rain almost daily, some snow and frost as recent as 2 days ago. My corn is an inch tall, lol. I'm happy to hear you are seeing results. The biochar mixed with soil on a flood plain makes me think you will have some very fertile soil once it is loose and better draining than just the clay. You will have soil to make me jealous, lol.
Thank-you my friend, very inspirational to read your comments, awesome. Have yourself a great week my friend!
love your biochar videos
Love your comment, thank-you my friend!
Really engorged this video. Thanks for sharing your knowledge
Thank-you my friend!
I like your kontki style kiln. I make my biochar from an old 3 point fertilizer spreader with a water tube on the bottom to put the char out
Sounds practical and innovative, I like it, would love to see it. Thank-you my friend!
Tried to send pictures to UA-cam email for you but keeps saying invalid email
@@danmartin9558 edward@terrafireorganics.com
Outstanding!
I’ve been making bio char this way !
Awesome to hear my friend!
love your channel thankyou for your information #massachusetts
Thank-you my friend, you are always welcome here in my garden. Cheers from Alberta!
Ive never heard of this. Im super excited to try this! Thanks for the great video
Great way to start my day by seeing your comment. Thank-you my friend!
@@halfmoongardens3345 follow up. I have made the high quality charcoal twice now. Working on the inoculation process now. With the weed and water fertilizer,how many times do I need to use it, and how long until it becomes usable biochar?
@@jamrsanful this is amazing to hear, you have really made my day! It takes a good 7 - 10 days for bacteria and fungi to start flourishing. Frequent watering with the diluted weed fertilizer over this period should be enough. The longer it sits the more biology will develop, but you can use it without worry after 7-10 days. Sounds like you have things well in hand, i am grateful you are letting me know. Now I'll be curious how you find using it to improve your soil. Don't be a stranger, you are always welcome here in my garden my friend! Have yourself a great day, you've made mine better!
@@jamrsanful I just noticed I had replied with my music channel, how embarrassing, lol. That was my reply, just wrong channel, hope it didn't confuse you. Have yourself a great day!
@@halfmoongardens3345 lol. I wondered why you had a different screen name.
We have very similar beds, mine are 2ft high with logs cut to 1ft long stood on end in the bottom, working on the theory water will wick up easier, I intially filled them with woodchip compost but in only 2 seasons the compost had dropped so much the logs were sticking though, I bought in 20 tons of 'premium' topsoil to refil, which although it was loam on the texture triangle was an almost yellow colour with >0.5% OM, I make char in a 55gal oil drum on it's side with a 10" slot cut down the length, it limits O2 just enough, stays smokeless mostly, same style of burn, lighting a small fire and adding to it as ash forms until almost full then quenching, I get 3 of those 35 liter floppy buckets full of char from one burn, put it through the garden shredder to get ~1/4" size, I'm charging it with different charges, aerated comost tea, LABs, liquid IMO with rock salt, also tried urine but I wouldn't recomend that unless your doing it in the fall for next seasons growing, I planted in the urine charged char straight away and beans were swamped with blackfly, attracted to the high nitrates I presume, same beans in an established bed were untouched, I've since done a soil soak with LAB to get rid of the nitrates, they convert them into long chain amino acids more easily taken up by the plants (the boffins reckon it saves the plants 18% energy), I'm nowhere near the high ratio you've got of biochar yet, but I'm on track, trying to get in front so I can amend each bed as I turn the crops over, just subbed to see how you get on.
Awesome to read your comments. Very interesting. I don't find I need add any nitrogen, I can't grow radish and am told it is too much nitrogen. Healthy soil biome will fix any needed nitrogen from air and water I am convinced. My high ratio is a result of trying to find the right ratio to permanently change the physical structure of my native soil so it remains loose and well draining. This entire experience has been a struggle to find a way to grow in a challenging soil condition. I have alkaline silt from an ancient ocean bottom and more recently a salt lake. Rich in minerals but offers a very thin topsoil on top of hard packed silt/clay.
Tilling in the char is the way to go for large areas, a few times and enough char you will see some beautiful soil I would think.
I always like to return any support people show. UA-cam has some great people sharing their skills and experience. Together we are community and I am grateful for access to videos and creators like you. Your channel has been added to my subs, if you put up videos I'll check them out for sure.
Thanks for hanging out in the garden my friend! Hope you are having a great weekend, thank-you for the great comment and support!
Spent a rainy Sunday watching your video from New Brunswick there eh! Thanks for sharing nice to see the whole process in one video... like to see some results of some of ur vegetables...
I'd love to see some results too, I'm hungry eh. Would you believe we had frost a few nights ago and temperature to drop again on Thurs. I haven't put out peppers, tomatoes, cucumbers, herbs, etc. This has been a strange season, I need a greenhouse.
Thanks for spending some time hanging out, you know you are always welcome eh. I like seeing your beautiful property, the gold fish are cool my friend!
how deep ? based on circumference ? thank you
I used to do a radius equal to the depth. So, think twice as wide as deep. There’s plenty of room for error. I now do retorts with coffee cans and soup cans, but this method is really solid. It doesn’t require anything special.
This is a small cone about 18-22 inches deep and a diameter of about 36 inches I do believe. The shape is more important than the dimensions, get the geometry correct first. Dig a hole relative to your feed stock volume.
Thank-you my friend.
When you’re charging your biochar, you said you use compost tea. Which is best? the anaerobic jadam method, or an aerobic method with a bubbler?
Does biochar also help with moisture retention? Is there a point where I might put too much biochar in?
Hello my friend. Yes, I'm using anaerobic tea. Jadam offers some very practical solutions, no pun intended, lol. I stir it around with a stick very low tech. Different teas have different purposes, the aerobic teas are better for treating the foliage for pest and disease control. I should just call what I'm using liquid fertilizer as there are many ways to make 'teas'. Both methods produce good results.
Hope you are well, thanks for the great question, sorry for the not so great answer. Have a great day!
Yes, biochar helps with moisture retention even though the soil is now well draining. Worry more about not enough being added. If made properly plants will grow in straight biochar, it will not damage soil.
Hi, sorry. Yes there is a point where too much biochar in a nutrient rich soil may increase soil conductivity (electrical) and inhibit nutrient uptake. I am looking in to this, but am so far confident the biochar would need to be in excess of 60-70%. I will look into this further and get a meter to test. Thank-you for asking these questions my friend!
Hello! Thank you for the tips! I’m going to be working on an acre of land to get it ready for cherry trees. I have heard ash and char will make stone fruits have explosive growth so I am extremely interested in testing out your method. If you have heavy clay dirt, will it take more than average carbon materials to improve it to the point of being good soil? Like 3:1 instead of 1:1?
I use as much as it takes till I see and feel the character of the soil change. Yes, if your soil is heavy clay you may need a higher volume of biochar. The biochar will inhibit the re-compaction of your soil. You will need to mix a test patch to see what you are dealing with.
Once you mix a bit you will see and feel the changing physical character of your dirt and know how much you need to till into your acre.
Good luck, you are always welcome here if you have questions or just want to share what you are doing. I enjoy reading these awesome comments. Thank-you my friend!
but you are doing wrong. you just burned the woods in open air. no. you have to do this in a metal box. put woods in box and close the tap. fire around the box about 3-4 hours. that is it. you have charcoal
No my friend, I do no wrong. Only very top layer is exposed to air and all layers are flat so no air gets under. This is science, if you understand how pyrolysis is achieved and why you need to then you will see and understand what I am doing. Please watch and you will learn. I produce the highest quality charcoal on UA-cam. I hope you are enjoying your weekend!