Soooo I totally neglected (forgot) to discuss inoculation/charging/activating of biochar. Will touch on that tomorrow. Thanks for being my editors, you nerds.
Good call I was about to ask you what your inoculation process entailed and if you were going to trial more than one type of inoculation. thanks for the nerdy content. Love it.
Literally came here from the podcast version for exactly this. Glad to see other people beat me to it. Last time I checked, the reason biochar has wildly mixed results in published research is related to it being applied to fields without being charged. There are still a lot of questions around biochar but I think there is some consensus that it really, really does need to be charged prior to application.
I have been using and inoculating biochar starting with pretty good homemade kiln stuff before any commercial products were available circa 2010! I'm happy to share/discuss what I've learned going down that rabbit hole and continue to explore the current science coming out these days. I've explored crude, compost teas, lacto, KNF, as well as combinations of these depending on time and financial resources. Thank you so much for bringing your large following into the fold today!!
This is quickly becoming a favorite part of my day. "HEY NERDS...." *does a little dance to the theme song* I'm a dental hygienist and avid urban gardener who knows next to nothing about soccer but has "bonus kids" from Argentina & Spain. So I'm here for the jokes, growing advice, and perhaps some soccer wisdom so I can learn how to hang and watch soccer. ❤
I love the tie in. Part of why i really enjoy your content is because it feels genuine. Not a fake online persona trying to sell me something. I grew up in a family that coached youth soccer, so I understand how it influences everything around you. Having it seep into your garden seems rather natural.
Not gardening or soccer, also, but reminds me of our 5 yo grandson, who told us, at a farming park, “I want to go and try my ninja moves on the monkey bars”. 😁 Gotta love their enthusiasm for life.🥰
Jesse, honestly your combo farming/coaching advice and research goes unmatched IMO. My son is 5, I'm not his coach, but you really are putting some things in perspective for me, especially on a previous video where you compared US vs Euro styles of coaching. It's not about winning, it's about developing. Thank you for all you do.
The secret to biochar is to "activate" it. Put it in a liquid filled with nutrients (compost, vermicompost, etc) to fill up with microorganisms and nutrients. Biochar has a huge surface area, so if you add it as an amendment without activating it, it will take the nutrients from the soil, so the first harvest will not be good.
I would call that "charging" the biochar with nutrients. The real magic of biochar come from the chemical and physical weathering that occurs much more slowly. Biochar starts out as pure chemically stable carbon and only unlocks it's full CEC and water absorption potential when it has been chemically and physically weathered. This can either be achieved via long natural processes in the soil OR activated using steam at high temperatures (around 700 degrees Celsius). The steam treatment causes microfractures and expands pores, allowing greater infiltration of water. Steam activation also causes oxidation both on the surface and within the pore structure, raising the biochar's CEC.
I love the show and the book (on part 3). The information you have to offer and how you offer it is great. I got into soil science a few years ago and here I am today, aspiring to be a part-time grower. I hope I can do it well and see how nerdy I can get with all of the information I’ve learned. Thanks for the inspiration and daily chats.
I’d read about biochar years ago and tried a very small trial. 6 eggplant seedlings, five planted with crushed charcoal and one with none. The plants with grew to double size and twice as much fruit. We now make our own biochar and use it for gardens and every tree we plant. Once dry we place it in folded builders plastic sheeting, on concrete shed floor, and drive over it with the Tundra to crush it.
Loved yesterdays episode on part time farming! gave me a-lot of great things to think about as a gardener with some market farming dreams. Very constructive. Alex is great.
Thank you Jesse - this was very helpful info on Biochar. I recently purchased some Biochar and opted for the straight Biochar selection, rather than the bag that also had compost and mycorrhizal additions, figuring that would give me the most Biochar for my $$. Now I know better😊
Nice to see you trying biochar. I use biochar (which i make myself) in my animal bedding, which then goes into my compost pile. I also sift out my biochar once I crush it, and add it to my sifted compost. This is my potting mix and so far it's working great
Coaching youth sports is an amazing experience. That will pay you back for years to come . I coached pew wee football for a few years. Actually 14 years ago. It’s always an amazing feeling walking through a store or a gas station and having a now adult come up and say hello coach. Some times I can’t think of who that could be Hard recognize men with beard when you remember them when they were 8
I’ve been involved w some biochar trials in orchards… best we could tell the only measurable effects were increased soil respiration when it’s charged w a microbial treatment and better water infiltration and holding when it’s going into a low-carbon soil (little difference with higher som/toc soils). Excited to see your results.
I’m loving the garlic❤ In Queensland Australia we have this process on biochar from Logan City Council from wastes in the sewerage, interesting for you to search on UA-cam.
Speaking of that toxicity - I would be very concerned about all the pharmaceutical chemicals added into the mix that's innoculating that charcoal ! I'm in the States, so I don't know what they're doing in Queensland, but over here the municipalities don't really have any way to clean those chemicals out of the water. It's up to the homeowner to filter out all that garbage, as well as the chemicals they use to "clean" the water! Most of our cities clean the water with a cocktail of chloramines. Chloramines are a forever chemical, meaning it has no half-life, so it never breaks down over time. This HAS to be filtered out of the water ESPECIALLY to create an inoculation for charcoal because the ONE JOB chloramines has to do is to kill all microbes. Both bad microbes, and the good ones too. And it does its job extremely well. What good would Biochar be if it did not house the good microbes? Or worse - if it had chloramines in it, and just kept killing all the microbes it came in contact with in the soil! Like I said, I don't know what they're doing in Queensland, but over here, Biochar from city sewage would be a scary thought indeed! I hope they're doing a better job than the U.S. would!!!
Jesse, plant a couple cloves of garlic with some charcoal that hasn’t been pre-charged or inoculated. That will help demonstrate the scavenging process that biochar performs when it enters a new environment.
Been thinking of using biochar in a community garden I'm helping build. Looking forward to your results. Also interested in getting the soil in a condition that requires less municipal water than we're currently using. Thank you for helping me puzzle my way through all this.
Awesome to hear about the trials. Would you be willing and/or able to get a soil analysis before you amend those plots? Might help others take your eventual results and see what they might expect in the context of their own growing conditions.
It would be informative if in the future you explained exactly how your tests are set up. I have faith that you're using some sort of well-established experimental design that includes randomization, reps and of course controls, similar to how it'd be done in a university research setting. Almost all the 'results' we get from growers and espec home gardeners is anecdotal. How many times have we heard that X was added to a planting this season and it did something amazing or just the opposite. That result could've happened for all sorts of reasons. It's important to attempt to control for everything but the variable being tested.
I would love to know more about this as well! Especially about your goals and plans for becoming a research farm. While I'm still building up agriculture experience and am far from starting a farm of my own, I've found I loved jobs on university research teams but would rather not put myself in the publish-or-perish grind of an academic career. To know that there's a potential path to still do farming research that benefits the public made something in me light up.
Will be interesting and the results of your biochar test. Agree 100% and seeds and the climate. Where we live there is no one, within reason, that has these seeds for sale. Johnnies and Territorial and Hoss and other great seed companies are in a totally different climate than we are. So we purchase seeds. Flip a coin (?) and see which is the better seed. Then not all seeds being heirloom seeds even if they are great we cannot save them and expect the same results! Thank you for another fun and informative video!
Ever wondered why self seeded plants are stronger and more resilient when they crop up in your growing spaces? It's because they WANTED to grow there. They didn't get TLC sowing, germination or fertilising but still came strong. I sowed some turnips seeds in a bed as well as transplants and some bolted to left to go to seed. Some of the seeds fell onto the gravel/ weed membrane path and we then got lovely turnips, we had to avoid walking on! We got some Music - porcelain garlic cloves last year, which is pretty new to the UK. I am on the edge of being able to grow hard neck in zone 9a London and we didn't get a great harvest of big cloves but we got bigger cloves than we were sent. They are currently in the fridge and plan to plant them around Jan/ Feb time. Heard you mention before Brighton soccer team. Are you referring to Brighton and Hove FC in the UK? Interesting how you are using football analogies into farming practices. (Not saying it is a bad thing just interesting) You would probably get a long with hubby and maybe i should explain gardening to him in football terms! :o)
I'm definitely interested in weather adaptations, most of the year my soil needs ALOT of water , but when rainy season starts my stuff is soil logged for 3+ months after the rains stop and that always leads into winter , so im from drought to super wet and cold all here in florida Like I NEED mulch most of the year, but once the rains start I MUST pull back the mulch or I get root rot on everything but large trees I think my property is unique though , as I'm 150ft above sea-level but I hit water if I dig down 3 feet , I think its because I have a creek on my property, but the creek is like 15 feet lower than my property, abd the spil near the creek is pure sugar sand and you won't hit water at all when you dig. But 1000 feet away from the creek you hit water at 3 foot deep
I'm in Missouri and have 200+ acers and want to help host a trail/experimental garden, we have beef cattle and sheep and chickens and don't use any chemicals or penicillin.
I could help from here in Colorado on the Front Range. Concepts of inoculation, application, KNF and livestock feed/environmental uses of biochar is a random nerd skill of mine. Free counsel - and maybe start with the birds to gauge cost/benefit.
I make biochar and toss it into my compost pile , works 10x better than the biochar I purchased and way cheaper. I think the time spent in the compost adds goodies that aren't typically found in a "charged biochar"
Wont help for hurricane winds... but I find a 5 foot tall livestock fence used as trellis to grow beans or peas is a great wind break ... especially for crops like corn...
For those interested in learning more about breeding your own locally adapted seeds, definitely check out Joseph Lofthouse’s work. He has a lot of videos/podcast interviews on YT, and his book Landrace Gardening is excellent. And a huge endorsement for inoculated/activated biochar from my own experience. I produce my own biochar through various methods and am slowing working my way to incorporating a 10-20% ratio into all areas of my food forest and annual gardens. Can’t speak highly enough of its benefits thus far, from improving tilth, to increasing water holding capacity of the soil, and most importantly, supporting and improving the soil microbiome. Big thumbs up on its use!
I make shitloads of bio char in coffee can kilns in my woodstove during the winter..super east to make and you get perfect char...I then run it theough my animals feed and they spread it out via manure
Would be curious to hear your thoughts on the Mittleider growing method, specifically the recommended sand/sawdust growing medium while adding micro nutrients as a weekly feed. Listening to the Regenerative Agriculture Podcast with the great John Kepf (not sure if that is spelled correctly) where John focuses on microbiology, I'm having a hard time understanding how plants can thrive in a sand/sawdust mixture where microbiology may not be thriving. I believe you were on the Regenerative AG podcast early on, would be a great revisit episode to have you two compare notes. Love the podcasts and information. #patreonthroughmerch
But, critically, how/is your biochar charged and inoculated (two different processes)? In the literature---and in our experience---uncharged/uninoculated biochar is not a soil amendment; instead, it is an empty hotel, awaiting VIP tenants (nutrients, minerals, microorganisms, and more; suface area of 1 gm biochar= 400m2). It takes 2-3 years for biochar to become charged/inoculated naturally in the ground (charged=moistened and nutrients, we charge ours in a dog-washing pool, with water and whatever is around, like manure, rock powders, etc, for weeks-months, always ongoing; inoculated=microorganisms; we inoculate by mixing charged biochar with equal parts worm castings). We bought a yard (a truckload) of biochar last year. Treated as above (final product=charged biochar + worm castings), we put the mixture into every single bit of soil that goes into the veg area---all the potting soil (9 parts soil/1 part biochar mix), seed-starting soil, up-potting soil, plus we put it hole-by-hole as we plant garlic and transplants and so on. One yard is estimated to be enough to (eventually) cover 120' x 30' of beds. The results last year were nothing short of astonishing (read on) We started a new veg area last fall (120' x 30')(zone 7, high desert, NM)---on an abused adobe clay road, we dumped 15 yards of fresh sheep manure, and, without any working of any kind, planted cover crops directly on for winter (I'm not recommending this method to anyone---and they did awesome, rye, oats, peas, vetch, radish). Then in spring, using the method described above with biochar/worm, we planted a full range of veg, which mostly, despite long experience, did so well that I can't explain it, even to myself. So, as mentioned, without pre charging/inoculating, there's a few years' gap between adding biochar and seeing results . . . (one learns the hard way).
Please discuss the problem with Grazon and contaminated straw. Is this a big problem to worry about? Or can I go back to using straw without having an anxiety attack.
How cold do you get in the winter? There are overwintering leeks grown in Scotland, like Musselburgh, Bandit, Northern Lights (there are others) and also European varieties (I'm trying some next year). But probably only good down to -10-20C I guess.
We have a wood boiler, it is sealed tight and simmers just enough to keep the water at the right temp. Could you use those chunks of burnt coals as you would biochar? I'd like to send you a picture of it so you can better answer my question. Thank you for your show, it's very helpful to all levels of market growers/farmers.
3:20 I think it is important to say that (so far as you described it) Biochar isn't "special" charcoal. Its just charcoal (even made from non-wood feedstocks its still just carbon). The only difference biochar has is if you include the "inoculation" step, which you didn't mention there. Not saying charcoal can't be beneficial, I can see how it might be. I really just hate marketing BS, such as selling 5€ charcoal untreated and unchanged for 50€ because you painted the bag green and are marketing to gardeners instead of BBQ people.
Hello, Don’t use pure biochar : it will absorb thé nutriments présent in your Soil. Biochar has to be charged with organic fertilizer And micro-organisms before you apply it near of the roots.
Hey I work in a large industry doing modeling and experimental design. If you would like any help with experimental design, maths, write-up, or any other piece of the work I would happily donate my time. You can also review my CV and tell me at a later time it's not the right fit, no worries.
The whole soccer analogy example was a poor use of the video Any WOOFer, temp hire or paid help is not a child. Using that soccer language intended for pre-teens sounds like "infantalizing" grown azz men & women, imo. I would expect to have alert, attentive people with simple retention skills. Explain the task ONCE in grown people terms and then turn them loose. You aren't initially using them to design full season planting schedules. They're picking carrots and putting them in a bin. Seems to me their task is to not only harvest lettuce, but ALSO uncovering solutions you missed. If you cannot bear the financial risk of an error (on a simple task!) then YOU hired wrong. Don't talk or use kid level psychology on adults. It's demeaning.
I understand your point, but I disagree with the premise that dialing in the language of a farm is somehow infantalizing. It's a matter of simplification and, to some extent, illuminates the importance of exact language. It's not like I suggested using Bluey episodes to describe how to cut a head of lettuce (though lets be real that show rules and would probably not get a lot of pushback).
PLEASE bring back the old format. I have watched several episodes of Growers Daily in this new format and it is a pale comparison to the quality of the previous format. From my perspective the growers daily is largely advertising for patreon membership, talking about not strongly relevant topics and lacks real content. I will not be watching future episodes. I will be rewatching the old ones. I am not a person who adds comments to web content but I quite liked the previous format and learnt a lot from you.
Soooo I totally neglected (forgot) to discuss inoculation/charging/activating of biochar. Will touch on that tomorrow. Thanks for being my editors, you nerds.
Good call I was about to ask you what your inoculation process entailed and if you were going to trial more than one type of inoculation. thanks for the nerdy content. Love it.
@@user-fe3mt4qo8oyes. Exactly this!
Literally came here from the podcast version for exactly this. Glad to see other people beat me to it. Last time I checked, the reason biochar has wildly mixed results in published research is related to it being applied to fields without being charged. There are still a lot of questions around biochar but I think there is some consensus that it really, really does need to be charged prior to application.
I have been using and inoculating biochar starting with pretty good homemade kiln stuff before any commercial products were available circa 2010! I'm happy to share/discuss what I've learned going down that rabbit hole and continue to explore the current science coming out these days. I've explored crude, compost teas, lacto, KNF, as well as combinations of these depending on time and financial resources. Thank you so much for bringing your large following into the fold today!!
Please do expound for us! I'm newly getting into biochar, and would love more information, especially from someone who's actually making it
This is quickly becoming a favorite part of my day. "HEY NERDS...." *does a little dance to the theme song*
I'm a dental hygienist and avid urban gardener who knows next to nothing about soccer but has "bonus kids" from Argentina & Spain. So I'm here for the jokes, growing advice, and perhaps some soccer wisdom so I can learn how to hang and watch soccer. ❤
I love the tie in. Part of why i really enjoy your content is because it feels genuine. Not a fake online persona trying to sell me something. I grew up in a family that coached youth soccer, so I understand how it influences everything around you. Having it seep into your garden seems rather natural.
My 5 yr old son heard your outro music and insisted I tell you that it is "an epic jam" 🤣
Not gardening or soccer, also, but reminds me of our 5 yo grandson, who told us, at a farming park, “I want to go and try my ninja moves on the monkey bars”. 😁
Gotta love their enthusiasm for life.🥰
Jesse, honestly your combo farming/coaching advice and research goes unmatched IMO. My son is 5, I'm not his coach, but you really are putting some things in perspective for me, especially on a previous video where you compared US vs Euro styles of coaching. It's not about winning, it's about developing. Thank you for all you do.
The secret to biochar is to "activate" it. Put it in a liquid filled with nutrients (compost, vermicompost, etc) to fill up with microorganisms and nutrients. Biochar has a huge surface area, so if you add it as an amendment without activating it, it will take the nutrients from the soil, so the first harvest will not be good.
You know wassup. Been haunted by the stuff for 14 years now.
I activate my biochar with Jadam.
I would call that "charging" the biochar with nutrients. The real magic of biochar come from the chemical and physical weathering that occurs much more slowly. Biochar starts out as pure chemically stable carbon and only unlocks it's full CEC and water absorption potential when it has been chemically and physically weathered. This can either be achieved via long natural processes in the soil OR activated using steam at high temperatures (around 700 degrees Celsius). The steam treatment causes microfractures and expands pores, allowing greater infiltration of water. Steam activation also causes oxidation both on the surface and within the pore structure, raising the biochar's CEC.
Aspiring Farmer here! I love the show!
I love the show and the book (on part 3). The information you have to offer and how you offer it is great. I got into soil science a few years ago and here I am today, aspiring to be a part-time grower. I hope I can do it well and see how nerdy I can get with all of the information I’ve learned. Thanks for the inspiration and daily chats.
I’d read about biochar years ago and tried a very small trial. 6 eggplant seedlings, five planted with crushed charcoal and one with none. The plants with grew to double size and twice as much fruit. We now make our own biochar and use it for gardens and every tree we plant. Once dry we place it in folded builders plastic sheeting, on concrete shed floor, and drive over it with the Tundra to crush it.
Loved yesterdays episode on part time farming! gave me a-lot of great things to think about as a gardener with some market farming dreams. Very constructive. Alex is great.
Thank you Jesse - this was very helpful info on Biochar. I recently purchased some Biochar and opted for the straight Biochar selection, rather than the bag that also had compost and mycorrhizal additions, figuring that would give me the most Biochar for my $$. Now I know better😊
Nice to see you trying biochar. I use biochar (which i make myself) in my animal bedding, which then goes into my compost pile. I also sift out my biochar once I crush it, and add it to my sifted compost. This is my potting mix and so far it's working great
Coaching youth sports is an amazing experience. That will pay you back for years to come . I coached pew wee football for a few years. Actually 14 years ago. It’s always an amazing feeling walking through a store or a gas station and having a now adult come up and say hello coach. Some times I can’t think of who that could be
Hard recognize men with beard when you remember them when they were 8
I’ve been involved w some biochar trials in orchards… best we could tell the only measurable effects were increased soil respiration when it’s charged w a microbial treatment and better water infiltration and holding when it’s going into a low-carbon soil (little difference with higher som/toc soils).
Excited to see your results.
Yes I have been curious about biochar too!
ThankQ
Thank you.
When a clone changes or varies from its original form, that is called “genetic drift”
I was adopted at birth.
I feel I might be a Genetic Drift.
or was I ... ? 🤔
Thanks!
Amazing thank you!
I’m loving the garlic❤
In Queensland Australia we have this process on biochar from Logan City Council from wastes in the sewerage, interesting for you to search on UA-cam.
Don't use commercial waste, sewerage, here in the US. It's toxic as all get-out. It's also getting hard to find clean manure, compost, woodchips, etc.
Speaking of that toxicity -
I would be very concerned about all the pharmaceutical chemicals added into the mix that's innoculating that charcoal !
I'm in the States, so I don't know what they're doing in Queensland, but over here the municipalities don't really have any way to clean those chemicals out of the water.
It's up to the homeowner to filter out all that garbage, as well as the chemicals they use to "clean" the water!
Most of our cities clean the water with a cocktail of chloramines.
Chloramines are a forever chemical, meaning it has no half-life, so it never breaks down over time.
This HAS to be filtered out of the water
ESPECIALLY to create an inoculation for charcoal because the ONE JOB chloramines has to do is to kill all microbes.
Both bad microbes, and the good ones too.
And it does its job extremely well.
What good would Biochar be if it did not house the good microbes?
Or worse - if it had chloramines in it, and just kept killing all the microbes it came in contact with in the soil!
Like I said, I don't know what they're doing in Queensland, but over here, Biochar from city sewage would be a scary thought indeed!
I hope they're doing a better job than the U.S. would!!!
What a great talk about jargon, farm jargon could help, it keeps everyone one the right tract
Awesome episode, can't wait for the biochar details. Thanks!
Amazing thank you!
Love the show &your communication taps
*tips
Great podcast! Good thing you are behind planting your garlic. Central KY has had a late warm spell. Some garlic is erupting early.
this heat will just not go away. quite frustrating
Jesse, plant a couple cloves of garlic with some charcoal that hasn’t been pre-charged or inoculated. That will help demonstrate the scavenging process that biochar performs when it enters a new environment.
Been thinking of using biochar in a community garden I'm helping build. Looking forward to your results. Also interested in getting the soil in a condition that requires less municipal water than we're currently using. Thank you for helping me puzzle my way through all this.
Awesome to hear about the trials. Would you be willing and/or able to get a soil analysis before you amend those plots? Might help others take your eventual results and see what they might expect in the context of their own growing conditions.
It would be informative if in the future you explained exactly how your tests are set up. I have faith that you're using some sort of well-established experimental design that includes randomization, reps and of course controls, similar to how it'd be done in a university research setting. Almost all the 'results' we get from growers and espec home gardeners is anecdotal. How many times have we heard that X was added to a planting this season and it did something amazing or just the opposite. That result could've happened for all sorts of reasons. It's important to attempt to control for everything but the variable being tested.
I would love to know more about this as well! Especially about your goals and plans for becoming a research farm. While I'm still building up agriculture experience and am far from starting a farm of my own, I've found I loved jobs on university research teams but would rather not put myself in the publish-or-perish grind of an academic career. To know that there's a potential path to still do farming research that benefits the public made something in me light up.
Will be interesting and the results of your biochar test. Agree 100% and seeds and the climate. Where we live there is no one, within reason, that has these seeds for sale. Johnnies and Territorial and Hoss and other great seed companies are in a totally different climate than we are. So we purchase seeds. Flip a coin (?) and see which is the better seed. Then not all seeds being heirloom seeds even if they are great we cannot save them and expect the same results! Thank you for another fun and informative video!
Ever wondered why self seeded plants are stronger and more resilient when they crop up in your growing spaces? It's because they WANTED to grow there. They didn't get TLC sowing, germination or fertilising but still came strong. I sowed some turnips seeds in a bed as well as transplants and some bolted to left to go to seed. Some of the seeds fell onto the gravel/ weed membrane path and we then got lovely turnips, we had to avoid walking on!
We got some Music - porcelain garlic cloves last year, which is pretty new to the UK. I am on the edge of being able to grow hard neck in zone 9a London and we didn't get a great harvest of big cloves but we got bigger cloves than we were sent. They are currently in the fridge and plan to plant them around Jan/ Feb time.
Heard you mention before Brighton soccer team. Are you referring to Brighton and Hove FC in the UK? Interesting how you are using football analogies into farming practices. (Not saying it is a bad thing just interesting) You would probably get a long with hubby and maybe i should explain gardening to him in football terms! :o)
I'm definitely interested in weather adaptations, most of the year my soil needs ALOT of water , but when rainy season starts my stuff is soil logged for 3+ months after the rains stop and that always leads into winter , so im from drought to super wet and cold all here in florida
Like I NEED mulch most of the year, but once the rains start I MUST pull back the mulch or I get root rot on everything but large trees
I think my property is unique though , as I'm 150ft above sea-level but I hit water if I dig down 3 feet , I think its because I have a creek on my property, but the creek is like 15 feet lower than my property, abd the spil near the creek is pure sugar sand and you won't hit water at all when you dig.
But 1000 feet away from the creek you hit water at 3 foot deep
I'm in Missouri and have 200+ acers and want to help host a trail/experimental garden, we have beef cattle and sheep and chickens and don't use any chemicals or penicillin.
I could help from here in Colorado on the Front Range. Concepts of inoculation, application, KNF and livestock feed/environmental uses of biochar is a random nerd skill of mine. Free counsel - and maybe start with the birds to gauge cost/benefit.
I make biochar and toss it into my compost pile , works 10x better than the biochar I purchased and way cheaper.
I think the time spent in the compost adds goodies that aren't typically found in a "charged biochar"
I love ALL No-Till Growers videos!
Wont help for hurricane winds... but I find a 5 foot tall livestock fence used as trellis to grow beans or peas is a great wind break ... especially for crops like corn...
NICE FC Cincinnati threads! 👍
For those interested in learning more about breeding your own locally adapted seeds, definitely check out Joseph Lofthouse’s work. He has a lot of videos/podcast interviews on YT, and his book Landrace Gardening is excellent.
And a huge endorsement for inoculated/activated biochar from my own experience. I produce my own biochar through various methods and am slowing working my way to incorporating a 10-20% ratio into all areas of my food forest and annual gardens. Can’t speak highly enough of its benefits thus far, from improving tilth, to increasing water holding capacity of the soil, and most importantly, supporting and improving the soil microbiome. Big thumbs up on its use!
I make shitloads of bio char in coffee can kilns in my woodstove during the winter..super east to make and you get perfect char...I then run it theough my animals feed and they spread it out via manure
Would be curious to hear your thoughts on the Mittleider growing method, specifically the recommended sand/sawdust growing medium while adding micro nutrients as a weekly feed.
Listening to the Regenerative Agriculture Podcast with the great John Kepf (not sure if that is spelled correctly) where John focuses on microbiology, I'm having a hard time understanding how plants can thrive in a sand/sawdust mixture where microbiology may not be thriving.
I believe you were on the Regenerative AG podcast early on, would be a great revisit episode to have you two compare notes.
Love the podcasts and information. #patreonthroughmerch
man I love that intro!! Don't judge:))
But, critically, how/is your biochar charged and inoculated (two different processes)? In the literature---and in our experience---uncharged/uninoculated biochar is not a soil amendment; instead, it is an empty hotel, awaiting VIP tenants (nutrients, minerals, microorganisms, and more; suface area of 1 gm biochar= 400m2). It takes 2-3 years for biochar to become charged/inoculated naturally in the ground (charged=moistened and nutrients, we charge ours in a dog-washing pool, with water and whatever is around, like manure, rock powders, etc, for weeks-months, always ongoing; inoculated=microorganisms; we inoculate by mixing charged biochar with equal parts worm castings).
We bought a yard (a truckload) of biochar last year. Treated as above (final product=charged biochar + worm castings), we put the mixture into every single bit of soil that goes into the veg area---all the potting soil (9 parts soil/1 part biochar mix), seed-starting soil, up-potting soil, plus we put it hole-by-hole as we plant garlic and transplants and so on. One yard is estimated to be enough to (eventually) cover 120' x 30' of beds. The results last year were nothing short of astonishing (read on)
We started a new veg area last fall (120' x 30')(zone 7, high desert, NM)---on an abused adobe clay road, we dumped 15 yards of fresh sheep manure, and, without any working of any kind, planted cover crops directly on for winter (I'm not recommending this method to anyone---and they did awesome, rye, oats, peas, vetch, radish). Then in spring, using the method described above with biochar/worm, we planted a full range of veg, which mostly, despite long experience, did so well that I can't explain it, even to myself. So, as mentioned, without pre charging/inoculating, there's a few years' gap between adding biochar and seeing results . . . (one learns the hard way).
Had ya got the char mixed into or under the poop, cover/veg woulda gone off even more spectacularly. Problem now is ya can't unsee those results.
If your biochar doesn't sound like glass when you drop it isn't good
Please discuss the problem with Grazon and contaminated straw. Is this a big problem to worry about? Or can I go back to using straw without having an anxiety attack.
If you go to the company’s site where he purchased the biochar you will see that it’s inoculated--which is why he said biochar and not charcoal.
Can you plant garlic in containers?
Look how long to put them in the fridge first and they will bulb anywhere
How cold do you get in the winter? There are overwintering leeks grown in Scotland, like Musselburgh, Bandit, Northern Lights (there are others) and also European varieties (I'm trying some next year). But probably only good down to -10-20C I guess.
Are you familiar with the Jadam gardening/farming? I have been using Jadam for 3 years and I swear by it.
We have a wood boiler, it is sealed tight and simmers just enough to keep the water at the right temp. Could you use those chunks of burnt coals as you would biochar? I'd like to send you a picture of it so you can better answer my question. Thank you for your show, it's very helpful to all levels of market growers/farmers.
Would not do that brah, gotta be purpose-built. Look at a "Jolly Roger" retort kiln design.
I might have missed it, but did you use activated biochar?
Whoops should have mentioned that! Yes activated
How activated? Urine, Em, other? @@notillgrowers
I live in the tropics and I plant Simpson lettuce which in my experience is very tolerant to heat. I don´t know if you can get that lettuce there.
At 14 mi could you give details of the corn huller you were using? How to make same?
Sure! Its literally screws in a 2” PVC pipe
3:20 I think it is important to say that (so far as you described it) Biochar isn't "special" charcoal. Its just charcoal (even made from non-wood feedstocks its still just carbon).
The only difference biochar has is if you include the "inoculation" step, which you didn't mention there.
Not saying charcoal can't be beneficial, I can see how it might be. I really just hate marketing BS, such as selling 5€ charcoal untreated and unchanged for 50€ because you painted the bag green and are marketing to gardeners instead of BBQ people.
A crude (common barrels) purpose-built kiln gets you 'special' high-temp stuff for free. Grilled-shrimp char is dirty low-temp stuff.
"nerdeliy" ? Am I spelling this right?
Just noticed the FC Cincinnati jacket. Are you a local? I'm from Cincinnati
Central Ky
Hello, Don’t use pure biochar : it will absorb thé nutriments présent in your Soil. Biochar has to be charged with organic fertilizer And micro-organisms before you apply it near of the roots.
Uncharged biochar is called activated charcoal.
I dunno, a different hat might make it easier to change topics 😂
Hey I work in a large industry doing modeling and experimental design. If you would like any help with experimental design, maths, write-up, or any other piece of the work I would happily donate my time. You can also review my CV and tell me at a later time it's not the right fit, no worries.
Sorry but you're wrong. Timbers all the way.
😬
The whole soccer analogy example was a poor use of the video
Any WOOFer, temp hire or paid help is not a child. Using that soccer language intended for pre-teens sounds like "infantalizing" grown azz men & women, imo.
I would expect to have alert, attentive people with simple retention skills. Explain the task ONCE in grown people terms and then turn them loose. You aren't initially using them to design full season planting schedules. They're picking carrots and putting them in a bin.
Seems to me their task is to not only harvest lettuce, but ALSO uncovering solutions you missed.
If you cannot bear the financial risk of an error (on a simple task!) then YOU hired wrong.
Don't talk or use kid level psychology on adults. It's demeaning.
I understand your point, but I disagree with the premise that dialing in the language of a farm is somehow infantalizing. It's a matter of simplification and, to some extent, illuminates the importance of exact language. It's not like I suggested using Bluey episodes to describe how to cut a head of lettuce (though lets be real that show rules and would probably not get a lot of pushback).
PLEASE bring back the old format. I have watched several episodes of Growers Daily in this new format and it is a pale comparison to the quality of the previous format. From my perspective the growers daily is largely advertising for patreon membership, talking about not strongly relevant topics and lacks real content. I will not be watching future episodes. I will be rewatching the old ones. I am not a person who adds comments to web content but I quite liked the previous format and learnt a lot from you.