Sam Rellim

I would chop up all that material and use it in the next batch of hot compost. With temperatures reaching over 65°C for two days and two successive turns, (6 days in total at 65°C or more) all the material should have been cooked thoroughly enough to kill the pathogens and any seeds that may have been lurking in the feed material.   Once cooled the compost can be spread out again or left to mature for a few months.  

Whatever hose pipe you end up purchasing, there is one important thing to do that will prolong it’s (kink free) life that I would really like to share.

When you first unwrap it, cut the strapping off if necessary and then roll it out in its entirety in a straight line. This  will keep the internal structure of webbing in the correct manner and reduce the chances of kinking enormously.

Do not take the end of the pipe and just pull it from the roll.  This forces twists into the whole length of the pipe, often resulting in a distorted internal structure that leads to kinking and folding of the pipe anywhere along its length.  Once a pipe has kinked, it will continue to do so whenever given the chance.

Not only is this frustrating, as it slows or stops the flow of water, it’s also a huge waste of time as you have to go find the kink and straighten it to restore the flow, it will also reduce the useful lifespan of the hose as it is more likely to split and leak.

Second point would be to try and store it in the shade when not in use, even though hosepipe is manufactured with UV stabilisers in the plastic, it does not last forever.  Sunlight is hugely damaging to all plastics, so shading your hose and other plastic items will help make them last for longer.

Last summer I attended a day course on improving soil for vegetable production, the course was held in the next village and the plot had even sandier soil that I have here.

We were taught the basics of soil fertility, the value of the soil microbiology and organic matter. Then moved into the value of inoculated Biochar in such circumstances for improving the possibilities of life, water and soluble nutrient retention and thus improving the growing conditions for everything in the soil.

I was already well down the track of improving the soil with compost and had several pallet bins filled with maturing compost that had already completed its hot stage by this time. My thoughts, post course, turned towards Terra Preta and I did some research. Many of the ‘recipes’ don’t include the original soil in any quality, but I believe this to be an important part of the mix, so have adapted several possible blends to suit what I feel will work the best for here.

Throughout the autumn I pruned, cleared and scavenged wood to make Biochar, I was surprised on a number of counts   - how easy it was to make, especially if all the materials were about the same size.   - how much I could process in a trench burn.  - how much water was needed to extinguish the fire and how easy it was to shred the damp Biochar with a shovel blade whilst digging it out of the hole.

I inoculated the char in a barrel of ‘soup’ ( diluted horse and goat manure, nettle tea, mares tales tea, urine, juice from fermented vegetables and anything else dubious I came across that might help) for a week and then folded it into each compost bin to absorb and grow for the winter.

I garden in fairly hot dry conditions and my plan is to convert a current growing bed into a much wider sunken bed to retain more moisture and reduce wind assisted evaporation a little.  

I have removed a sizeable volume of earth (all directly put to good use elsewhere) forming a trench alongside the current growing area and am now, in a vague style of double digging, demolishing the old bed, mixing in copious amounts of Biochar compost blend along with a barrow load of scoria every meter or so, filling the trench and lowering the final level of the soil by a few inches.

Roughly the make up is 40% top soil 45% compost 10% Biochar and 5% scoria  blended on site to a depth of 70cm

I’m hoping that it’s a long term investment, a huge undertaking for the sake of vegetable production, but if it lasts like I believe it will. I’ll be extremely happy in my old age.

I’ve scoured the Biochar threads and the soil threads here and haven’t come across any other posts explaining how it is used as a soil improver once it’s been inoculated and how it might be incorporated into a mature planted setting.

I’m looking forward to seeing your comments

I’m in Tarragona, Baix Camp to be more precise.  I’ve dug a whole series of mini Swales and berms along the contours of my terraced land and they have improved water retention and reduced soil erosion considerably.  Unfortunately the improved soils are more attractive to the wild boar, so I’m getting a lot of free digging done for me.
 
The only rule that I’m aware of forbids the construction of anything within a five meters distance of a marked water course, whether it flows constantly or not.  The water should be allowed to flow naturally across the terrain however it chooses.

Completely balmy in my humble opinion, as the peninsula is loosing more and more ground water to wells and extraction whilst nothing appears to be being done to encourage absorption and conservation of the ever heavier and more sporadic rainfall that we are experiencing. Resulting in more erosion, flooding and devastation.

If your project involves no construction materials it would be arguable that it is only a temporary instillation and could be returned to it’s original state without problem.  Once the locals see that your ground remains green and productive for longer, one would hope that curiosity will encourage them to copy your regenerative example in the future.

Aargh.  I want to respond to your poll with the answer.  I don’t have a significant other but I’m looking for one.
This response could be split into the above and- I don’t have a significant other, I’m content with life as it is.   Or something along those lines.

From what I understand the requirements for differing particle size will depend on the main objective of adding Biochar to the soil.  Smaller particles will have dramatically more surface area and, as such, be able to support more surface microbial activity, the volume of such particles will be lesser and therefore be able to absorb and hold less water.  Larger particles, moving more towards lumps, will have much less surface area and a much greater water holding capacity.  

I’m preparing a Biochar compost mix to amend a very sandy soil in a fairly dry climate with sporadic rainfall so have opted for more larger particles as water retention is higher on my list of priorities. I chopped the char with a spade before removing it from the burn pit whilst it was still damp, reducing dust particles to a minimum.  For smaller particles I would just have chopped for longer.
It’s now blended with the compost, absorbing nutrients and growing microbes in preparation for use in the spring.

The modified fork is an excellent idea.

I’m 6’1” and spent much of my life with British gardening tools, forks, spades, shovels, all with fairly short D or T handles.  Back killers.  A few years ago I WWOOFed in France where all the aforementioned tools had long straight handles. The difference is amazing, I can work almost upright and my back doesn’t suffer half as much.  They took a little getting used to, but once accustomed, there’s no going back.  The D blade shovel is a joy, both for the long handle and the push/pull option for filling it with whatever needs moving.