John Suavecito

THis guy talks about soil, environment and gardening.  His name is Kevin Gallagher, and his podcast is called Digging in the Dirt.  Check it out:

https://share.transistor.fm/s/047ee580

Kelpie Wilson is one of the most well-known biochar experts out there.  

John S
PDX OR

Great ideas, Jay!
John S
PDX OR

I've been using burlap bags to put the biochar in while I crush it. I drive over the bags a few times-probably 3 times. It works really well, but there's a minor issue.   I have noticed that after awhile, I get small holes in the bags.  The biochar can spill out.  I started to look for other bags as it becomes problematic if the holes become large.  

I swung by another coffee place on my normal bicycle route I use for grocery shopping.  I asked if they had any burlap bags to give away. They said, sure, how many do you want? 5? Good! Pretty easy.  They were happy to give them away for free.  I bought a coffee from them the next week.

I'm now trying to figure out what to do with the old bags that have holes in them. I know they can be useful if one is trying to cultivate fungi.  Paul Stamets described them as ideal for growing mycelium.  Maybe I can use them with the hole on the upper side. I figure I might put spawn and wood chips in there at some point.  Anyone have another use for them?

Thanks,
John S
PDX OR

Great example! I waited for a few years until I could see a method that I could really do.  I can't do the pit method, because I live in the suburbs, and the burning pit would be way too close to houses.  Once I found a method that could work for me, I've been going steadily all that time. The more examples we see, the more people will say, "Hey, I could do that!"

John S
PDX OR

That's a great site, Scott.  So much information!

John S
PDX OR

I agree with you in general, Mark Beard, but I would say that char is made in a limited oxygen environment.

John S
PDX OR

Amy Gardener wrote:While Tim specifically asks about sifting, would you consider minimizing ash by burning then dousing the biochar in a burn pit?
By making a small fire in a pit, then covering it with layers of sticks to partially smother the burn, I am able to carefully douse the fire from the bottom up while the new layers of char continue to burn on top. There is little to no ash in this process.
I mostly follow this excellent video by Manuel Angerer with this small modification: instead of dousing the fire completely, just add water to the bottom of the pit while keeping the upper layers burning. When finished with the burn, douse the entire pit as shown in the video.
After years of avoiding biochar due to concerns of adding alkalinity to my highly alkaline sandy soil, I am very pleased with this minimal ash method.

I don't even consider burning in a pit in my yard because I can't. I live in a suburb. They've already called the fire department on me.  There are no open spaces that are far from other people's properties.  It would be illegal and the fire department would cite me.
John S
PDX OR

There are many reasons why I try to maximize biocjar and minimize ash. Ash helps but it doesn't last as long as biochar. Biochar has more volume. Biochar helps mycelium more. Biochar doesn't shift ph as much. Biochar helps retain moisture and improve drainage.
John S
PDX OR

I make my biochar in the driveway, so access to the hose is easy. Quenching it activates it.  The biochar is close to sterile at that point. If you let the water sit for 4 hours, the chlorine will waft off. If you add a small amount of compost or similar, it will break down the chloramine. Enough to turn it light brown. Chloramine kills the biological activity in the water. They put it in the pipes because sometimes the water takes a week to get to you.

John S
PDX OR