Pavel Hochmut

Whatever you put into biochar as an inoculant will be trapped inside and gradually released over time.
If you use something with a high nitrogen content, it will naturally release nitrogen (bound nitrogen, of course).
Therefore, I highly recommend using a complex fertilizer, such as manure of any kind.

Riona Abhainn wrote:Hi Pavel, thank you for your support of permies and sharing with us here.

I want you to know that your English is very good and that you communicate extremely well in it.

Hi Rion,
Thank you so much for your kind words, it really means a lot to me.
To be completely honest and put things into perspective: I learned English in school when I was 15, attended the Hillside School in Havana, Cuba for two years, and have been completely without practice ever since.
So, to be safe, I use AI to help me—otherwise, I would probably be in much bigger trouble!  (SMILE)

Therefore, I think my e-book would definitely deserve a thorough review by a native speaker before its release.

I am truly glad that everything I write is clear and understandable.
My only goal—especially in my e-book—is to describe how Terra Preta truly all is and how it functions.
I want the general public to get to know my findings and learn not only how to produce Terra Preta, but also how to "operate" and maintain it.
Because in specific conditions that are so different from the Amazon rainforest, it unconditionally requires specific handling, as I mention in my notes about liquid ferments.

Thanks again for the warm welcome here!

Hi both,

Thank you for your reassuring comments!
It is good to know that even for native speakers, these terms can sometimes blur together.
Since English is your native language and I am just a non-native speaker trying to navigate these waters, I might sometimes miss the exact shade or cultural context of a word.
Thank you for being so patient and understanding with me!
But at the end of the day, I guess the most important thing is that my microbial army in my process doesn't care about these language nuances at all—they just quietly do their job and create the most powerful, stable humus on the planet, I think!  (SMILE)

John Suavecito wrote:Great clarification, Pavel. Now , you have me curious about what Suavecito means in Czech.
John S
PDX OR

Hi, John,
Thank you for the compliment.
As for your last name, it obviously has no direct meaning just like that.
But when I was still young and beautiful, I spent a few years with my parents in Cuba (my dad was an entomologist working on forest protection there), and that is where I learned Spanish.
Spanish and everything about Latin America just got under my skin, and it stuck with me for good.

So translating your last name is no trouble for me. It is a diminutive, which is why English has quite a difficult time with it.
Czech, on the other hand, is a very rich language, so we have an exact equivalent. When I translate your beautiful last name, literally and word for word, it means "jemňoučký" (very soft / gentle / smooth).

And about those damn grilling briquettes—of course they are used here too. But since I physically do not use them at all, they never even crossed my mind when I was writing my posts, nor did the potential trap that followed my incorrect use of the word "charcoal," which simply means "biochar" to me. It’s just those SMALL language nuances that sometimes cause those BIG misunderstandings...

Thom Bri wrote:For me, it's such a long-term project that I don't mind if the charcoal is incompletely burned. It all gets buried in the garden anyway and mixed with all the plant matter. Maybe it takes a year or a few years to charge, I am fine with that. Last fall I dug a trench in the garden and cut through a layer of ash and charcoal from my fireplace. That layer was completely filled with roots. The plants clearly liked growing into that layer.

The original terra preta was simply cooking fire waste and burning off fields to clear them for planting. A process that took hundreds of years.

Hi Thom,I would like to clarify one important thing here as well.Incompletely carbonized wood produced under domestic conditions is definitely NOT the same as burying artificially manufactured commercial charcoal briquettes in your garden. The difference is clear from my previous post.As for Terra Preta being a long-term project—yes, absolutely, if you try to replicate it from scratch by natural processes. However, if you follow the exact procedure I have developed, you will reach the final goal in just one or two years.

John Weiland wrote:This brick (photos below) is from a Serbian-made woodstove imported into the US.  When whole, the brick is about 14 inches long.  Because of the narrow dimensions of the brick, I'm not sure if there is a cement or glue that can fuse the two pieces together to be a strong as new??.......  A local woodstove supplier did not have brick of that length to cut down, so would need to custom order which might be pretty expensive.  I've reached out to the US importer to see of they have a stash of bricks for these stoves, but have not heard back from them yet.  Opinons as to whether this could be repaired?.....and if so, what kind of glue or cement to use for a good bond?  Thanks!

The best option would be to get a bag of castable refractory mix somewhere.
They should have it at a shop that specializes in building stoves, fireplaces, ovens, etc.
Since there are many different types of refractory concrete (depending on the temperature rating, processing methods, etc.), you absolutely need to consult with the seller so they can choose the right type for you.
You should also consult with them on how to make the brick.

The Briquette Illusion

Hi everyone,
I want to clarify one more funny visual illusion for you.
When you look closely at the photographs I posted earlier (especially the one with the shovel), you see dark shapes that look exactly like standard commercial grilling briquettes.
Let me tell you clearly: It is an illusion. Don't be fooled!
These are NOT grilling briquettes AT ALL. What you are actually looking at are, literally, pieces of horse manure coated in stuck-on biochar dust. Their shape and color might lead you to think that they are charcoal briquettes from a supermarket after all.
For a better idea, I am attaching another field photograph below.
This photograph beautifully documents the exact transition state – the process of mixing and transforming the horse manure pieces with the biochar dust, just right before the final processing.
HOWGH!

Douglas Alpenstock wrote:I have been told that baking soda is the miracle 15 minute solution for tenderizing meat.

I haven't tested it yet.

Yes, try to sprinkle the meat with an absolutely thin layer of baking soda and let it tenderize for about 20 minutes or more. I usually use a fine-mesh strainer.

ANNOUNCEMENT: Important Terminological Update (Charcoal vs. Biochar)

Hi everyone,
I want to make an official clarification regarding the terminology I used in this thread.Due to a language barrier, I have been using the word "charcoal" in my previous posts.
In my native Czech language, we use the exact same term for both - grilling material and agricultural carbon, and it never crossed my mind that this could cause a misunderstanding in English!

To prevent any dangerous misunderstandings: I NEVER MEAN commercial grilling briquettes!
Whenever I wrote "charcoal" here, I strictly meant pure, raw lump carbon created through high-temperature pyrolysis with zero additives.
I now know that in the English-speaking agricultural world, this pure, high-quality carbon matrix must be called BIOCHAR.
I will make sure to use the correct term "Biochar" from now on.

Thank you all for helping me keep the technical standards accurate!
Special thanks to John Suavecito, who pointed this out to me in another thread.