3 tiered soil amendments

I have been adding biochar to my garden/orchard for years now. I usually dig it in with a broadfork or a spade.  Many experts warn us to put some mulch on top of it, so it doesn't dry out.  It's only biochar if there is life growing in it. That's why we inoculate. If it dries out, the life in it dies.   For many years, I have been putting mulch on top of it. Mulch is generally free to me.  I often take a whiz on top of the area where I know the biochar is located, as a means of nutrifying it.  Nature knows best.  I know, TMI and easier for males. I agree.  

However, I have been making compost for years also.  I feel like compost adds significantly more nutrition to the biochar than mulch does. However, compost is not abundantly free. It costs either limited ingredients or time.  I don't have a nearly limitless supply.  I don't want to try to use compost as mulch because it is more valuable and more limited.  I will run out too quickly.

I have adopted a new, 3 tiered way of amending my soil.  When I have mulch, I will go to my compost bin and take out the prepared compost. It doesn't have to be sifted, refined compost because it is going to be covered in mulch.  I place the compost as closely as I can above the areas where I dug in biochar.  It nutrifies it and prevents it from drying out.  Then I add mulch on top of that, because it's free and abundant.  Mulch is not as nutritious as compost. In my case, it is usually wood chips, because they will improve the soil, and I can easily get an unlimited quantity for free.  That way, biochar is on the bottom, in the soil,  and is basically permanent.  Compost is in the middle and is highly nutritious but costly and limited.  Mulch is on top because it is free, abundant, and will prevent the other two lower amendments from drying out.  By adding the mulch on top, I am "seeding" it with the compost, so that it, too, will eventually become very nutritious.  The worms and microbes have a job to do, and that is turning free mulch into quality soil.  I think this plan is going to give even more nutrition and life to my garden orchard/food forest.

John S
PDX OR

This approach makes a lot of sense to me, John. Leveraging the mulch to keep in moisture and cap everything off uses the most plentiful resource in the largest quantity. But underneath, the compost is keeping the char moist and as it rains, I'm sure lots of good nutrients are working their way down into the char.

And don't feel bad about talking about pee. If you go onto the compost forums on Reddit, about 40% of the content is about peeing on your compost pile. I've been known to pee around the perimeter of my chicken/compost area to deter predators.