Phil Stevens

Ron, someday when it's rainy and you don't need to make a rope, could you make a drawing and instructions for this setup?

Buenos dias Emilia. I feel your pain. Tradescantia is one of the worst weeds we have around here as well. I'm part of a volunteer group that is gradually removing it (by hand) from one of the only places in this country that a rare fern grows. I also have trouble with ongoing incursions from some of the neighbouring properties and it smothers everything if I don't get rid of it quickly. When I pull small amounts I feed them to my chickens and they destroy every last fragment. For larger amounts I put them in a barrel and submerge in water for at least six months.

Since you have a long dry season in the tropics, can you make a drying rack out of branches and spread the weeds out in the sun and off the ground?

I'm getting ready to try egg yolks on a sheepskin and wondering if I should do the salting before or after that step.

Is the house in the photo yours, or the neighbours'?

Yay! I like happy endings to tech stories and I'm glad this one worked out.

I have a method that works most of the time. I put in about a tablespoon or two of baking soda (adjust the amount for pan diameter and how much stuff is crusted on). Then I add just enough water to cover and set the pan on the stove to simmer. Keep an eye on it as the water boils away. Right about the moment when the mess gets fully dried out, it will start to bubble up and lift off the bottom of the pan. Take the pan off the heat, put some water in, and give it a scrub.

If you're lucky this will get most or even all the scorched food unstuck. If not, you can repeat the treatment and usually a second try will finish the job.

Have a look at this:

case study of pit burning for biochar

and you'll see how we processed about 30 cubic meters of pine slash one winter's day.

As far as the uses go, it's great for soils, animal health, water quality, even construction material. Lots of threads on this site to pore through....

What Trace said. Dig a pit or a trench and make lots of biochar. Then you'll have a gift that keeps on giving.

Iron (specifically iron oxide, or rust) is a great thing to add to biochar. If you get rusty water to infuse your feedstock, then the biochar will have tiny crystals of iron oxide scattered all over its surface area and this helps with many of the attributes that we want in our soil in particular: cation exchange, adsorption, oxidation and even catalytic properties. Iron-enhanced biochar even destroys "forever" chemicals and can be reused without wearing out.

I'd second Anne's suggestion, and also check to see if they were in direct sunlight at the time. The discoloured patches look like sunburn. The good news is that they appear to be a healthy plants and not badly affected, so just keep an eye on moisture levels and maybe out of the afternoon sun.