Mastodawn

Incase anyone is interested in the Biochar burn I did the other day here’s how it worked for me (I was not sure what to expect- so feel like it might help others)
I used a biochar kiln, with an inner & outer sleeve. The inner sleeve has holes at the bottom and very top only.
The fuel was riddled woodchip (to stop too small particles blocking airflow)
1 You can see the gasses coming through the top airholes & burning off.
2 flames go pale/invisible
3 quenched char

#Biochar #SolarPunkSunday

The biochar will help aerate the soil, add microbiology help with water retention and make a long term store of inert carbon.
The biochar burn stores more carbon than is burnt off, making it a net carbon store despite the fire.

We get woodchip as a waste product from the local tree surgeon.

I also managed to get some willow offcuts from a local basket weaver’s class & will try those next. They will also try making biochar with the rest of their offcuts.

#Biochar #SolarPunkSunday

Asbestos Feb 22

@Hellybootwader
How does it store more carbon than burnt off? where does it get it from?

@Asbestos I probably said it badly, so there's not more carbon, just more is stored than is burnt off. I don't know the percentages.

Asbestos Feb 22

@Hellybootwader
fair enough, I was just curious

Barry Goldman Feb 22

@Hellybootwader what is the difference between biochar and charcoal? just that u use it for different things?

i tried looking up the structure of charcoal. not easy to find info.

@barrygoldman1 I read that the biochar charcoal is made at a hotter temp than regular charcoal.
From tge comments I’ve had it sounds like you can also use regular charcoal as long as you add it to a compost heap (or add soil microbes in other ways) to inoculate it first

DoomsdaysCW Feb 22

Could charred wood pieces from a woodstove burn work as #Biochar? I separate my wood pieces from the ashes when I empty my firebox / ash catcher. @Hellybootwader

@DoomsdaysCW I think it should work - you might need to crush it a bit and add it to the compost heap to give it a microbe boost.
I have the wormery run off which should be full of microbes, so I used that to add the microbes.

Robot Diver 🌊🌬️🍃🌿🌸🌱🌱🌱Feb 22

@DoomsdaysCW @Hellybootwader

I do this. It need to be inoculated before you add it to the soil or it pulls nutrients, so we just throw it into our compost for a few weeks.

DoomsdaysCW Feb 22

TY, @RobotDiver ! I'll throw it into the compost pile once it thaws out! @Hellybootwader

Robot Diver 🌊🌬️🍃🌿🌸🌱🌱🌱Feb 22

@DoomsdaysCW @Hellybootwader

One thing is to go easy on the wood ash if you have alkaline leaning soil. We have really acidic soil here so I don't even think about it because it helps.

DoomsdaysCW Feb 22

I save the wood ash for potentially making lyewater, @RobotDiver . I would only be using biochar in the compost. @Hellybootwader

Akash Hodja Al Lefkoshi Feb 22

@RobotDiver @DoomsdaysCW
A comfy ,nettle & achillea tea ,3 weeks infusion over 18°C ,works wonders by providing a diverse bacterial inoculation by soaking the wood charcoal for a moon , the elder who gave me the tech has three old bathtubs ,in the shade ,full ,soaking from automn to spring , i adapted the tech , higher temp ,shorter inoculation , the main idea is that biochar ,inoculated wood charcoal is a powerhouse of organic matter folding bacteria ,so the more species the merrier...

Broadfork Feb 22

@Hellybootwader Brilliant. How much biochar did you make from this kiln in one go? And how much water did you need to quench it?

I’ve only once helped with a cone pit burn for biochar and that took a ridiculous amount of water to quench it.

I still have some biochar left from that burn. I add it to the compost so it becomes inoculated by all the microbial life in there.

@Broadfork it was a small burn as I was still working out if the burn was right.
But probably about half a trug of woodchip would fit in to the kiln, and after it’s burnt it would be a bit less than half of that. It was about an hour to burn, & took a watering can’s (10L ish) worth of water to quench it- I used another half to be sure.
Then I added the worm run off to make sure the char was safe for storage.

@Broadfork oh and the water I used was from a tap that needs a weekly 5min flush, so I don’t feel too bad about redirecting it.

Broadfork Feb 22

@Hellybootwader I’m impressed. That’s very efficient and not time consuming either.

@Broadfork yep, it fits what we needed very well

Robot Diver 🌊🌬️🍃🌿🌸🌱🌱🌱Feb 22

@Hellybootwader

I've gotten pretty lazy these days. Just taking the charcoal from our wood stove in the mornings and adding it to our compost pile, but it seems to be working well. Inoculated a big batch of non-briquette bbq charcoal last year and it was great. Starting to see results in the beds already.