Re: biochar
Paul,
I am a proponent of the use of biochar. The effects are not immediate, so don't put your hopes up on instant rejuvenation of the soil. It takes time, 5 or 10 years. It is exactly the same principle as the Amazonian Dark Soil or Terra Pretta. By plowing biochar, there is a net entrapment of carbon from the atmosphere to be locked into the soil forever. Unlike other organic amendments which easily degrades and turn into carbon dioxide and water, so the carbon is recycled back. Peat moss as an example are mined and are therefore the same net carbon polluter as petroleum. Bark chips from trees are carbon neutral. Biochar is a net carbon entrapment.
But the benefits you will get would take a longer time to realize. I suggest that meanwhile, you mix biochar with compost and coconut dust or husk chips (usually sold as coco brix) and mix them to improve your soil. Coconut material is carbon neutral and renewable resource and lasts longer than peat moss and have aeration as well as wonderful water and fertilizer retention capabilities. You will get immediate results from such a combo if you do this over wider area and not mixing on the planting holes only.
I can give you various articles about biochar. One of my friends developed a gasifier where the wood is fed, and they get fuel from it, and the waste biochar is then used to improve the garden by mixing it with other soil amendments. Through time, the other amendments will disintegrate away and the biochar remains forever, giving you longer lasting beneficial effects just like the Amazonians of 5,000 years ago, whose technology work to this very day!
Regards,
Joe
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