[MPWG] Fwd: SARE grant biochar project: first test plot

Mon Apr 22 06:02:26 CDT 2013

A very interesting Biochar project underway.

The first test plot of the KAW Valley Biochar project funded by a SARE
grant will be ready to plant with onions on Tuesday evening, April 24.
 Last Sunday, research field agent Devin Gerling visited Hoyland Farm, and
with farmer Bob Lominska, marked out a block of six test beds, photographed
them and took soil samples.
[image: unknown.jpeg]
This Sunday, Devin and I returned to prepare the materials to be spread on
each test plot. This first time to setup a test plot was a challenge to our
creativity and improvisation.  We are testing two types of char.

The first is a special cedar tree biochar that I made in a TLUD with KU
Industrial Design student Taylor Stetler.  Cedar trees are an unwanted
invasive species in pastures and prairies, so we want to investigate if
this weed tree can be converted to biochar for soil improvement.  Bob
Lominska cut and chipped several cedar trees in January.  Almost every
Sunday, Taylor and I did a TLUD burn and produced over 80 gallons of
biochar.  We crushed this through 1/4-inch hardware screen for a small
particle size.  Our homemade biochar is assorted size particles, from fine
dust and powder up to rice grain size.

The other char is horticultural charcoal which Bob Lominska purchased at a
farm supply store in 50 lb. bags.  This char is a by-product of charcoal
for fuel production, and thus likely cooked at over 1000 degrees C -- twice
the recommended temperature for biochar.  It is screened to uniform
1/16th-inch particle size, and contains very little dust or finer char.
 When we opened the second bag, we discovered this was larger 1/2-inch
chunks.  Checking labels, we discovered a "P6" stamp on the large size, and
"P3" on the small size.  Oops!  Fortunately, we were able to locate another
"P3" bag and proceed.

We decided to arrange test beds to compare biochar only next to biochar
plus enhancements:
compost, sea minerals and a microbial inoculant.  This gives us four test
plots, plus two untreated control plots.  After consulting Bob Lominska, we
may revise this to have one control plot treated with compost only.  Or,
first week of May, we anticipate delivery of a cubic yard of Biochar'ge, an
oak charcoal produced by Phil Blom in Columbia, MO, which we may add
belatedly to the 5th test bed.

KAW Valley Biochar board decided to use a microbial inoculant produced by
SCD Probiotics in Kansas City, MO (www.scdprobiotics.com).  SCD recommends
their BioAg solution as a biochar inoculant, and gave us a simple recipe to
inoculate a 30 gallon batch of biochar.  BioAg is a culture of
lactobacillus, phototrophic bacteria and yeast in a stabilized solution,
and provides a foundation colony of microbes that create a stable
environment for other microbes to flourish (
www.scdprobiotics.com/SCD_Probiotics_Inside_s/9.htm).  In separate plastic
barrels, we planned to combine 35 gallons of each char with cistern (rain)
water, then add 3/4 gallon of BioAg solution and stir the mixtures
thoroughly.

The cedar biochar mixture blended together nicely, but we had two problems
with the horticultural charcoal.  First, we discovered our plastic trash
barrel had a small leak in the bottom.  We had to dump the half-made blend
in our wheelbarrow, dry out the barrel bottom, and try to patch the leak
with plastic tape.  Arrgh!!  Our patch was only partly successful, and we
still had a slow leak.  Second, the horticultural charcoal was very dry,
more hydrophobic, contained more air, and thus floated much more than the
cedar biochar.  The consequence was we could only get 30 gallons of
charcoal in the barrel.

My assessment is that even 30 gallons of char per test bed is generous, and
more than adequate for this first round of trials.

These two mixtures must sit for 48 hours to allow the microbes to fully
colonize the char before being spread on their test beds.
[image: unknown_1.jpeg]
To complete the test bed preparation, we set out 30 gallons of City of
Lawrence municipal compost on each biochar+ test bed.  Last, as a full
spectrum trace element booster, we scattered just over 2 cups of SEA90 sea
minerals from SeaAgri (www.seaagri.com) on each biochar+ test bed.

Tuesday evening Devin will return to Hoyland Farm and assist Bob Lominska
to evenly spread the compost and char over each test plot.  Bob will till
this mixture into the upper six inches of soil and begin planting onions.

Devin will continue to regularly visit test beds to take photos of onion
growth.  As the crop matures, she will take measurements of plant height,
Brix (sap sugar), plant sap pH, soil conductivity, soil pH, and soil
moisture.  This data will allow us to track and compare the growth of these
test beds, and evaluate effects of biochar and enhancements on soil and
crop.  At harvest, Devin will measure yield of each test bed.  Devin will
also take another set of soil samples in late summer, and again in the fall.

so, the SARE grant biochar project is now underway.  One test plot done,
seven more to go.

for a green & peaceful planet,
David Yarrow
dyarrow5 at gmail.com
785-260-6272; 785-409-2893 c
www.dyarrow.org
http://dyarrow.blogspot.com/
[image: unknown.jpg]
www.facebook.com/dyarrow5
www.carbon-negative.us
www.nutrient-dense.info
www.ancientforests.us
www.seaagri.com
www.onondagavesica.info

-- 

The meeting of two personalities is like the contact of two chemical
substances: if there is any reaction, both are transformed. - Carl Jung

Marguerite Uhlmann-Bower
Registered Nurse, Herbal Educator, Wild Foods Forager
Herbal Educational Services
Weeds, Leaves, Seeds & Shoots : Balance Your Budget – Steward the Land ™
226 Kelso Rd. / Sanders Lane
East Meredith, (Upstate) NY 13757
*(607) 278-9635*
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