Itt may well be Actinomycetes bacteria rather than fungal mycelium that you see growing. I had the same with mine this year. It's what gives off the earthy smell. I think I'm right in saying that a couple of varieties fix nitrogen
No I haven't seen any yet. Interestingly I've seen really good fungal growth in some stuff that went anaerobic that I then started to turn.
I compost farm yard manure and spread it on our arable crops. Don't use teas. I'm not convinced by it yet and logistically I'm not sure how it would work on a large scale.
What’s the latest on your bio char production?View attachment 680206
That's what Patsy and Spike were trying to get through the gate for, @hendrebc - "the smelly bucket"
Just as well it is all snake oil - sheep here don't get anything other than a clostridial vaccine - no wormings, no tail dockings, no vitamin jabs or any other formal mineral inputs - just a range of self-help options and old fashioned decisionmaking.
I personally believe it doesn't matter how you encourage diversity and introduce minerals and micronutrients into your farm biome, eventually they restore the health and resilience and balance to all within
More common is the belief that one product will fix things that have been going wrong over time - this is not something I really believe to be true - you need to interpret the clues and read the land
However if all depleted and degraded soils had a little bit of biochar to help provide the habitat for new life, it would speed the process immensely - a tiny crumb of crystallised carbon is basically a 3D city for microorganisms to inhabit, and very durable compared to a soil pore.
Put it through a ruminant's digestive system and it stands to reason it comes out the far end 'ready-to-go-to-work'
With an oar!
I just stir them, compost tea may be different but kelp floats, so mixing is needed... an air compressor and a lance might work as well but this stuff has a whiff, so it sat well away from the workshop
But yeah, I think the best way to use the char is not to simply throw it out on the land and let microbes find it; but rather put it through an animal or soak it in a biologically active brew of tea for a day and then apply it.
Yep @ShooTa I used plastic detergent drums from the dairy farm next door, half filled them with chopped kelp and covered with rainwater for a start, (winter) then added other compostables as they grew during the growing season (comfrey, nettles, docks etc) and let all the hoverflies larvae break it down and die in there
I also put a fair bit of seafood byproduct in the drums, I do a bit of diving and fishing and all the guts go in
So it is more of a witches' cauldron than a hot composting method, I only kept one drum with just kelp in it for the stock and put the other stuff in the remaining drums.
Once the end of summer rolls around and the soil moisture comes up is when I apply liquid
however the char can be applied anytime with no visible difference in effect, but cool damp weather helps keep the biology alive until the soil covers it/stock trample it into the surface/worms bury it
So, that's a wrap-up of last years experiment.
This spring I aim to just use IBCs and put washed kelp in whole, it breaks down almost completely and is very very rich in
calcium, sodium, sulphur, potash, selenium, iodine, to name a few.
It contains almost all the amino acids.
Natural forms of gibberellin and other plant hormones.
So it really is quite a boost, and I don't get too fussy about coverage, but just get it on
I haven't done much processing of my woodheap for the biochar, yet, as it's pretty dry here yet so a fire risk.
will keep you posted, after the festive season
Yes. I only make small amounts but it is really good stuff so long as it is activated/colonised with something IMO it is like bare white toast otherwise - just a base
Put some yeasts or bacterium in a slurry with clover seeds and just take a small bucket and trowel and throw it on sidlings etc where the fertility has been robbed by grazing activity is what I do.
I inoculate with kefir yoghurt via dosing the stockwater and tend to just use my seaweed compost tea brew, some molasses and stir up 100 litres at a time.
I have a really simple and inefficient TLUD type biochar kiln, not a proper retort style one - just a fuel drum and chimney with a one inch airgap - I don't have heaps of feedstock but tend to put all my hedgings and tree waste through it when dry
I also use really good biochar that has been soaked in seaweed through a trough and the stock will follow me down the road if I carry my blue bucket
This was an interesting but very frustrating video. He had built a broad acre version of the Johnson Su compost bioreactor but they glossed over its design. Apart from the daily watering system I couldn’t see how it was naturally aerated not how it was simplified compared to the original system. Did I miss something?