Organic gardeners can reverse global warming

Sir Richard Branson names Bio-char as Finalist in his $25 million challenge.

2011-11-12T09:52:00.000-08:00

At last there is some movement in the results of the famous challenge that Sir Richard Branson and Al Gore initiated to remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere as well as other greenhouse gases.One of the companies is from North America.

Here is the link--- http://www.aspendailynews.com/section/home/150133

Ken Bourne.

BIO-CHAR retains water in agricultural soil.

2011-11-09T13:05:00.000-08:00

BIO-CHAR retains water in agricultural soil.

This link will take you to an article about the use of bio-char to retain soil moisture.

http://www.sciencecodex.com/read/using_biochar_to_boost_soil_moisture-81119

Of course this is true! But there are so many more benefits of bio-char that I had to write a comment! Here is what I wrote---

The fact that bio-char helps
Ken Bourne (not verified) | November 9, 2011 - 7:15pm

The fact that bio-char helps to retain moisture in a known fact! The benefits of bio-char as an agricultural amendment are ancient history,e.g. terra preta. What we need is for some brave scientist, who is not funded by international chemical companies,to start telling the truth.
The world is inundated with problems that politicians are reluctant to cure. Waste, pollution, water shortage, food shortage, diseases and other chronic health problems, and worldwide unemployment.Power is also a massive problem especially where nuclear energy is concerned. Most of these have been caused, in my opinion, by over application of chemicals which reduces the amount of nutrients in food, and the products obtained from oil.
All of these problems can be reduced, if not eliminated by bio-char and organic food production. All organic waste can be turned into bio-char. So can sewage, farm manure, waste from sawmills and farms, forestry waste(slash piles) and the millions of trees that dead from pine beetle. Sewage would not pollute the oceans and our water would be filtered by the charcoal in agricultural and forestry soil. Chemical farmers must change over to organic farming and the large monoculture farms split up and returned back to family intensive farms. This would eliminate the food shortages as the food produced would be nutrient rich so that the consumption would be reduced considerably as, for example, one apple would contain the same nutrients as 5 of today's!(This would be the same as the nutrient value of food 60 years ago.) There would be far more available jobs, power would be created from the heat of creating the bio-char, and the resulting bio-oils and gases can be used for vehicular power instead of oil and natural gas. the actual process of creating bio-char creates more power than is used. Organic food production results in more food per acre than chemical farming and restores the top soil that farmers have nearly eliminated. This would also reduce the amount of diseases that are caused by our immune systems being compromised, and the associated health problems of obesity. (Good food would taste so good that children would eat it!) Bill Gates and Sir Richard Branson realize the potential, lets hope that the people we elect and those that we pay to research come to the same conclusion soon.
Ken Bourne. BC. Canada

Bio-char TLUD stove- my newly built effort- works perfectly!

2011-10-14T00:44:00.000-07:00

On my 5 acres I have lots of stuff lying around ( some day I will use it!) so finding a few 55 gallon barrels was easy! The stove took about 3 hours to build- here are some pictures of the results.

On this barrel I had to drill 40 holes for the updraft effect. This was quite tedious but not difficult.

This is the afterburner/adapter that goes on top of the first barrel.

This is the completed stove ready to be filled with wood waste and produce bio-char!

This is one wheelbarrow load of kindling cut from some slabs from a local mill.

Nearly full with added twigs- when completely full I will light a fire on the top- let it burn to cinders- rake it over the top of the fuel wood waste- put on the afterburner and the chimney and make bio-char.

After all the hard work- perfect results! Not only an addition to my soil but a fuel for my forge as well!

Effects of Bio-char on the soil.

2011-09-18T14:37:00.000-07:00

Here is a comment I made on the article on Michigan Bio-char site--

Ken Bourne says:

September 17, 2011 at 5:38 pm

There is no doubt that Bio-char is beneficial to the soil. However it is my experience that the most benefit is obtained when added to good organic soil after the bio-char has been inoculated with a tea made from a good compost, aged manure or from worm castings that contain a myriad of microbes. I would also stress that the adding of chemical fertilizer to soil that contains bio-char would be detrimental as that action would kill the microbes that are extracting the nutrients and feeding the plants! The benefits of bio-char are the effects that it has on the microbes in organic soil and the increase in the available nutrients so this results in bigger, stronger and healthier plants.
Ken Bourne
BC Canada

and here is the link to the article------- http://michiganbiochar.com/?p=678

BIO-CHAR and reclamation of toxic mine tailings

2011-09-11T10:17:00.000-07:00

Here is link to a story about how the area around toxic mine tailings is being reclaimed. An example of the sensible use of bio-char. It is well worth a read- ---

http://coyotegulch.wordpress.com/2011/09/11/restoration-hope-mine-biochar-application-has-yielded-surprising-results/#comment-6167

Ken Bourne

Strawberries, not a big crop but lots of runners.

2011-09-10T21:42:00.000-07:00

This is a new planting of strawberries that I did not allow to crop to its full potential.I let the plants produce lots of runners and either rooted them in the bed or into small pots for next year's crop. out of this small bed I got 86 new plants from only 12 originals.

Fresh peas and even some to freeze!

2011-09-10T21:27:00.000-07:00

All of our family love fresh peas so with this exceptional crop this year we are having regular visits from the kids. I am going to grow twice as many next year!

Carrots -thinned once- and need thinning again

2011-09-10T21:19:00.000-07:00

This bed of carrots measures 2 feet by 10 feet and should give me a harvest of over 600 1 inch diameter even after all the thinning. the bed did not have a lot of horse manure just the sandy loam with some bio-char and rock dust and worm compost tea. I will try some bigger ones next year in a 40 gallon barrel with 3foot holes for each carrot. Used to do this in England for fun and won lots of competitions!

Potatoes under a blanket of grass clippings

2011-09-10T21:01:00.000-07:00

This year I grew all my potatoes 6 inches deep and covered them with the soil in the raised beds which was enriched with bio-char and rock dust. As they grew I hilled them up with a layer of grass clippings. This made them easier to harvest and I could check on them without disturbing them too much. it worked really well and I will do it again as I have a friend who cuts grass for a living and I get all his clippings.

Celery is worth the trouble!

2011-09-10T20:50:00.000-07:00

Seeds sown in February- they got very leggy-trimmed them down to 3 inches and planted them out in the garden in the middle of May. I had to cover them frequently with plastic because of the late frosts- but they survived!

Russet Burbank Potatoes and Lincoln Peas

2011-09-10T20:38:00.000-07:00

My favourite baking potatoes, always do well here, and the peas this year are exceptional. This could be because I feel so good after being sick for the last 4 growing seasons! I have not dug this crop yet but have stolen a few from under the grass clippings mulch that I used to hill them!

Rhubarb in the Cariboo

2011-09-10T20:21:00.000-07:00

Probably the easiest crop to grow here! I got these plants 20 years ago from a neighbour who had had them for over 40 years.

This is the last pickings! Had more out of one tire than we could eat, and have frozen the rest. The tractor tire , roughly 4 feet across, had a layer of old horse manure, about 6 inches, and then was filled with a mixture of compost, sandy loam, bio-char and rock dust. as with all the other crops regular liquid feeds of fish emulsion and kelp meal were given every 10 days.

Ken Bourne BC Canada

Excellent crops will grow in the Cariboo with Bio-char and Rock Dust.

2011-09-10T20:09:00.000-07:00

Nutrient rich crops are the aim of all organic gardeners and here is proof that the addition of bio-char and rock dust will help you achieve that.
This crop of potatoes yielded over 50lbs from 5lbs of seed potatoes (27 half potatoes).
The peas in the background were 2 double rows of Homesteader which grew this year to a height of 6feet! the yield from the 2 double 10 foot rows was, up to now, over 15lbs of shelled peas and we are still picking.
Ken Bourne. BC Canada

BIO-CHAR and Mine Tailings

2011-04-28T11:12:00.000-07:00

Experiments in Europe have confirmed that the addition of bio- char to mine tailings helps to reduce the spread of the heavy metals and promotes the growth of foliage.

Here is the text and the link---

Mine tailings represent a source of toxic pollutants, mainly heavy metals, which may spread to the surrounding areas. Phytostabilization, a long-term and cost-effective rehabilitation strategy, can be achieved by promoting the establishment of vegetation to reduce the risk of pollutant transfer. In this work, the application of pyrolyzed biomass (biochar) was studied to evaluate the amelioration of the mine tailings properties for potential use as a phytostabilization technology.
Four substrates were obtained by mixing the mine tailings from a dumping site in Cave del Predil (NE, Italy) with biochar from orchard prune residues at four dosages (0%, 1%, 5% and 10% biochar in the mine tailings). The physical and chemical properties were determined and the bioavailability and leachability of the contaminants were estimated. The pH, the nutrient retention in terms of cation exchange capacity and the water-holding capacity increased as the biochar content increased in the substrates and the bioavailability of Cd, Pb, Tl and Zn of the mine tailings decreased. The changes promoted by the biochar seem to be in favor of its use on mine wastes to help the establishment of a green cover in a phytostabilization process.

http://www.biochar-international.org/node/2455

BIO-CHAR Carbon neutral will not solve our problems of too much Carbon Dioxide.

2011-01-31T09:09:00.000-08:00

A new attitude to Farming and gardening is the only way that we are going to reduce the carbon in our atmosphere. Here is a link to a site that explains it succinctly!

http://www.carbon-negative.us/gateway.htm

Bio-char, Rock Dust,Organic Gardening advocates-You MUST read this!

2011-01-09T09:03:00.000-08:00

Surely there is enough evidence here to stop this nonsense of creating GMO seeds and products that are going to negatively affect all of our lives? Thank goodness I use my own heirloom seeds, grown organically to provide most of our food. Having read this report I will definitely be even more careful!! Here is the link- please read it!

http://www.seedsofdeception.com/Public/GeneticRoulette/HealthRisksofGMFoodsSummaryDebate/index.cfm

Bio-char. Mobile Machine

2010-11-28T19:52:00.000-08:00

Here is an article about a mobile bio-char machine that can process farm waste at the rate of about one ton an hour.

Mobile 'Biochar' Machine To Work The Fields

by Martin LaMonica
August 25, 2009

Caption: The Biochar 1000 converts agricultural wastes to charcoal, which is then added to soil, a process that enriches soil and removes carbon from air.
(Credit: EcoTechnologies Group)

An ancient technique to fertilize soil by creating charcoal from plant waste is being revived to tackle some of today's environmental problems.

The latest company to pursue manmade charcoal, called biochar, is Biochar Systems, which has developed a biochar-making machine that can be pulled by a pickup truck. Two customers--a North Carolina farm and the U.S. Bureau of Land Management--will be begin testing the units this fall.

The unit, called the Biochar 1000, is designed to convert woody biomass, such as agricultural or forestry waste, into biochar, a black, porous, and fine-grained charcoal that can be used as a fertilizer. It uses pyrolysis--slowly burning biomass in a low-oxygen chamber--to treat 1,000 pounds of biomass per hour, yielding 250 pounds of biochar.

There still isn't a well established market for selling biochar, but there's growing interest among researchers in the process as a way to cut greenhouse gas concentrations. The United Nations has proposed classifying biochar as a carbon credit for sequestering carbon from the atmosphere.

When forestry or agricultural waste are converted into biochar and put into the soil, the carbon that would have been released through decomposition is held in the soil for hundreds or potentially thousands of years, say proponents.

A number of companies have formed to either create fertilizer or use modified machines to convert biomass into a liquid fuel such as methanol. The first U.S. biochar conference was held in Boulder, Colorado, two weeks ago, organized by the International Biochar Initiative industry group.

Tons of green waste
Biochar Systems, a joint venture created by BioChar Engineering and EcoTechnologies Group, has developed a mobile machine targeted at landowners or other organizations that generate a lot of "green waste," such as agricultural producers, nurseries, or land managers. The biochar can be used on-site as a soil amendment or moved and sold as a fertilizer, according to Fernando Migliassi, chief corporate development officer at EcoTechnologies Group.

The Bureau of Land Management will use one unit, which weighs 4,000 pounds and is 12 feet long, seven feet high, and five feet wide, to improve soil that has been damaged by mining, according to Biochar Systems. The North Carolina Farm Center for Innovation & Sustainability will use test a unit as well to see how agricultural waste can be converted into fertilizer.

The Biochar Systems Biochar 1000 costs $100,000 and is capable of turning out 1,000 tons of biochar a year.

Another unit will be tested by the Colorado State Forest Service to thin forests and treat the tons of wood infested by pine beetle into a soil amendment. Thinning forests manually is very expensive but the biochar machine could be a cheaper route.

"If this is feasible, it would allow us to manage a greater portion of forested lands that right now aren't cost effective," Joseph Duda, forest management supervisor for the Colorado State Forest Service told ClimateWire.

The U.S. produces 368 million tons of forest product waste a year and another 60 million tons a year of wood infested by the pine beetle, according to BioChar Engineering. Having a mobile unit reduces overall pollution as biomass doesn't need to be hauled for treatment at a centralized plant, according to the company.

But although it has potential to mitigate climate change, some people have warned against relying heavily on biochar as a carbon offset. The impact of biochar on land may have changed since the time thousands of years ago when people in Amazon region created charcoal, called terra preta.

BIO-CHAR, an easy way to make it.

2010-11-25T16:13:00.000-08:00

Link to website of video about making bio-char.

http://potgardening.org/?p=8771

Consists of two barrels- one fits inside the other with a few inches to spare all round. The inside barrel has no top and is filled with wood and turned upside down into the outside barrel and kindling is put between the barrels all the way to the top. The bottom of the outer barrel has holes around it for combustion- the top is closed and has a hole for the chimney which acts as a vacuum to draw up the heated gases. When done the whole thing is left to cool (The burning takes about 3 hours). The bio-char is then mixed 50-50 with good compost and watered so that the mixture is inoculated with the organisms from the compost- it is now ready to put on your garden at the rate of about 10% by weight.

Ken B

Bio-Char and Rock Dust could be the answer

2010-11-12T17:01:00.000-08:00

Here is an article I wrote, part of which was printed in our local paper..

Global Warming. The simple answer.

If we sit back and do nothing to combat global warming then I agree we are in trouble. However there is still ample time to reverse this situation, but it will need the cooperation of big business and the average citizen.

Why is it, when faced with a seemingly unsolvable problem, that the people who have the means to solve it do nothing when the answer is so simple? Annually, we put into the atmosphere an estimated 30 billion tonnes of carbon dioxide, which has been proven to have a deleterious affect on the temperature of our planet. Cutting down on the amount of carbon dioxide put into the atmosphere isn't going to help in the short run, so the simple answer is to remove more than we put in on an annual basis.

However, there are more problems that are affecting living on this planet than just Global Warming. There is the accumulation of garbage which is causing contamination worldwide; disposal of sewage is affecting our drinking water and the fragile environment of our oceans; the reduction of our forests will have an affect on the air we breathe; the chemicals used to produce our food have caused many of the diseases that fill our hospital beds; there is a shortage of food for the population of the planet today, which, coupled with a reduced supply of water ( caused by the drought in certain areas due to the reduction of trees), is the direct cause of much of the strife that costs so many lives and costs so many dollars that could be used in a more beneficial way; much of our good farming land has been built on, or ruined by bad farming practices; and there is such a scarcity of jobs worldwide that there is the continual exodus of much of the rural population to the cities.

Luckily the answer to all of these problems is to address them collectively, because every problem is caused by one of the other problems and is directly or indirectly connected to them all. Most of the problems have been caused in the last 150 years or so, and it will probably take that amount of time to cure them.

Chemical fertilizers, pesticides and herbicides have depleted our top soil of many of the nutrients that are required to grow healthy food. Just adding these chemicals reduces the bacteria and fungi that create the nutrients that sustain our bodies. It also makes the plants less healthy and more susceptible to diseases and attacks by pests. Good for companies, bad for humans and the inhabitants of this wonderful planet!

It has been proven that the topsoil can be regenerated by the addition of finely ground rock dust together with organic farming practices. This is how it formed originally. Glaciers ground the lava and other rocks on the surface, and after the ice age the dust was blown around the world to become the fertile top soil that was beginning of life. It contained a myriad of nutrients that was available in a form that all plants are able to flourish. All of the animals that ate the plants flourished also. When they died they put back into the soil some of the nutrients they had consumed and the soil remained fertile. Until man started to interfere, especially in the twentieth century! Luckily there are millions of tons of ground rock dust just waiting to be put to use. Most of it is man made in quarries and gravel pits and put aside as fines or whatever other word is used to describe the waste product that they have no use for.

Fifteen hundred years ago the inhabitants of the Amazon knew the answers to most of the problems,(some of the problems had not been invented yet!). They had to feed all of their people in the cities while still retaining the integrity of the forest and the agricultural land that sustained them. They used raised bed and total organic farming practices to feed their enormous population from a relatively small area of farm land. Instead of the modern practice of clear-cut and burn of the forests, they practiced selective cut and char, plus replanting cleared forest areas with the very special plants that they used in everyday life. Not only for building but to recreate the optimal environment for all of the plants that they used for medicines and food, and the animals and other creatures that were essential to their way of life. They dug trenches in the soil, put in the trees they had cut down and then covered them with the excavated soil. The wood was then ignited and burned with a lack of oxygen. The result was charcoal. This charcoal is still there after 1500 years! We call it terra preta, black earth. What they had invented was a method of growing that alleviated the need for fertilizer forever. The bio-char that was the basis for their farming soil and was responsible for an amazing number of operations that sustained the integrity of the soil and produced the prolific number of healthy plants that fed the Amazon people.

When incorporated in the soil, charcoal extracts carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. The charcoal is used to create nutrients used by the plants and the charcoal that is used is replaced by the extraction of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. The Amazons caused very little pollution and their carbon footprint was very small. Charcoal is one of the best filters and could be used to sustain our water supply. Combined with rock dust, charcoal is a long term fertilizer that only needs to be assisted by good farming and gardening methods such as the addition of compost or composted manure annually.

There is such an abundance of materials that can be turned in to charcoal, or as this product is now called, bio-char, ( this is made with a lower temperature.), that we will never run out. In fact we produce an enormous amount ourselves!

Products to produce Bio-char.

Obviously wood is the first choice, including mill by-products. Here in the Cariboo we have an abundance of bug killed wood that is going to waste.

Garbage is another product that can be turned into charcoal. Yes, it will have to be sorted! But that should be done any way. This in itself will make many products available for recycling, and will reduce the amount going into landfills by over 60% or even more!

Sewage is a product that will always be available! Done properly the resulting charcoal could be used to improve forest soils and to produce the plants that we will need for fuel when the oil runs out.

The equipment needed to make the charcoal is relatively inexpensive. The costs are offset by not allowing the smoke to escape, and using the bio-gas and liquid produced to create the heat to make the charcoal and to create electricity. The excess electricity could be put in the power grid or used to power towns and villages. In fact the creation of charcoal actually produces 3 to 9 times more energy than that required to produce it.

In the USA and other countries much work is being undertaken to come up with a solution to our global warming. Unfortunately this process is taking too long and it is time for all countries to start to work together as the simple answer is staring us in the face, in my opinion.

At least one forward thinking company has developed a machine which when mounted on a truck, can go from farm to farm and convert the waste to bio-char at the rate of one ton an hour. It collects the gases and oil produced which is then used to propel the vehicle to the next site and heat the next batch of charcoal.

Uses for the end product- Charcoal.

The primary use for the charcoal would be in agriculture and horticulture. Incorporated in fields in large quantities, together with rock dust and other organic amendments, the farmers will be able to use second quality soils to produce prime crops. ( In developed countries most of the prime agricultural land has been annexed to build on!)This in itself would eliminate the use of chemical fertilizers, reduce cultivations and act as a filter to clean the water as it goes in to our water sources. The charcoal would also extract carbon dioxide from the atmosphere for ever!

A certain amount of charcoal incorporated in our forestry soils would be an enormous benefit.

It would also be available for every gardener.

Charcoal is such a good filter element that it could be used by every industry, especially, mining and farming, to avoid the pollution of our water by toxic run-off which would go a long way to cleaning our rivers and lakes.

The remainder could be used to create electricity, and would eventually replace the need for nuclear power, and the use of non-renewable resources to create electricity.

If the oil companies, chemical companies and fertilizer producers were smart enough to get on the bandwagon, not only would they make more money for their shareholders but they would actually be responsible for undoing the harm that they have done to our planet!

Reducing the garbage, and eliminating the sewage problem will clean our rivers and oceans. Another benefit is that there would be a decrease in the diseases that are caused by the addition of chemicals to the soil in which our crops are grown. Because of the new jobs that would be created worldwide there would be very little unemployment which could lead to a period of relative peace and prosperity.

Regarding “Prosperity” the above could be the answer needed that will allow the mine to go ahead with the blessing of all parties. More jobs could be created by setting up an organic greenhouse operation powered by the energy created by the making of bio-char. It could be created by the sensible use of bug kill wood, garbage and sewage. The bio-char could be used as a filter for the tailings ponds, as a soil additive for the forests, where it will sequester carbon dioxide for hundreds or even thousands of years. Local farms and ranches would also benefit by increasing the fertility of their land. The making of bio-char in now a proven alternative that is carbon negative, and there are now machines both portable and stationary, that can use wood waste, farm waste (including animal manure), sewage and organic garbage safely, without pollution, and create more energy that is used.

Surely this is worth a try instead of sitting down and waiting for the inevitable!

KenB

GMO Free!

2010-09-21T09:51:00.000-07:00

The Institute of Science in Society is promoting a book about the hazards of genetically modified organisms being released into the environment. the global consequences are potentially irreversible. The book promotes the call by scientists and many countries to ban GMO's and to work towards total organic and sustainable farming.Their website is here-----

http://www.i-sis.org.uk/index.php

My comment on article at Technology Review

2010-09-16T22:55:00.000-07:00

Instead of allowing the residue to escape into the atmosphere and add carbon dioxide during the process of creating bio-char, the captured gases and oil can create 9-14 times more energy than that required to produce it. There are machines available today that can drive to farms and convert farm waste, including manure into charcoal which can be utilized in the farm soil. The gas and oil produced is used as a fuel for these vehicles. If this process is taken further with larger machines, turning organic garbage and sewage sludge into bio-char would clean our water supply, reduce the amount taken to landfills and stop the pollution of our oceans. Buried in the soil of farms and forests the charcoal will last for thousands of years.The Amazon farmers have proven this when they used charcoal 1000 years ago! And it is still there! It will help the bacteria in the soil to produce more nutrients for the plants they feed, act as a filter to reduce ground water pollution, and sequester carbon dioxide from the atmosphere annually. The oil and gases could be used to create electricity and reduce our use of fossil fuels. With all this industry it would create many jobs, reduce poverty and illnesses ( if combined with the regeneration of our topsoil by the addition of rock dust). Second and third class agricultural land could be brought into production and if done worldwide would go far to reduce or even reverse global warming. When the oil runs out, which it will, we will have a readily available fuel created by humans!
The whole article is at---- http://www.technologyreview.com/blog/energy/25593/#comment-224881

ORGANIC WEEK IN CANADA

2010-09-13T10:58:00.000-07:00

It has happened! There is a week that is designated to celebrate the benefits of Organic gardening. About time! It runs from the 9th October to 16th October 2010. That is from our Thanksgiving to World Food day. Here is a chance to celebrate the growing of Organic Food in every way you can think of! Think organic, eat organic, grow organic, buy organic and spread the word to every one you can. Visit www.organicweek.ca to find what is happening near you. Or even organize something for your area. Regards, Ken

Rock Dust an important addition to any soil

2010-09-08T20:45:00.000-07:00

Rock dust is such an important addition to our soil that we must get the word out to all farmers and gardeners. There has been so much loss of our almost irreplaceable top soil that the nutrients supplied by rock dust must be added to decrease the onslaught of so many diseases and to restore the health of the population.When rock dust is added in sufficient amounts,the bacteria in our soil are able to extract and make available to the plants many of the nutrients that they are unable to take up when they are grown in a chemical environment.It is proven that the benefits are almost immediate that I am amazed that politicians have not got on the band-wagon and insisted on agriculture and horticulture discarding the chemicals and to grow food organically. Look at Cuba- the USA did them a favor when they stopped chemicals being exported.There is no truth to the argument that chemicals produce heavier crops. Organically grown food has so much more nutrients that more goodness is produced on less land--plus the fact that the chemically grown plants are so weak that they attract diseases and pests that need more expensive chemicals to keep the pests under control. If we do nothing then nothing will happen.Start with fellow gardeners, let them prove for themselves the truth--then work your way up from there!

Links to sites about Rock dust and charcoal

2010-09-08T11:22:00.000-07:00

This site is the one to learn the basics of Rock Dust as a fertilizer and soil conditioner.

www.remineralise.org This is a great site about Rock dust

http://www.popularmechanics.com/science/environment/4292181 Interesting ways to extract carbon dioxide.

http://terrapreta.bioenergylists.org/taxonomy/term/89?page=1 Lots of information here about turning sewage sludge into bio-char, and other things too!

http://www.treehugger.com/files/2008/03/biochar_an_answer.php Farming and bio-char, good stuff!

http://www.flickr.com/photos/rchaard/sets/72157594444994347/show/with/2394313329/ charcoal farming in action

I will add others soon.

Bear Attack in the night!!

2010-09-05T15:17:00.000-07:00

Last night a bear came to our property and decided to strip my apple tree of its apples, which were not quite ripe. Next it stole the bread that I had left out for my tame Jays. Then it got into our feed store and ripped open the feed bins containing the horse food and picked up the small barrel that contained cat food and took it nto the bush. There it took off the lid, had a meal and took a nap! It must have been a big bear as the two scats it left as a calling card were huge and contained my apples. What an insult! We have lived here for over 20 years and this is the first time a bear has done any damage---maybe a sign that we are going to have a long and hard winter.