[Terrapreta] Greetings

[Duane Pendergast]

Good morning Juergen,

It is great to see so many, with such a wide variation of interests
participating in this list.

Your observations reminded me of a letter to our local paper that I
submitted before I became aware of terra preta.

http://www.computare.org/Support%20documents/Letters/Letters%202003/Forest%2
0Fire%2003_08.htm

I had arrived at this point of quandary from a quest to find a way to direct
nuclear energy into actually creating a carbon sink. Nuclear energy is
usually considered only as a way to avoid carbon emissions. 

Duane Pendergast

-----Original Message-----
From: terrapreta-bounces at bioenergylists.org
[mailto:terrapreta-bounces at bioenergylists.org] On Behalf Of Juergen Botz
Sent: April 18, 2007 6:16 AM
To: terrapreta at bioenergylists.org
Subject: [Terrapreta] Greetings

Hello, all.  I just joined the list, glad to see it so lively!

To introduce myself... about a year ago I acquired a small farm 
in coastal Bahia, Brazil.

The land is 2/3 secondary growth Atlantic rain forest, the other
1/3 is partially planted with coconut palms and pineapple, plus
various fruits and plenty of manioca.  Unplanted areas that
aren't forest are heavily overgrown with dense brush.  The
subsoil is nutrient-poor loam, often highly compacted.  In most
spots there's a layer of anywhere from an inch to a foot that
has a significant amount of organic matter, and yes, quite a bit
of charcoal.

The charcoal doesn't seem to have been deliberately incorporated... 
rather, the area has been cleared by fire a couple of times in 
the past and because of the high humidity here that leaves a 
lot of charred matter.

I am experimenting with various natural farming and permaculture
techniques here, and my main goal right now is to get the soil 
in better shape.  That means breaking up the compacted subsoil,
adding organic matter, adding more charcoal to stabilize it and
reduce future compaction, planting various leguminous trees and
ground covers, and of course building up a layer of humus.

I have a source of humus and wood for charcoal in the forest.
I've also been making large quantities of compost from a mixture
of wood- chips, manure, and seaweeds raked up at the beach.  I'm
thinking of adding charcoal to this mix right from the start of
composting.

One of the things that led me to this list was that I was
scouring the Net for info on small-scale charcoal production.
I found a bunch, and I found this list.  I think I'll be trying
some pit-kiln variation shortly, and in the longer run I may
build something like the adam retort.

:j


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