[Terrapreta] John,s experiment.

[Larry Williams]

Sean-------I have for the last twenty years tried to garden more in  
the fashion of the old growth ecology that I have observed so when  
you see the below pictures taken by Richard Haard keep in mind that  
those pieces of charcoal may have some similarity to the effects of  
the Terra Preta soils given that the swiss chard was 42" high. The  
history of that bed is significantly different than typical garden  
soil. I am going out on a limb before the results of this season is  
in. See: http://www.flickr.com/photos/rchaard/336553821/in/ 
set-72157594444994347/ .

In my opinion, the power of observation and the scientific method are  
the left hand and the right hand knowing that they do better when  
they work together.

Thank you for the conversation last week. It was very useful for me  
to hear your comments. We have one blue-green home... we are this  
game hand-to-hand-------Larry



--------------------------------
On Apr 25, 2007, at 9:11 PM, Sean K. Barry wrote:
Tom, thanks for posting the pictures.

John, it sure is exciting to see pictures with some results from some  
real experiments with charcoal in soil!  I don't remember, but  
hopefully, you have duplicates or triplicates of the varied test  
samples.  If you don't, consider making some up.  Make duplicates or  
triplicates of all the pots, with all the same variances, plant the  
same kinds of seeds.  The replication will help with validating a  
real effective combination and maybe keep us from having some fluke  
"super-grower" radish seed "sport" in one of the pots, making us  
think its an obvious winning recipe.
Do you know what I mean?

Happy Gardening,

SKB


-----------------------------
Begin forwarded message:
From: Richard Haard <richrd at nas.com>
Date: December 17, 2006 10:35:43 AM PST
To: Williams Larry <lwilliams at nas.com>
Subject: Charcoal as habitat

Larry , Charcoal discussion group may be interested to look at these  
images.

I have scanned a plate of  scanning electron micrographs from Makoto  
Ogawa's article in Farming Japan, Symbiosis of People and Nature in  
the Tropics. This is  from a copy he passed out at the UGA charcoal  
conference. Subsequently I have corresponded with him on how I might  
conduct charcoal - soil innoculation experiments here in western  
Washington.

In the upper left we can see the relative size of the pore size in  
oak wood charcoal and other images on the plate the ease in which  
fungi can actually grow into these structures. Bacteria in contrast  
are much smaller and fit with ease into the smallest of the pores in  
the wood/charcoal.

I have also attached a set of images you and I took of the charcoal  
you placed in your kale garden. What was impressive to me is the  
abundance of fungal hyphae adhering to the charcoal after a  
relatively short time buried in your garden patch. Could this be an  
attraction to exudates from beneficial bacteria that have colonized  
the carbonized vascular tissue?


Richard Haard
Native Plants Forever


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