[Terrapreta] volatile matter and char

[Larry Williams]

Rich, Greg and crew-------A clarification on the Webber technique is  
needed so that the image of the Webber isn't stained... so to speak.

The home-made charcoal from last summer's earthen mound firings is  
being used in the Webber for cooking purposes. Some of the pieces are  
to large for cooking the chicken. The larger pieces are placed  
outside of the area where the charcoal is expected to be burnt to  
ash. A few small branches of fresh alder are usually added to the  
outside edges for purposes of smoking the chicken.

As most would expect, this process is in stages. In the first stage,  
the chicken fats, juices and VM, to a certain extent, cover the large  
pieces of charcoal as the chicken is cooking. The dripping fat and  
jelled proteins are clearly uncharred on the charcoal (at this time I  
have a prayer that the USDA has keep the prions out of the chicken  
feed).

The unburnt charcoal is removed before the next time the Webber is  
used and at some point is placed in a bucket to be bathed in diluted  
urine for 3-4 weeks.

In one trial with John Flottvik's charcoal (a finer grade), I emptied  
a 5 gallon bucket of incompletely burnt pieces of wood and diluted  
urine on the 4 gallon nursery pot. After a week, frozen chicken bones  
and pieces of fat were boiled and after cooking, when the juices was  
still warm, this broth was poured into the nursery pot. About 4" of  
composted wood chip were placed over the fine charcoal to hid the  
meat scent from critters. Three week later the fine charcoal had a  
thick covering of mold. Neat! Do ask for Rich's opinion on what he saw.

Now it seems important that I keep closer tabs on what is happening  
with the charcoal in the different stages. I would like to see your  
pictures of charcoal that has been in the soil for some time. What  
are the microbes doing? I have dug up charcoal at a site of an older  
home in the Bellingham area which I believe is close to 90 years old.  
This charcoal had been in compacted soil likely due to foot  
compaction that occurred during the time that the house was under  
construction. There were no fungal roots or tree roots associated  
with the charcoal. No roots. This situation is common around  
construction sites... foot compaction rules the day, the year and the  
century. Heads up!

Pictures of crop yield are important but what sort of interactions is  
taking place between the microbe's hotel (the piece of charcoal) with  
it's dinning service and a plant's roots? Also, I need to see the  
effects on plants or microbes of wood tar toxicity, at this time, it  
seems that there is not a serious problem. Pictures please, I know  
the tars are toxic. What are the limits of that toxicity? Did the  
Amazonian natives not have a quantity of tar with their smoldering  
fires?

Charcoal is a versatile material and there is room for many different  
approaches. It is a pleasure to be sailing on this ship with you. We  
might be able to steer this Queen with little more focus and  
understanding of the Terra Preta process. We are many souls attached  
to each other for better or worst.

Here's a toast to verdant vistas-------Larry

P.S. the toast is a challenge also for a successful outcome




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On Dec 23, 2007, at 10:12 PM, Richard Haard wrote:

> As Ogawa recommended to pretreat charcoal with compost/or  
> fertilizer is very similar to what my neighbor Larry has been doing  
> with his Weber and meat juices with urine.

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