[Terrapreta] compost and charcoal

[lou gold]

I love it David.

And it would suggest an answer to the question that has vexed the modern
mind -- how did the ancient indians figure all this out? The answer might
that they used the ancient wisdom and not the modern mind.

They didn't take things apart and analyze the pieces. Instead they relied on
a cummulative oral history that reported many stories about nature, it's
changes, and what worked or did not work for the ancestors of the place.

In other words, nature conducted the experiment and human beings carried
around the results.Today, we've lost that history, that long-term connection
to place. There's not much that we can do other than try to figure it out in
the lab.

But, wait --

Isn't that what the gardeners are doing (sort of) with all that TP potting
soil?

And, might it be useful to try build a little more local history into our
modern laboratory approach?

OK, just doing a bit of mental meandering.

lou

On Nov 25, 2007 12:14 PM, Kevin Chisholm <kchisholm at ca.inter.net> wrote:

> Dear David
>
> I think you are "bang on" with your emphasis of the importance of
> microbial action in soils. I think that their importance is grossly
> under-appreciated. Additionally, fungus is very important, particularly
> in assisting phosphorous uptake by plants.
>
>  From what I can see, the "chemical agriculture" and "organic
> agriculture" people are trying to impose their thoughts on the "soil
> mechanics" who actually get the job done. Mother Nature has her way of
> doing things, and our best strategy is to be supportive of Her way of
> doing things.
>
> Best wishes,
>
> Kevin
>
> dyarrow at nycap.rr.com wrote:
> > when the research is all done and written, i expect the judgment will be
> > that it is not char that reduces NOx emissions, but microbials.  char
> > provides habitat and housing for microbes that process and stabilize
> > soil N into non-volatile forms, and char is mostly passive in this
> > process.  complex, interactive communities of microbes proliferate
> > within the char's spongy matrix, and this explosion of living biomass is
> > where the real action is.  char's main contribution to this NOx emission
> > reduction is to absorb and hold the various N ions in the C matrix
> > rather than allowing the N compounds to dissolve and leach away.
> >
> > david
> >
> > ----- Original Message -----
> > From: Kevin Chisholm <kchisholm at ca.inter.net>
> > Date: Sunday, November 25, 2007 0:50 am
> > Subject: Re: [Terrapreta] compost and charcoal
> > To: Gerald Van Koeverden <vnkvrdn at yahoo.ca>
> >
> >> Dear Gerrit
> >>
> >> This sounds to me like a great idea, with no downside.
> >>
> >> I have seen references to the fact that char reduces soil NO2
> >> emissions.
> >> It might do this by adsorption of teh NO2, or it might help create
> >> different "soil mechanics" that result in retention of the NO2 as NO4.
> >>
> >> Additionally, there might be a significant absorption of what would
> >> otherwise be "manure tea", that might leach away.
> >>
> >> Please keep us posted on anything else you might find.
> >>
> >> Best wishes,
> >>
> >> Kevin
> >>
> >
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> >
> >
>
>
>
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-- 
http://lougold.blogspot.com/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/visionshare/sets/
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