[Terrapreta] Charcoal Specification Development

[code suidae]

On 10/2/07, ch braun <brauncch at gmail.com> wrote:
> >It didn't seem useful to parallel the PyrolysisMethod-PyrolysisEvent
> relationship on the cultivation side.
>
> To my point of view this could be useful to add a SoilAmendmentMethod...
> especially if we suggest some "standard protocols" later on, that aim at
> allowing different users to test some specific aspects.

Works for me, consider it done.

> Well  for the other open questions you ask, it's hard for me to judge what
> is best, because I have now just started making some charcoal trials myself
> and I think these questions need to be answered by people who have really
> some serious experience in the field and can better determine the best level
> of details which should be reached.

To that point, this was recently posted:

On 10/3/07, Jon C. Frank <jon.frank at aglabs.com> wrote:
> When soaking and inoculating char you might also want to consider a
> high-nitrogen liquid fish.  We use an ocean fish with an analysis of 5-1-1.
> Since it is ocean derived it has a greater spectrum of minerals and still
> supplies a stable, long-lasting nitrogen.  If this was mixed with molasses
> then diluted and inoculated with bacteria and fungal species and then soaked
> into the charcoal it would seem to be much better than just using the
> charcoal.

Currently this information cannot be included in the model except in
the experiment logs. I think we'll need a third sort of event where a
Charcoal Material can be processed and amended to create a new
Material. You could also represent this as a CultivationTrial with no
plants, just a starting Material that is a basic Charcoal, with
various amendments and an output Material. The output would then be
the input to a second CultivationTrial. I could also separate the
ideas of mixing things together to make something new from
CultivationTrial. I think I like that idea best as it simplifies what
a CultivationTrial is and generalized the idea of mixing things
together.

Dave K
-- 
"Our ignorance is not so vast as our failure to use what we know." -
M. King Hubbert