[Terrapreta] The new "Black Gold" is already on sale in Indonesia!

[David Yarrow]

the idea of buffalo carrying microbes around on their hooves is curious and amusing.  but this is really a "hoof and mouth' phenomenon.  the main way bison transport microbes around is in their guts.  every dump of dung is a microbial substrate.  and then soil insects like the dung beetle spreads their fecal fertilizer and resident microbes all around the soil.  (the dung beetle was nearly exterminated by farm presticides, resulting in pastures full of cow pies.)

i can't claim to know much about the current state of research into terra preta, but i understand there is some discussion about the mystery of whether the ancient indigenous amazonians transported some kind of special microbial culture around to inoculate their biochar-enriched soils with specialized blends of digesting micro-organisms to inoculate their boichar.  not only "if" they transported some kind of terra preta starter culture, but "how" they carried this culture from one end of the amazon basin to the other.

to me, the answer is quite simple.  of course they did.  in their own digestive tract -- just like the buffalo on the prairies.  i have no doubt the indigenous tribes used nightsoil in their backyard garbage heaps, along with kitchen and crop wastes, broken pottery, and all other junk, trash and offal.  not that they had a lot of waste by today's weights, wastes and standards.

the average healthy human carries at least five pounds of micro-organisms around in their gut -- primarily in their large intestine.  these microbes aren't pathogens or parasites.  they're a critical part of our own digestive system.  without them, our capability to digest and assimilate nutrients from our food would degrade.

in fact, many modern humans have badly damaged digestive systems, first of all due to a high acid (or acid forming) diet.  but also due to excessive use of antibiotics, which in effect sterilize our intestinal flora.  and a variety of other poor dietary practices.  it's no accident the main class of non-prescrition medications in drug stores are digestive remedies -- especially if you include headache remedies.  and it's also no accident the second most common surgery is for gall bladder -- mostly for stones.   the gall bladder is the oldest, most ancient, first-in-evolution part of our digestive canal -- director of our entire digestive system and its complex processes (at least.according to oriental medicine).  a malfunctioning gall bladder is a sure sign of chronic, long term digestive disorders.  

a prime function of the gall bladder is its normally very alkaline bile secretions neutralize acids secreted by the stomach to activate protease enzymes to initiate protein breakdown and digestion.  gall stones or acid bile or weakly akalaline bile means those stomach acids aren't properly neutralized, and so the digestive discharges of the stomach begin to degrade the lining of the small intestine where most nutrient assimilation takes place.  and this acid excess will also mutate and aberrate the balance of organisms inhabiting our gut, even as acid fertilizers and acid rain degrade soil microbe communities and sterilize the soil food web.

for example, i wrote earlier about the B12 bacteria in the rumen of herbivoires such as cows and bison.  these bacteria thrive in an alkaline environment with a rich supply of amino acids.  they (and the B12 molecule) perish in an acid environment, such as in the stomach, which is why medical B12 must be taken as injection, sublingual or inhalant.  few modern civilized humans have any B12 bacteria in their gut, but i'd bet all my money those indigenous amazonians had alkaline intestines that encouraged the residence and proliferation of B12 bacteria.  and likely their composting garbage heaps provided a favorable environment for B12 bacteria, too.  interestingly, B12 bacteria are also quite common living on seaweeds.

anyway, i am fully convinced the ancient amazonians carried their terra preta microbial cultures around in their own guts, and inoculated their char and garbage enriched soils by blending their humanure into the mix.

however, given how atrocious most modern industrialized diets are, and how out-of-balance and unhealthy most civilized humans intestinal flora are, not too mention how toxic, noxious, obnoxious, and awful their offal is, i wouldn't want their poop in my compost heap.

that's my feces thesis for terra preta inoculation.  of course, you could say it's just a lot of shit.

David Yarrow
"If yer not forest, yer against us."
Turtle EyeLand Sanctuary
44 Gilligan Road, East Greenbush, NY 12061
dyarrow at nycap.rr.com
www.championtrees.org
www.OnondagaLakePeaceFestival.org
www.citizenre.com/dyarrow/
www.farmandfood.org
www.SeaAgri.com
 
"Happiness can be found even in the darkest of times, 
if one only remembers to turn on the light."  
-Albus Dumbledore
  ----- Original Message ----- 
  From: Robert Flanagan 
  To: lou gold 
  Cc: dyarrow at nycap.rr.com ; terrapreta at bioenergylists.org 
  Sent: Sunday, September 02, 2007 12:36 AM
  Subject: Re: [Terrapreta] The new "Black Gold" is already on sale in Indonesia!


  Dear Lou and N.B.G list,

  You know life is funny, on my walk to work I was going over what I wrote yesterday about imputing beneficial bacteria into the animals diet and I remember something Jim F. told me about migrating bison being an integral part of the life of the prairie. As Jim explained, when the migrating bison pass through the prairie they also relocate soil microbes in the dirt on their hoofs as well as process the grass into manure to feed the topsoil and microbes. Then I come into work and the first thing I'm reading is about bison and the life of the prairie! 
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