[Terrapreta] scored

[gerald van koeverden]

Jim,

Alcohol is a preservative because it will kill most
microorganisms.  That's the whole principle behind
making silage - it ferments and 'pickles' itself.
You can only naturally ferment anything to about 18%
alchohol.  At that point, even fermenting yeast can't
survive.  Jack Daniels - being distilled - is probably
around 40% alcohol.  So you have a very potent natural
biocide concentrated in the charcoal particles.  I
wonder how it would function in a compost pile?  Could
be problems...
You might have to first dump the charcoal into a
container and soak it in water.  The alcohol in the
charcoal should naturally be diluted by diffusion....?
  
Just guessing.

Gerrit


--- Philip Small <psmall2008 at landprofile.com> wrote:

> Unless you won't be using the soil productively
> right away, I would finish
> this charcoal in a compost pile for the month
> minimum, and make sure you
> have a good portion of green feedstock to balance
> the high C:N ratio. May
> have to turn the pile frequently at first to prevent
> the pile from going
> sour, but better there than in the soil where it is
> hard on the indigenous
> population. I would inoculate the mix with healthy
> compost tea, healthy
> garden soil, and such.
> 
> On Fri, Apr 11, 2008 at 9:33 AM, Jim Joyner
> <jimstoy at dtccom.net> wrote:
> 
> > I just scored a ton of charcoal! It's all ground
> to a powder to pea
> > size. Just one little drawback: it has Jack
> Daniels whiskey in it.
> >
> > They filter all the fresh made whiskey through
> sugar maple wood charcoal
> > (then it gets stored in charred white oak
> barrels). They wash the
> > charcoal with water to get as much of the alcohol
> out of it as they can.
> > They normally make charcoal briquettes out of the
> charcoal left over but
> > I convinced them they should give me a ton to
> experiment with.
> > (Actually, they charged me $30). So, now I have a
> ton of charcoal with
> > the very sweet smell of Jack Daniels.
> >
> > The fellow who loaded my truck ask me, "whatcha
> gon with it?" I told him
> > and he grimaced. Said they used to mix the
> charcoal with wood chips and
> > apply it as mulch until they found that it "kilt
> all the shrubs".
> >
> > So, I've got the charcoal setting out in the sun,
> evaporating the
> > alcohol out of it, hoping it be will be OK when I
> put it in the soil.
> > Any comments or suggestions?
> >
> > Thanks,
> >
> > Jim
> >
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