[Terrapreta] scored

[Mark Ludlow]

No, Geritt. Do they get rowdy?

-----Original Message-----
From: gerald van koeverden [mailto:vnkvrdn at yahoo.ca] 
Sent: Friday, April 11, 2008 3:48 PM
To: mark at ludlow.com; 'Philip Small'; 'Jim Joyner'; 'Terra Preta'
Subject: RE: [Terrapreta] scored

Yes, but alchohol is also produced.  Have you ever
been around cows that have gotten drunk on eating
silage?

--- Mark Ludlow <mark at ludlow.com> wrote:

> Geritt,
> 
> Silage is a fermentation employing bacterial
> fermentation that produces
> lactic acid, not alcohol. The desired end result is
> silage that is
> some-where between 3.8 and 4.2 pH. The Lactobacillus
> usually out-competes
> everything as the environment gets anaerobic but
> there is often some acetic
> acid created from stages in the process that are not
> stabilized. Either way,
> the process terminates naturally when the pH gets
> low enough and then the
> lactic acid acts as a preservative.
> 
> Mark
> 
> -----Original Message-----
> From: terrapreta-bounces at bioenergylists.org
> [mailto:terrapreta-bounces at bioenergylists.org] On
> Behalf Of gerald van
> koeverden
> Sent: Friday, April 11, 2008 1:31 PM
> To: Philip Small; Jim Joyner; Terra Preta
> Subject: Re: [Terrapreta] scored
> 
> 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
> > >
> > > _______________________________________________
> > > Terrapreta mailing list
> > > Terrapreta at bioenergylists.org
> > >
> >
>
http://tech.groups.yahoo.com/group/biochar/
> > > http://terrapreta.bioenergylists.org
> > > http://info.bioenergylists.org
> > >
> > > _______________________________________________
> > Terrapreta mailing list
> > Terrapreta at bioenergylists.org
> >
>
http://tech.groups.yahoo.com/group/biochar/
> > http://terrapreta.bioenergylists.org
> > http://info.bioenergylists.org
> 
> 
> 
>      
>
__________________________________________________________________
> Ask a question on any topic and get answers from
> real people. Go to Yahoo!
> Answers and share what you know at
> http://ca.answers.yahoo.com
> 
> _______________________________________________
> Terrapreta mailing list
> Terrapreta at bioenergylists.org
>
http://tech.groups.yahoo.com/group/biochar/
> http://terrapreta.bioenergylists.org
> http://info.bioenergylists.org
> 
> 



      __________________________________________________________________
Connect with friends from any web browser - no download required. Try the
new Yahoo! Canada Messenger for the Web BETA at
http://ca.messenger.yahoo.com/webmessengerpromo.php