[Terrapreta] What is TP?

[Kevin Chisholm]

Dear Max

Thanks very much for your very comprehensive and thorough reply.
  ----- Original Message ----- 
  From: Max Turunen 
  To: Kurt Treutlein 
  Cc: Terra Preta 
  Sent: Wednesday, June 25, 2008 8:05 PM
  Subject: Re: [Terrapreta] What is TP?


  Here is what I have came to comprehend as Terra Preta do Indio:

  It is ancient earth modifying technique from very old, to less old, disappeared (at least mostly) cultures of the Amazon area.

  Agreed.

  It is used to change frigid soils with no capability to sustain microfauna, tie moisture into itself, not capable to host mycelias nor sustain plantlife. The frigid land type that is present widely over the Amazonas area, under the very thin jungle soil. The same sandland that is now exposed for desertification and erosion after logging. Terra Preta has been apparently used to modify those frigid sands into fertile arable land for cultivation... which still remains long after those farming practicing cultures themselves have disappeared... though now used by local habitat ecosystem. 

  OK... I wonder if they actually started with an infertile highly weathered mineral soil, OR did they start with a bog or swamp soil that was relatively high in vegetative matter and clays from local erosion of higher ground? When the Indians were starting out, they would get better results, quicker, if they simply burned the trees and vegetation they had to cut down to make a clearing and dumped their wastes on such ground to fertilize it. 

  Terra Preta appears to be very simply made and easy to grasp as concept, and easy to start experimenting with.

  From observation, it would be easy to see that if they put organic wastes (night soil, food wastes, etc) on the natural black soil of bog areas, they would get a significant increase in growth. 

  Powdered Charcoal + (Fresh type plant- ?) Compost = Terra Preta mixture.

  This would be a very sensible way to go. It would certainly bring nutrients and humic acids to teh site, and teh charcoal would hold onto the nutrients, as the humus rapidly decomposed in the tropical conditions.

  This mixture is spread on frigid sandland.

  Now, this is where the fun comes in!! :-) Did they actually start with such infertile soil, and build it up over teh years to a fertile area, OR did they start on a "black bog soil"? This is a fundamentally important question for the following reasons:
  1: If they started with compost and charcoal on infertile soil, this would suggest that it should be very feasible to "slash and char" a clearing in the jungle, and build up a good sustainable soil. "Milpa" is practised in Central America... even in Belize and Guatamala at the present. Howeverr, with the Milpa "slash and char", the people get good yields for about two years from a milpa patch, and tehn they abandon it, because of low yields.
  2: If they started with a "black bog soil", the "natural black carbon" formed from anaerobic decomposition of vegetative waste might act as a huge natural "charcoal equivalent" that retained essentially all teh added nutrients. We know from present day Milpa Practise" that "slash and char" does not permit sustained agriculture in one location for more than a few years.
   
  Rain causes the mixture to flow between the sand particles of sandland.
  Charcoal Powder particles prevent the compost nutrients from getting eroded any deeper by rains, while providing ample convoulted fractalized surface area for the microfauna to exist upon, amongst the compost nutrients.
  Thus the sandland is made into farmable, fertile soil, that is rather permanent phenomenon, and can be then farmed and further organically fertilized like other farmlands of sandy soil types.
  It seems that in such Terra Preta soils, the charcoal buried to sands for such modifying purposes 7000 years ago, still remains there.

  Wikipedia here has imagery and degree of explanations: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Terra_preta
  Herein a .pdf about terra preta's charcoal aspects can be found (without any mentions of the decomposed plant matter component): http://www.css.cornell.edu/faculty/lehmann/terra_preta/TerraPretahome.htm

  OK...  I have seen pictures of Terra Preta, as shown in your Wikipedia Reference, where it is about 1 meter deep. Clearly a great deal of effort is required to make a layer of compost and charcoal sufficient to give good growth. Why would the Indians make a meter thickness of Terra Preta, when they could dig it up and spread it over a larger area, to greatly expand their fertile land base? Much is made of pottery shards being an indicator of Terra Preta... have pottery shards been found at teh bottom of such terra Preta Deposits, or just in the upper regions? 


  What, to my understanding, is not terra preta: 
  Adding only charcoal to already fertile soils. Charcoal addinng alone to soils and lands, seems to be called Biochar, and much research and considerations about the benefits and potential problems of biochar alone is currently being researched, and getting much needed focus on this very mailing list too.

  "Terra Preta" is generally defined as a "man made soil". The term is an "Anthrosol". Charcoal in soil, from a natural fire, would not be a "man made soil." The line between "black carbon that was formed by anaerobic decomposition of vegetative matter", and "biochar made from pyro-processing of vegetative matter", is not clear when it comes to describing Terra Preta. Both could make a "black soil", or a "Amazonian Dark Earth", and could be calles a "Terra Preta Soil" even though there was no human input to its production. The term "biochar" simply refers to "char made from biomass". It does not necessarily have anything to do with soil. 

  Thanks very much for your thoughtful comments. There seem to be many unanswered questions about Terra Preta, and teh use of charcoal in the soil. I would appreciate any comments you may have on my inputs above.

  **** Here ends the part of this email that directly relates to the Topic. Rest is practical links, instructions, speculations and wild Ideas also about techniques that could complement Terra Preta utilization... many points about global, rural, and urban food security Do It Yourself techniques*****

  Your thoughts and insights below are very helpful. 
  Thanks, and best wishes,

  Kevin



  I have been lured by the following lines of thoughts and plannings lately:

  DIY Charcoal:
  Simple Do It Yourself Charcoal producing methods that utilize pyrolysis gasses as well. 
  Here is one that costs 2 (two) US$ to construct: http://e-avanstove.blogspot.com/
  I myself have tested using portable such stove called Anila Stove, also from India, and it seems to work fine, but that costs 40 US$ to make.

    +

  DIY Biogas.
  ...del....
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