[Terrapreta] Char made made under pressurized conditions?

[Larry Williams]

Tom-------I still question the value of composting in an urban or  
rural smallholder environment. In general, from my perspective, the  
collection, turning and necessary incorporation into the soil is  
energy intensive and with the opportunities for volatilization and  
leaching of nutrients composting is overrated.

I have moved to a new garden location with a highly disturbed soil  
condition. I added amendments to a very heavy clay soil so that I  
could have raised beds. In this situation with no stable soil  
community, a input of compost may have helped. Early indications are  
showing that this year's garden may suffer from the mixing. I will  
use compost tea instead of compost and will interplant with a crop of  
buckwheat which I will cut at an appropriate time. The purpose of the  
buckwheat is it's roots system's release an exudates which feed the  
"wee little beasties".

I do have a reasonable amount of prepared charcoal in most of the  
garden.

Food for thought as one eats--------Larry



---------------------------------------------
On Mar 30, 2008, at 12:42 PM, Tom Miles wrote:

> Jim,
>
>
>
> “sequestering massive amounts of carbon” is the key. You seem to be  
> saying that compositing doesn’t scale in a modern agricultural  
> environment. Composting would seem to fit better at a small scale,  
> as an urban high value soil amendment, or for a rural smallholder  
> where the ingredients may be more available.
>
>
>
> I agree that Eduard in that at least in our environment the TP  
> product must be prepared so that there are clear and predictable  
> agronomic and economic benefits. That’s why I think the urban  
> homeowner would be a good target for TP products that may in  
> another form be applied to agriculture. Ag buyers will not pay as  
> much as the homeowner, landscaper or enthusiastic gardener.
>
>
>
> I look at charcoal as a means of facilitating the growth of  
> biomass. It becomes a stable part of the mix of OM rather than an  
> attempt to replace or create OM.
>
>
>
> Tom
>
>
>
> >For those thinking about saving the world by reducing CO2,  
> composting maybe a nice academic subject but it has no place in the  
> practices for sequestering massive amounts of carbon.
>
> >Jim
>
>
>
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