Author Topic: Making Biochar at Home, Enrichment Soil with Kitchen Waste  (Read 843 times)

GrowerA

  • Member
  • ***
  • Posts: 77
    • Zone9
    • View Profile
Making Biochar at Home, Enrichment Soil with Kitchen Waste
« on: November 24, 2022, 02:28:02 PM »
Have a Great Thanksgiving to All.
Do you use wood charcoal to make biochar and compost your kitchen waste? Please share your experience
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=it0X_WH8scA

Finca La Isla

  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 2130
    • Costa Rica, Southern Caribbean coast
    • View Profile
    • finca la isla
Re: Making Biochar at Home, Enrichment Soil with Kitchen Waste
« Reply #1 on: November 24, 2022, 06:02:09 PM »
We compost kitchen waste and fruit processing waste.
We also make biochar from pruning and other material in a TLUD adapted steel drum. We activate the char with a lactobacillis microorganism culture.
Peter

spaugh

  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 5126
    • San Diego County California
    • View Profile
Re: Making Biochar at Home, Enrichment Soil with Kitchen Waste
« Reply #2 on: November 24, 2022, 06:34:36 PM »
Im not as sophisticated with my trash.  We just keep a bucket under the sink and take it out every couple days and burry it under tree in a shallow hole.   No need to do any extra work with it.
Brad Spaugh

Finca La Isla

  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 2130
    • Costa Rica, Southern Caribbean coast
    • View Profile
    • finca la isla
Re: Making Biochar at Home, Enrichment Soil with Kitchen Waste
« Reply #3 on: November 24, 2022, 08:10:58 PM »
Most things work with kitchen waste in the farm/garden. What we’re doing with the compost is incorporating it into our potting medium with other stuff so we kind of want a uniformly composted material.

Galatians522

  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 1825
    • Florida 9b
    • View Profile
Re: Making Biochar at Home, Enrichment Soil with Kitchen Waste
« Reply #4 on: November 24, 2022, 09:39:03 PM »
I tried several methods and spent a lot of time composting several years back. Then, I did the math on how much I was generating in fertilzer/humus for the year compared to what I was investing in time. I was making something like $3 an hour. That didn't seem worthwhile to me. Now I just do what Brad does and bury my kitchen scraps in the garden.

Actually, some nitrogen is lost in the composting process. So, I think burrying is a more efficient use of nutrients (it won't get rid of pathogens like hot composting, but that's not as big of an issue when the material is 12" under the soil). Also, high carbon stuff will not affect your soil nitrogen if it is just a mulch. However, earthworms will slowly eat it from the bottom, up and turn it into humus. Now my motto is, "Burry the green, mulch the brown." It works best if you plan a fallow area (or areas) in your garden rotation where you can methodically burry scraps to enrich the soil.

As for bio char, my soil is really acid and is already high in organic matter. So, I need the liming effect of the ash more than I need the char. I just save the ash and whatever char there is from my fires to spread on the garden. I also save my bone scraps in a gallon bag in the freezer. When the bag gets full I dump it on a nice hot fire. Bone ash and char are about 30% phosphorus (most of which only becomes available slowly over time). As long as you live in a place where there is no mad cow disease, campfire heat should be enough to sterilize the bone. That is probably another of those things where I am not generating much in the way of a dollar value. But, if I was going to have the fire any way the time invested is negligible.

aaronn

  • Member
  • ***
  • Posts: 86
    • USA, CA, Napa 9b
    • View Profile
Re: Making Biochar at Home, Enrichment Soil with Kitchen Waste
« Reply #5 on: November 25, 2022, 12:16:34 PM »
For compost, I have 2 of those fairly large plastic compost bins that I scored for free like 15-20 years ago. I just dump kitchen scraps in it every day or 2. When I’m sweeping leaf litter from walkways I’ll occasionally throw some in the bin. When cleaning out chicken manure I’ll throw some in. No big labor invested in this method. I just keep a digging fork next to the bin and turn it a bit every time I dump something in there. Once I fill one of the bins, the other gets spread around the yard as finished compost. Works well for me. I would think that burying green waste would work great but in my yard with a dog and lots of nighttime critters, I’m certain it would regularly be dug up. Digging in my soil is more work than composting. But hey, I bet if I dug those holes for green waste the soil would improve.

I don’t make biochar, but I did buy a truckload of high quality biochar a couple years ago. It cost more than I would have liked, close to $200 I think. But I understand it will outlast my lifetime, so I figured, what the heck. I charged it with liquid kelp, humic acid, MycoGrow, and probably some liquid fish. I haven’t noticed much change to plants but I do think I get more mushrooms. I’m really succeeding in spreading lepiotas around my yard but I think that is more related to spreading the mushrooms and manure.

cassowary

  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 606
    • Australia FNQ 13a Tropical Monsoon
    • View Profile
    • cassowaryseeds
Re: Making Biochar at Home, Enrichment Soil with Kitchen Waste
« Reply #6 on: November 27, 2022, 11:40:01 PM »
We spread our kitchen scraps all around the trees so that the sugars get evenly spread so to increase the release of organic acids from bacteria which will release ions of rock particles in the soil.
The native bush hens do the rest.

All wood goes around the tree to provide food for fungi so that they reduce phytophra since phytopras cell walls are made of cellulose fungi can control it as they "eat" cellulose. If you burn wood it is no longer a food source for fungi.
If you have enough Sulphur in the soil when adding wood, humic acid and fulvic acid will be created which is long lasting in the soil with it's nutrient adsoption effect so no need to burn any wood to hold nutrients.
Adding gypsum (Calcium sulphate mineral ) would be ideal. Also gypsum would be more ideal as an amendment to a compost pile then Lime since it adds Sulphur and does not have a carbonic acid effect from the carbonate that s inside CaCarbonate. CaCarbonate will reduce the carbon in the pile since the carbonic acid will turn to C02.

I'v researched char for a long time and concluded:
Making char is dangerous to man and animals and releases gases into the air, all N is lost! And sugars are destroyed, no fungi food left! That's why it lasts so long in the soil, no organic life want's to consume it from what I have found.
CASSOWARYSEEDS.COM
Seed shop and Seed exchange

skhan

  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 2274
    • United States, Florida, Coral Springs, 10b
    • View Profile
    • Videos of Garden
Re: Making Biochar at Home, Enrichment Soil with Kitchen Waste
« Reply #7 on: November 28, 2022, 07:50:13 PM »
Im not as sophisticated with my trash.  We just keep a bucket under the sink and take it out every couple days and burry it under tree in a shallow hole.   No need to do any extra work with it.

I'm in the same boat with composting but since i don't have a big lot i have 2 open bottom 55gal drum with a hinged top i throw everything in.
My father does your method

Galatians522

  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 1825
    • Florida 9b
    • View Profile
Re: Making Biochar at Home, Enrichment Soil with Kitchen Waste
« Reply #8 on: December 01, 2022, 06:54:41 PM »
Another thing I do for bio-char is to just plant in my previous burn pit (no need to shovel and haul the ash and char). I think there are other benefits to that as well. For example, I have driven through a lot of groves over the years and have noticed that orange trees planted where burn piles had been grow 50% faster. I think part of the reason for that is that the heat from the fire kills the nematodes.

gnappi

  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 1975
    • South East Florida (U.S.A) Zone 10A
    • View Profile
Re: Making Biochar at Home, Enrichment Soil with Kitchen Waste
« Reply #9 on: December 02, 2022, 01:58:07 AM »
I use a large disused rain barrel to compost house veg waste which a neighbor and GF help fill it up. I drilled holes in the sides and set it on a 24" concrete walkway paver, it makes some really nice compost. Ash from the fire pit gets spread around the yard.
Regards,

   Gary