BIOCHAR
Biochar is fully carbonized biomass with as little remaining volatile compounds as possible. As such it's a soil stable form of carbon which stays in your soil for hundreds, if not thousands of years making it a permanent soil improvement. The porous structure of biochar means it has an enormous surface area which can bind nutrients, hold water and offer a home to the soil's microbiology.
This makes biochar a force multiplier, almost every aspect on the farm or homestead can be improved with the addition of biochar.
Biochar increases the water holding capacity of sandy soils and greatly improves drainage of heavy clay soils. It reduces the bulk density and improves aeration.
Adding biochar to your compost pile significantly reduces the smell of your compost by binding nitrous oxides (NOx) and methane (CH4) emissions.
Because biochar is a great environment for microbiology it also speeds up the decomposition process of your compost.
When fed to livestock it improves the feed conversion ratio by improving their digestion and this also results in reduced emissions from their manure.
Some of the ways you can use biochar:
- Add biochar to your compost pile at a rate of up to 20% by volume.
- Mix it into your vegetable garden at a rate of 200 to 1000 grams per square meter per year untill the desired soil structure is achieved. Add double the volume of high quality compost or worm castings whenever applying biochar to your soil.
- Mix it into your potting soil for indoor plants at a rate of up to 10% by volume.
- Mix it into your livestock's feed at a rate of 1% by weigh.