We all hear how the biochar should be 'precharged' before use, so what better way than to spread biochar in the chicken house. By spreading it under their roost you will get the chicken droppings mixing with the biochar = precharged.

It also helps reduce the ammonia odour associate with chicken houses and it hygienic and the chickens appear to like scratching it.

I will clean this batch (it’s was  the waste left over after packing) out this spring and use in my garden. I expect good results as chicken manure has the highest NPK of any domestic animal. Its particularly high in Nitrogen , because chickens don’t excrete urine separately.

Terra preta irish style, it wasn't just going on in the Amazon and maybe some scientist that have an interest in biochar should start looking nearer to home (both here and in  Europe) to see how the hills and slopes of mountains in their countries and  along the west of Ireland were farmed using the practice of 'Pairing and Burning' the evidence is still there both from a distance as improved lands surrounded by heather land and in the ground as fragments of charcoal.  Gerard Madden in his book 'Sliabh Aughty Ramble'  also mentions how the heathery land of the Aughty mountains was dug, dried and burned and applied back on the land as a fertilizer.

Just spotted this Baby Red Squirrel last evening checking out this years supply of seasoned dry hardwood .
Good to see that they are still breeding in this area.
checkout http://www.woodlandmammals.com/
to see how you can help our Red Squirrels.

Its looking like this will  be one of our wettest summers in many years.(june already is the wettest summer on record). One of the  consequences  of all this heavy rain is water logged soils and leaching of nutrients, which results in poorer growth.

Biochar can alleviate these two issues by improving drainage and slow down the rate of leaching.
Check Ed Revill an organic grower to see what he has to say about Biochar. Also check the link below to get  an insight to the world of biochar production whilst you cook and heat water.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ReJnvWX2zK8&feature=youtu.be

Biochar plus now available through the Seed Savers web site.

http://store.irishseedsavers.ie/BIOCHAR_plus_p/1407.htm

Six BIOCHARS, Three Soil types and two crops undergoing trials at University of Limerick.

SPOT THE DIFFERENCE ! Photo taken 28 April 2012

We now have biochar in stock and we are currently  carrying out trials. As you can see from the pictures below there are some differences between the different trays.As the weeks pass we will post new photos.