Showing posts with label biochar. Show all posts
Showing posts with label biochar. Show all posts

Tuesday, April 12, 2022

A BAD DAY ON THE FARM


These pictures taken in 2011 on a small farm near Dillard where the Umpqua Bio Fuel  group processed grease collected from restaurants into bio diesel.    The processing facility was made up of old water heater tanks, and all kinds of plumbing powered by propane.  Lucky we did not blow the place up and nothing was on firm ground in the winter as you can see.  

Sunday, January 31, 2021

Biochar

 Between storms this last week did my third batch this winter made from 2 to 4 inch material and wet, 22 inches of rain here since 10/1/2020.  Used some cardboard boxes to get it started.    Crush it by putting it in empty 40 lbs bird seed bags and drive over it.   Between me and the neighbor it goes into our compost. 


Tuesday, January 26, 2021

Prelude to Spring

 The first sign of Spring is the arrival of seed catalogs in the mail and all the bags of soil amendments piled in the parking lot of the local Bi-Mart in Sutherlin.    This last Sunday our neighbor, Jim brought us a couple of bags of greens from his greenhouse.  I have been providing him with biochar to incorporate into their compost and from that he makes a potting soil that beats anything I can buy or put together.   Something he learned from his grandmother in his younger days.   My gardening abilities are limited by a shortage of water in the summer and an increase of critters eating everything I plant, except potatoes.   Last summer my motion camera detected mice climbing the bean supports and eating all the foliage, plus everything else, including what was started in our greenhouse.   Even our three cats can't keep up with the varmints.   Anybody know of a poison that will not be harmful to our cats?  

What would we do during these uncertain times without planning for our gardens this coming spring? 

CHANGING OF THE SEASONS

 It is the middle of September as summer still hangs on, but there is a chill in the morning air as I drink my coffee, listen to the radio a...