Primitive Techniques to Make Biochar Soil Amendment (episode 3.1)

A new era of Primal Tendencies is beginning. The lessons (failures) of the past will be used for success in the future. This year I am determined to do all I can to improve the odds for a successful garden and create an abundance of food. Healthy soil is key and biochar is said to be an excellent amendment to improve nutrient and water retention in soil. Let's see how it goes!

Biochar: Charcoal made by burning wood or other biomass in an oxygen-deprived environment until only carbon remains.

My social media links:
Instagram @chadzuberofficial
Facebook @chadzuber

Key moments:
00:00 Introduction
04:30 Bow drill friction fire
01:43 The first method: ground fire
08:14 The second method: pit fire
13:39 Making a big clay pot
16:43 The third method: kiln/pot fire
21:08 Conclusion

[Nartin-rx]

Hi Chad. I live in the wilderness myself. The best thing I use to grow vegetables is animal manure mixed with mine. Basically any animal manure is good for soil. Let yours dry in the sun and mix it with charcoal or animal manure if you can. Soil in arid lands usually lacks of nitrogen, potassium, and other minerals. But you also need to keep it moist which is perhaps the biggest challenge. Peeing is an option. Where you see a big tree, dead vegetation etc watch out for the rich soil around. Over time dead leaves turn into compost and form layers, again due to lack of rain it can be a challenge to dig it out. But once you obtain the compost, mix it with your less favourable soil and charcoal. Charcoal should help kill unwanted mold and parasitic eggs in the soil.

[hotepshillbilly]

I use biochar all the time. I find it is best for me to make the char and then add it to the compost pile for it to develop. Adding the mix has much better results than fresh char or compost alone added to the soil. The good soil bacteria have time in the compost to inoculate the charcoal.

Great video, and I'm glad to see you're back!

[KampungMajesticLife]

Mr. Zuber i have to Say You're the Real Survival Content creator i watched for 5 years, your authentic tool is the Real deal
Please keep Educate Us your Viewers with your primitive way of life
Thank so Much for your Hardworking
You're Deserve Master of Survival title 😊😊
Ora Et Labora... 🎉🎉🎉

[Daniel_Plastiak_Crazy_Adventur]

Hi Chad. Great dynamic video. Educational and useful. Good job. Thanks for this video. 😀🖖👍

[shawnfromportland]

Season 3 let's goooo
Chad this year be sure to keep all your soil well-covered so the roots can be thermally regulated and the nutrients remain protected from the sun and wind. Use bark or the local underbrush and mulch all exposed soil like 6+inches. You will have success this year!!

[darriendastar]

I live in a clay-rich area. We use a variety of ways to break down and enrich the soil. We use compost, vegetable food scraps and layers of leaves. If you have a supply of sand nearby, that is also a blessing that cuts down on a lot of work later on. All of that has to be mixed into the soil.
It's a *lot* of hard work and it takes several months before you see any benefits.
We also find plants that break down the soil as they grow and plants that put nitrogen into the soil (rather than take it out). As most of those plants round here tend to be pernicous weeds, you still have do a lot of weeding when you're growing food crops.
Obviously, it also takes a lot of blood, sweat, tears and swearing to recondition soil. So I wish you the very best of luck!
Another great video, Chad - many thanks.

[Murphy-gusm]

It's so interesting more or less watching how early humans lived. Like all the challenges our species had to overcome is insane, simply putting dinner on the table was a quest in it's self.

[Alex-]

Aquí en España tradicionalmente se ha utilizado una mezcla de las dos últimas técnicas.

En el fondo de un agujero, se introduce la leña (preferiblemente madera dura) y a continuación se tapa todo (en forma de montículo) con una mezcla simple de barro o arcilla dejando un par de canales de ventilación para que la combustión se realice de manera adecuada. Una vez la madera haya alcanzado el estado óptimo de la carbonización se deberán tapar dichos canales para ahogar el fuego e impedir que el recién creado carbón acabe consumiéndose.

I've tried this method myself a few times on my land with holm and cork oak and it yields epic results.

Also thank you for the effort that's always put into your projects, I've been on your channel for years and it's always a pleasure to come and watch your videos, keep up the good work!

[AliOkta-dc]

Every man s dream is living a life like this

[robertwilson]

High southwest desert is always my favorite place to spend time. I do look forward to this season. Best wishes on the soil building and the three sisters…

[rickjames]

I really enjoyed the mouse nest tinder bundle. Little dude didn't even know he was gonna help out.

[Engulfing_Darkness]

Quite impressive, Chad. I cannot add much to the methods you've experimented with, but should work considering that people have been using the burn method for centuries. Back in my dad's village, in Armenia, people would collect and dry cow/horse/donkey manure in a collective pile . Once it was completely dry, it would be fired and allowed to smolder for some time. The fire would then be put out by starving the smoldering pile of the air (I don't remember what the method was used), and eventually it would be used as soil enrichment.

[madmo]

So happy to see season 3 kicking off!!

[milja]

So good to see you trying out gardening again! I look forward to see how things will turn out. - Out of the three methods, I would use the second, as quantity is perhaps more important than quality when you are building up a reasonable sized garden bed.

Smaller quantities of high quality material can be reserved for potted plants perhaps.

[Convolutedtubules]

Apparently pouring water on hot charcoal activates it, giving it a much higher surface area. Industrially this can be done using steam at high temperatures.

[markgibsons_SWpottery]

We use the smothering method, but we smash the charcoal down and cover it with flat rocks before we bury it, because when we dig it back up, it takes a long time to get the soil separate from the bio-char. We just dig up the flat rocks and keep most of the soil from reaching the charcoal! It is the best all purpose fertilizer for food!

[slimpwarrior]

Yay to more building! Thank you, Chad!

[kysbuver]

I have a small farm.
We use food waste, leather excrement, fallen leaves, ashes, and seashells after finely grinding and maturing them. We make dark-colored soil as much as possible and grow crops in seedbeds. We water often and grow pumpkins and potatoes when the temperature is cool in the evening. I am watering on time. Cover the ground with fallen leaves.

[mutilation]

enriching the soil with ash and biochar will surely help, however keep in mind that biochar is rich in potassium and phosphorus that are needed more at flowering, in the initial vegetational stages nitrogen is crucial, so natural compost is the way to go, awesome content!

[hugendubel]

Really cool to see you exploring biochar! I teach farmers in subsaharan africa how to produce great amounts of high quality biochar as part of my job using the second method you have demonstrated. For a better result I suggest you start with a small fire in the pit and to constantly feed it material, so that there are always flames present. When you want to end the process, wait for the flames to die down and then pour water down the sides of your hole. Flames are a sign of unburned oils, which could be unhealthy in a soil amendment. The water poured down the sides is not for quenching, it will evaporate and the steam will flow through the biochar, cracking open its pores, wich increases the surface. Then cover or quench. Easy way to test for quality is to rub some biochar between your hands and then rinsing them with water. High quality biochar should be able to be rinsed of completely just using water.
Wishing you great success!