#soil amendment

Wednesday harvest:

We cleared out the summer vegetables to make room for the cool season vegetables:

If no one else does, he wants to hear what is on your mind:

We're still working on this bed but the goal is pollinator magnet:

It came in the mail:

Anniversary flowers:

Sunday harvest:

Cool season plantings.

Kale:

Cabbage:

Swiss chard, brussels sprouts, bush beans, broccoli & cauliflower:

Spinach:

Swiss chard & peas:

Anniversary day dinner:

Lost soul:

We trekked over to Arkansas to check out a lake at a wildlife refuge. The road to the lake was out so no photos of the lake but have these photos of crossing the Mississippi River back into Tennessee:

Tuesday back at the house:

My queen working magic:

Tuesday on the grill:

Tuesday dinner:

I was originally introduced to the idea of slash-and-char when I went to the Museo Etnografico del Friuli; there are painted depictions of how Udine was created centuries ago, and a part of that process was clearing the land by slashing and charring plant matter, rather than doing a slash-and-burn.

For agricultural purposes, slash-and-char methods have been used in the Amazon rainforest, and are currently by Loma and Mende people in Western Africa; a highly productive and restorative indigenous practice. Rice husk charcoal was also used to amend soil in Japan! Primarily, it is used to fertilize and moisten the soil, but it also allows soil to act as a carbon sponge, reducing carbon emissions over time.

Along with the use of other organic materials (such as manure and food scraps), the soil becomes self-fertilizing; like a starfish regrowing a cut limb, the microbes in the soil can regrow when tampered with. It becomes a resilient life form!

But the benefits don't stop there- charcoal-treated soil surpress heavy metal absorption in plants, opening up more areas for agricultural purposes.

Slash-and-char with contaminated soil:

How the resulting charcoal can be used:

Slash and Char: An Alternative to Slash and Burn Practiced in the Amazon Basin

1. The residues from charcoal production are mainly used as an amendment in planting holes. Mainly bananas (or other fruit trees) are planted in such holes. Typically, the holes are about 30cm wide and 50 cm deep. These planting holes are filled with chicken manure, charcoal, and soil.

2. The slash and char farmers produce a kind of charcoal compost. Around the charcoal kilns they dig holes in which the charcoal residues are deposited in layers alternating with organic matter, ashes, and soil. After 1 year of decomposition, the farmers use the created material as fertilizer applied on the soil surface.

3. Charcoal residues are used for vegetable and herb production in home gardens. These gardens are planted in elevated planters, and the crops aregrown about 1.5 m above the ground to avoid damages caused by domestic animals. These planters are filled with soil, charcoal residues, compost,chicken manure, and other forms of organic matter.

(I'm not affiliated with this company, they just have good info)

Since rice hulls are comprised of mostly silica, they can be of great use as a soil amendment. Silica helps to strengthen your plants cell walls, and build up their immunity to things like drought and heat. [...] I have seen rice hulls last 3 to 5 years before most has broken down.

Not only do rice hulls add back in silica to your soil, but they can also help to aerate compacted soils. By mixing in rice hulls to your soil, they will provide aeration similar to how perlite, or pumice would do in potting soil. In a garden, or field situation, you would typically do this every 2 or 3 seasons, as the aeration benefits should last multiple years.

The biggest down side I have seen with using rice hulls as a mulch is that when the wind blows hard, your rice hulls will go everywhere. Mixing your rice hulls with some compost to help give them some weight, and stability is what I would suggest when using them for a mulch layer. Even adding in 25% compost to the rice hulls mixed before hand can help you with keeping the hulls in their place.

Since rice hulls are comprised of mostly silica, they can be of great use as a soil amendment. Silica helps to strengthen your plants cell walls, and build up their immunity to things like drought and heat.

By mixing in rice hulls to your soil, they will provide aeration similar to how perlite, or pumice would do in potting soil. In a garden, or field situation, you would typically do this every 2 or 3 seasons, as the aeration benefits should last multiple years. Depending on the microbial life in your soil, temps, humidity, crops being grown, etc.. you may be able to extend the length of time between incorporating rice hulls into your fields.

When used in potting soil, rice hulls are the perfect alternative to other aeration amendments like perlite. Unlike perlite, it will break down eventually, but again, I have seen it last 5+ years in living soil containers. We use it as part of our solution for long term aeration in our no-till living soil, and it has served us well for many years. If you are mixing your own soil for the season, rice hulls would be a great option for a single use soil. The reason I like it for single use soils, is that when you are done with the season you can compost the remaining soil, and there won't be any issues with perlite, pumice, lava rock, etc.. being in your compost. Then the next season you can use your old soil as compost for your new soil, and continue the cycle indefinitely.