Back in October, I wrote this and this about the process of making biochar.  This weekend, I put the finished product to use!  Backing up a step…after crushing the charcoal and soaking it thoroughly, I mixed it with compost and let it cook over the winter, turning it from time to time.  The resulting compost biochar mix is a rich, dark brown, and smells great.  It feels like powerful stuff!

Pictured here is one of the rows that will, in two or three weeks, be planted with tomatoes (you can see the young’uns here).  I chopped down and chopped up the cover crop – a mix of bell beans, field peas, vetch and oats – then spread the biochar compost out, covering that with a thick layer of composted horse manure.  In two or three weeks, the cover crop will have broken down, and the row will be ready to plant.  This is my first (or perhaps my second?) year forgoing all tilling in the annual vegetable garden, so I’m curious to see how things grow.