Last night I drempt that my compost tea disolved my plants!
I really need to get out more.
This is a picture of the charchol I am buying from Malaysia
http://www.diytrade.com/directory/gl..._Charcoal.html
It is probably Coconut Shell Charcoal, so would it have all the goodies that tree charchol would have? Guess no one really knows?
I have summerised some salient points from the above web site posted by gost:
"" ADE to massive accumulation of fish waste. ?
Most authors note that broken pottery (potsherds, sherds) and fired clay probably from dismantled fire hearths and burned wattle and daub structures are a major component of terra preta type ADE
Could fired clay in its various forms have contributed to the creation and maintenance of ADE?
High frequencies of potsherds in the soil profile could affect drainage, texture, chemical and biological activity.
Organic tempering materials (ash, shell, sponges, and Spanish moss) used in Amazonian pottery (identified by Costa et al., 2003) may also contribute to the formation of ADE.
I learned that pottery is systematically removed from soils during processing for soil analysis (e.g. Teixeira and Coimbra, 2003). I suggest that sherds should be included in soil samples and analyzed to determine their potential contribution to ADE.
http://ccat.sas.upenn.edu/fishweir/a...ricksonADE.pdf
Is ADE a sustainable resource management system?
The fact that
(1) ADE are well preserved, stable, and resistant to leaching, erosion, and mineralization (possibly even "growing" as suggested by some scholars) after 400 to 500 years of neglect and/or use, and
(2) archaeological dating demonstrates that many ADE were occupied for 900 years or more (Smith, 1980; Denevan, 2002; Kern et al., 2003; Lehmann et al., 2003a; Mora, 2003; Neves et al., 2003) are indications that ADE are sustainable (or at least the human lifeway that produced them was sustainable).
Two questions must be asked: "How did they do it?" and "Can we replicate the process?"
ADE is an excellent example of the capture, processing, composting, and recycling of organic and inorganic soil nutrients on a huge scale in pre-Columbian urban contexts.
What can be learned from the past and what of this knowledge can be applied today?
Well-designed experiments to reproduce ADE based on insights from archaeology, geography, ethnography, history, agronomy, soil science and other disciplines as discussed in this volume are critical.
Long-term experimental ADE plots and controls should to be established in native communities and agricultural stations.
Comparative Research on ADE: Is ADE a unique Amazonian phenomenon or is it similar to black earths reported in other parts of the world? C
A less tangible, but important "value" of ADE for contemporary society is as a record of an indigenous knowledge system, an ethnoscience, or appropriate technology, in this case a possibly sustainable landuse strategy that has become lost over time.
Other potential "values" of ADE research are the protection, promotion and regeneration of the native culture of the descendants of the people who made ADE. Documentation of indigenous resource management (Ka'apor; Kayapó examples) increases the appreciation of indigenous knowledge, countering the idea that native practices are backward, primitive holdovers from the past. On the other hand, over-promotion can result in creating new Myths of the Noble Savage. ""
