03/13/2019 / By Zoey Sky
Preppers are frugal and unless it’s absolutely necessary, they won’t spend money on anything that they can make, grow, find, or trade for. This is why it’s important to know how to make biochar, which can boost soil health in your garden, and charcoal, which is used for cooking fuel. (h/t to HomesteadSurvivalSite.com.)
Biochar is a porous material that can help retain water and nutrients in the soil. This material can significantly boost your garden crop yield since your plants will have access to healthier soil. Certain kinds of biochar can even immobilize heavy metals, herbicides, hormones, and pesticides.
Additionally, biochar can reduce nitrogen oxide (N2O) and methane (CH4) emissions from soils. Biochar is “a multi-faceted strategy,” and it produces bio-oil during pyrolysis (decomposition caused by high temperatures) that could replace fossil fuels.
Biochar can improve garden soil by cleaning it and binding together pesticides and other contaminants. This porous material also binds good nutrients together, such as nitrogen, to prevent leaching.
There are other good reasons to use biochar for your garden soil, and one of the main benefits is that is can boost your crop yield by as much as 40 percent. (Related: For the organic farmer: Grow healthier plants with organic fertilizer mixed with compost tea.)
Follow the steps below to make charcoal, which you can use to stay warm during winter or to cook outdoors when you’re camping, hiking, or when you run out of fuel for your stove.
You will need:
Steps:
Use the charcoal for your next barbecue, or start a campfire in your backyard.
You can also use the charcoal you made from the first guide to make biochar for your garden.
You will need:
Steps:
Make your own charcoal so you can stay warm and cook outdoors whenever you want, then use the biochar to boost your vegetable garden yield.
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Tagged Under: agriculture, biochar, Charcoal, firestarting, fuel, gardening, gardening tips, green living, harvest, home gardening, homesteading, off grid, organic farming, organics, plant health, prepping, self sufficiency, self-reliance, self-sustainability, soil health, survival, sustainable living, urban gardening, urban prepping