RAMONA’S RECIPE FOR HOME-MADE DIRT:  THE LONG-AWAITED SEQUEL

 

 

[Note: my original article can be read online at: http://www.opednews.com/articles/Making-Terra-Preta-Soil-R-by-Ramona-Byron-080821-153.html or at: http://myblog.michaelpbyron.com/2008/08/21/making-terra-preta-soil-ramonas-recipe-for-homemade-dirt.aspx .]

 

 

Mike has been nagging me for weeks about doing a sequel to “Ramona’s Recipe for Home-Made Dirt.”  He keeps saying, “The world is waiting.”  Obviously, as one who was raised Roman Catholic, Mike has forgotten my own imperviousness to guilt-trips.

 

But finally today, Mike forbade me from doing anything else until I write this sequel.  No reupholstering the living room chairs.  No finishing the drapes for the reading room.  No relaxing with a good book in the shade on the patio, and learning at last who may have done the dastardly deed of murdering King Tut (“Who Killed King Tut” by Michael R. King and Gregory M. Cooper).  Not even weeding our terra preta garden. 

 

Mike can be a real bully sometimes.  So here I am, writing the sequel.  And because he’s going to be reading this first, and as one who was raised Catholic and who will no doubt find himself on a well-deserved guilt trip, I will add here that we are in a heat wave and there is no air conditioning in our house.  And he’s sitting out in the shade on the patio, reading science fiction and drinking iced tea as I write. 

 

OK, enough of my self-pity.  Here is the much-awaited sequel.  I hope that the World finds it worth the wait.

 

 

SOAK THE CHARCOAL TO MAKE IT EASIER TO BREAK

 

I wrote “Ramona’s Recipe for Home-Made Dirt” to be amusing as well as informative.  I think now, though, that the emphasis on the hellishly difficult work of breaking up the dry charcoal may have had the unintended effect of discouraging people from trying to make terra preta soil. 

 

We have learned since then that if you soak the charcoal for awhile, that it gets soft and easier to break.  It’s one of those “duh” moments when you wonder why you didn’t think of that in the first place.  I’m actually embarrassed to admit it.

 

To soak the charcoal, you can leave it out in opened bags under the sprinklers for as long as you want, or you can pre-soak it in some kind of fertilizer-laden liquid to pre-prime it with nutrients so that it will feed the plants sooner.  One idea would be put the charcoal in a wheel barrow or large tub, cover it with compost, pour water all over it, mix, and let it sit for some days.  The water that comes off of soaked compost is called “compost tea” and it is highly recommended as a nutrient for young plants, so having compost tea absorbed into your charcoal to prime it up with nutrients has to be a good thing.  BE SURE THAT YOU USE CHARCOAL THAT DOES NOT HAVE ANY CHEMICALS.

 

We have been buying non-chemical charcoal and soaking it in the flushed-out water from our turtle aquarium before putting it into the garden, so that the biochar is pre-primed with nutrients from the turtles as well as being soft and easy to break (in case you're wondering, we had to move the turtles to an indoor aquarium because of repeated attacks by raccoons in the outdoor pond that we used to have). 

 

 

THREE NEW INGREDIENTS FOR OUR TERRA PRETA

 

Three new ingredients that we are now using for our terra preta and that I did not mention in my first article are:  compost, to soften the soil if needed; clay hydroponics balls to hold moisture; and rock powder.  But there are other good things that you can add.  Use your imagination and do some research.  Add ingredients that you have easily and cheaply available.

 

 

COMPOST

 

I suppose there’s no need to explain compost or why it is needed.  You will know if you need it, because that will be when you can’t break the ground with a hoe even though you just watered it that morning.  Also, the microlife needs the compost.  And remember, we are feeding the microlife and not the plants.  If the microlife is healthy and plentiful, it will take care of the plants.

 

But you knew that.

 

 

CLAY POTTERY

 

The clay hydroponics balls are a substitute for the clay pottery sherds that the Amazonians put into their terra preta.  The clay absorbs water and releases it slowly, helping to keep the ground moist between waterings. 

 

Maybe those Amazonians had a public health program back then, unlike here in the United States nowadays, and so they did not worry about infections from cuts made by sharp pottery sherds in the soil while they were tending their gardens. 

 

As for us, we’ll make the investment in the nice round-edged hydroponics clay balls.  And it is an investment.  Those things are expensive.  But still cheaper than a trip to the Emergency Room.

 

 

ROCK POWDER FOR ESSENTIAL MINERALS FOR YOUR PLANTS, AND FOR YOU

 

The other new ingredient that needs some explaining is the rock powder.  We learned about the power of rock powder from a small book called “Soil and Immunity,” by Dr. Bernard Jensen.  This is a deeply philosophical book that often digresses into other issues, but the main idea is that much of human disease is related to mineral deficiency, and that mineral deficiency is because our food lacks minerals.  He also says that much about our food system is dysfunctional and does not promote human health; in fact, that system promotes disease.

 

Dr. Jenson says that plants need far more than the three nutrients that are provided in the usual commercial fertilizers (nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium); and he says that plants need almost all minerals in trace amounts.  Dr. Jensen says that microbes in the plants’ roots break down the rock powder and make the minerals available to the plants, in particles that are tiny enough to pass into the root system.  He says that when the plants have a full spectrum of minerals, that they are more nutritious and also tastier, and that eating them makes us healthier.  I can vouch for the tastier, because our vegetables (especially the corn, cucumbers and tomatoes) were among the very best that I have ever tasted.  My mouth is watering right now, just thinking about them.

 

So Mike found a source for rock powder, and he applied two 50-pound bags of it to the garden.  You can get rock powder in various grades and coarseness.  Mike started with a very fine powder so that the plants would receive the mineral boost faster.  We plan to also add some coarser rock powder that will break down more slowly and last a long time.  Mike says that the rock powder is expected to last over 70 years, so I figure that once we add the coarser grain, that should be sufficient for the rest of the time that we expect to live here.

 

If you don’t have a source for rock powder, I believe that adding lava rock would accomplish the same thing, just more slowly.  We placed lava rock around a lot of plants in the yard because we have some major snail and slug issues here in the eternal springtime of Southern California, and those will not cross lava rock.  I have noticed that lava rock breaks down rather quickly, and I think that lava would contain practically all the minerals that a plant or microbe could ever want. 

 

 

OTHER SOURCES OF ENRICHMENT FOR THE TERRA PRETA

 

 

ANIMAL BEDDING

 

NOTE:  Only use bedding from vegan animals.  Animals that eat meat, especially if it is raw, can spread a lot of diseases and parasites.

 

ANOTHER NOTE:  If you are going to use animal bedding as compost for your terra preta, do not use cedar.  Cedar has a natural pesticide in it and is poisonous.

 

We have been adding the aspen-chip bedding from our large tortoises’ sleeping area, which is very rich in, well, you know, tortoise fertilizer.  This is some seriously good stuff for a garden, especially since our tortoises dine mostly on clover.

 

Speaking of recycling, tortoise-style, we also are able to use any vegetables that were spoiled by insects by feeding them to our large Sulcata tortoises.  Those guys will eat and recycle almost any plant matter, except for beans.  And they’re cuter than a worm farm.

 

If you have rabbits, then that bedding and the dung would be a fantastic addition to your terra preta.

 

If you live near any horses or cattle, maybe you can talk the rancher out of some of the used hay in the stables, in return for removing it.  You would need to let that cure for awhile before putting it into the garden, because large animal manure is very rich and will burn the plants if it is used too soon.  Also, don’t use any stable material from race horses — according to the newspapers, a lot of those critters are doped up with who-knows-what kind of drugs.

 

 

KITCHEN WASTE

 

We also add raw vegetable and fruit waste from the kitchen, eggshells, and coffee grounds as well as the coffee filters.  We don’t have a compost pile – the terra preta garden itself is the compost pile.

 

 

LEAVES

 

We planted a couple of deciduous fruit trees on the edge of the terra preta garden.  When the leaves drop off of the trees, we will only have to move them a few feet to get them into the terra preta garden.  We will just leave the leaves on the top of the ground to rot, the way that Nature does it. 

 

 

HAY

 

I have learned that alfalfa roots can go as deep as 250 feet, so it would make an excellent addition if you want to return minerals to the surface.  You don’t have to dig up those 250-foot deep roots to get the benefit.  When you cut the alfalfa down, return it to the terra preta as hay mulch, and the minerals will be added to the soil as the hay decomposes.

 

 

FISH

 

One of our correspondents says that his group buys rotten fish very cheaply and chops them up, while holding their noses, of course; and then they bury this stinking mess into their terra preta garden.  It’s a rich source of all kinds of stuff for the microlife in the soil. 

 

Just be thankful that you’re not one of their neighbors.

 

 

SEAWEED

 

We haven’t actually added this yet, we just bought the bottle recently.  But I’m sure that it will add a lot of other minerals to the terra preta.  It was recommended by Dr. Jensen, and so that’s good enough for me.

 

If it smells like fish, then try to use it on non-windy days in order to spare your neighbors.

 

 

HYDROGEN PEROXIDE

 

We recently learned that food-grade hydrogen peroxide, when properly diluted and watered into the ground, will add oxygen to the plants’ root systems and send them into an ecstasy of growth.  We haven’t tried it yet, but will be doing so soon.  I have no doubt that it will work. 

 

NOTE:  Use ONLY the food-grade hydrogen peroxide, and handle it with gloves because it will burn you if you spill it.

 

 

CLOVER AND BEANS

 

Clover and beans fix nitrogen and enrich the soil. 

 

 

HOW WE’RE DOING WITH OUR TERRA PRETA

 

Our terra preta soil conversion is coming along quite well.  We have some biochar throughout the whole garden, but will probably be adding more as time goes on and the spirit moves us.  We think that there is no theoretical limit to how much biochar you can use, so we will just keep adding it.

 

Our terra preta garden is extremely productive and there is a lot of vigorous growth.  We have had corn, several kinds of squash, several kinds of tomatoes, several kinds of beans, a lot of different kinds of peppers, eggplants, herbs, some onions, strawberries, and even some flowers.  The flowers are primarily for attracting pollinators into the garden, but it is a side-benefit that they make the garden pretty and more fun to look at. 

 

And best of all, these vegetables and the strawberries are among the tastiest that I have ever known.  Yum.

 

 

AZTEC PLANTING STRATEGY

 

In planting our vegetables, we did not put them in tidy rows.  Instead, we used an ancient Aztec method of grouping plants that like to be together.   The Aztecs placed the corn, beans, and squash (called “the three sisters”) together so that the corn supported the beans, and the squash protected the roots of the corn and kept them cool.  Also, the squash covered the ground and helped to prevent evaporation of the water from the soil.  It all worked for us for awhile. 

 

However, as the summer waxed on, I found that I did not like this arrangement.  The beans grew taller than the corn, and so I had to stake them anyway.  The beans wrapped around the ears of corn and made it difficult to harvest the corn without damaging the bean vines.  Because the squash plant was prolific and prickly, it made it difficult to harvest the corn and beans that were in the middle of it.  And the squash got its inevitable fungus and had to be pulled out anyway. 

 

 

CAN COPPER COILS KEEP FUNGUS AT BAY?

 

Speaking of fungus, we had an interesting experience with one of our cucumber plants.  I bought some copper refrigerator coil to use as a support for some cucumber plants, figuring that it was reusable and therefore more economical than wooden stakes that would rot after a short use. 

 

I plunged one end of the copper coil into the ground, and then twisted it around in a direction that I thought the plant may enjoy growing.  Then I cut the coil and plunged the other end into the ground.  I crossed this with another piece of copper coil to make something like a tent.  I tied some twine from the crossing point and down the sides to support and lead the cucumber plant upward.

 

To our amazement, the cucumber plant that had the greatest amount of copper coil in contact with its leaves has lasted about 10 times longer than any of the others.  It is still putting out new growth and bearing cucumbers after all the other cucumbers and squash plants have died, and even though the fungus is eating it up too. 

 

This makes some sense, in that the only control that I know of for the fungus is a copper fungicide spray (I did not buy the spray because it is not an organic product, it is hideously expensive, and it only works for a very short time anyway).  So I hope some of you will try this too and let me know if this has worked for you, or if maybe what happened with that one plant was just an anomaly.  This bears some more research.

 

Also, as I recall, Jerry Baker (“America’s Gardener”) of PBS used to recommend putting pieces of metal rod (cut-up clothes hangers, actually) vertically into the ground in the garden.  He said that it channels static electricity, which helps to fix nitrogen in the ground, just like lightening does on a much larger scale.  So the copper coil in our terra preta is probably also helping to fertilize it too.

 

 

FISH FARMING

 

You may want to consider another project in conjunction with your terra preta garden.  It is possible to use flushed-out fish pond water to irrigate and fertilize a garden, or to cycle that pond water through hydroponics vegetable trays.  If it is used with hydroponics, the water can be returned to the fish pond because the plant roots will have cleaned it, and there is no need for an additional filter.  However, I think that it is better to use the water for ground irrigation instead of hydroponics, because I believe that the trace minerals in the terra preta soil make the food more nutritious than what you can get from even the best hydroponics arrangements.

 

And of course, the fish should be the kind that you can eat rather than the decorative, expensive and utterly useless koi.  If your land is subject to a lot of flooding, then you should only raise native fish so that non-native fish do not inadvertently get released into the wild. 

 

I have learned that tilapia are easy to raise and they are native to just about everywhere in the world and so they may be a good choice for you; however, they are difficult to breed because they require a huge amount of space for breeding.

 

We are limited in space for a pond, but we may someday have a small catfish pond near the patio in the grassy people part of the yard.  That is, if they turn out to be easy to breed; I haven't started the research on that as yet since we have many other projects to complete before putting in a fish pond.  If any of you have advice about this, I would be very happy for you to write to me.

 

And of course, some of the garden vegetables and leaves can be used to feed the fish, and any parts of the fish that are not eaten can be buried in the garden for fertilizer.  This results in a nice closed system where each part supports another and you get double and triple use out of each part.

 

You could also consider keeping chickens to roam through your garden to eat the insects and also to provide eggs, as well as being mobile sources of fertilizer for the garden.  Also, the eggshells are high in calcium and can be recycled into the soil.  And here's a weird but effective-sounding strategy that someone once told me:  hang a chicken feeding cage over the fish pond; and as the chickens eat the grain, their fecal matter drops into the pond and is eaten by the fish, so that you actually get **two** feedings out of the same amount of grain!

 

YES, WE CANNED

If your terra preta is as productive as ours has been, you will be overwhelmed with delicious produce and the pleasant dilemma of what to do with it all. 

You could give it away to those patient neighbors of yours that did not call the noise police when you were loudly drumming outside while breaking up the charcoal, and who did not complain when you buried the smelly dead fish upwind of them.  That would be a nice thing to do, and it may gain you some neighborly good-will that you will need for your future terra preta garden capers (the possibilities are endless).

Or, you can preserve your harvest and be able to keep most of it for yourself.  Mike and I opted mostly for the latter, although we have shared some with the neighbors. 

We are canning tomatoes, peppers, eggplant and herb mixes for spaghetti sauce almost every weekend.  We are aiming for 100 quart jars, because we figure that is about how much spaghetti sauce that Mike makes in a year. 

Our vegetables are far better than anything that can be bought in the stores – even the organic places — because our vegetables have the benefit of the mineral boost from rock powder.  And so it feels like a significant accomplishment when we preserve that incredibly tasty and nutritious produce for our later use. 

And there’s nothing quite like that cold beer after a hot day in the kitchen, canning vegetables.  You’ll see.

 

FINAL ADVICE, UNTIL THE NEXT SEQUEL

 

DO research traditional ways of agriculture for your area and use those plants and strategies, as they will likely be the best and most productive, hardiest in your climate, and also require the least amount of work for maintenance. 

 

DO record where the plants were grown in each year so that you don't put the same ones in the same places in successive growing seasons; this rotation is done to prevent diseases and pests from taking hold.

 

DO leave a few weeds or native plants here and there.  They are beneficial to the soil, especially if they are deep-rooted.  When the leaves drop off of the plant, they will return minerals to the surface that might otherwise have been lost.  Also, the native plants support the native pollinators, and that is always important. 

 

DO put in drip irrigation as soon as you can.

DON’T buy flimsy tomato cages.  They are a waste of money.  Believe me, you are going to grow some monster tomato plants in your terra preta garden, and they will bend and break the flimsy kind of tomato cages or just pull them right out of the ground.  Get the strong ones that you can use again next year — it’s worth the extra initial investment.

DON’T use municipal mulch.  It’s free or cheap, but you have no idea what is in it.  There is probably no end of herbicides and pesticides from people’s yards in that mulch; after all, very few people are as enlightened as you are about the dangers of the many chemicals that are commonly slathered onto lawns and flower beds.  If you absolutely must use municipal mulch, then pile it up in a corner and leave it to leach out its poisons for at least a year before adding it to your terra preta.  Two years would be better.

DON’T plant your vegetables right next to a treated-wood fence.  Those pesticides in the treated wood leach out and get into your vegetables.  Keep at least two feet of distance between treated wood and your vegetables.  Also, don’t use treated wood or cedar (which has a natural pesticide in it) for any raised planters or boxes that will contain food plants.

DON’T  let your garden go fallow because the weeds will become very happy and prolific in that rich terra preta soil, and it will be a lot of extremely hard work to remove them (as we learned the hard way).  As some vegetable plants begin to die out, put in new vegetable plants that will grow in the seasonal weather where you live, so that the garden is as productive as possible all year round.

 

 

UNTIL NEXT YEAR’S SEQUEL, HAPPY GARDENING!

 

OK, I’m done for now.  So I’m off to the patio to sit in the shade and read that book while Mike takes his turn in the house, proof-reading this.

 

We would love to hear from you about how your terra preta is doing.

 

Happy gardening!