Today’s show is a great primer for those of you new to the concept and practice of making charcoal and biochar. We will cover:
- What is charcoal vs. what is biochar?
- The MANY things you can do to increase your homestead productivity with charcoal AND biochar
- HOW to make your own charcoal – we’ll cover the theory, and then a bunch of practical methods and the characteristics, pros and cons of each.
- 4 Ways to make biochar from charcoal – there are more, but these are a great way to start
If you are a grower or a producer, charcoal and biochar deserve a place on your roster of regenerative techniques that take what is typically a waste or nuisance (brush, slash, excess carbonaceous material) and turn it into a multi-generational asset in your soils and throughout your landscape and home. Plus, making char is fun!
Show Resources
- Jon Jadai of Pun Pun Organic Farm in Thailand talks through his low-tech method of making charcoal with a 55 gallon drum TLUD.
- DIY Instructional Video from Aqueous Solutions on making your own 55 gallon TLUD.
- Charcoal Trench method
- Our curated YouTube playlist of a bunch of different charcoal making methods.
- Biochar
- ARTICLE: Uses in poultry farming
- ARTICLE: Biochar in cattle farming
- PDF Instructional for conducting clean, safe, effective top-lit burn piles in the forest to make char.
- ARTICLE: 55 Uses For Biochar
Getting started designing your homestead?
START HERE: Enroll in the Minimum Holistic Goal Creation Mini-Course today for free. This is the ONE THING that will make everything else easier or unnecessary on your homesteading journey! 100% Free
Upon completing this course you will have a crystal clear idea of who and what resources you have to work with, your desired Quality of Life that your homestead has to provide for, and what you will need to produce and the conditions required to sustain that production to meet your Quality of Life needs.
Music by Alex Grohl