Partially burned material a boon to plants

Partially burned material a boon to plants: Sandy (Oregon) resident sees biochar as a way to fertilize and capture carbon
By Garth Guibord, The Gresham Outlook, Mar 30, 2007

When most people see a pile of sticks and wood, all they see is sticks and wood. Sandy resident Paul Elmore, 39, sees possibilities. He sees biochar – burned organic material that can be used to make plants grow.

“The natives in the Amazon basin developed a method of using biochar as an agricultural or garden supplement,” said Elmore, who first heard of biochar from a TV documentary and learned more from research done by Cornell University.

“The carbon in the soil allowed the microbes space to breed and multiply. The soil creates its own ecosystem where it’s breaking things down,” he said.

The thought of biochar inspired Elmore – who makes his own organic juice from fruit trees on his land and also hopes to make sustainable renovations to his house in the near future – to try it for himself.

See story: The Outlook Online