Biochar Soil Nerds

A fun conversation and a garden video

Does life seem a bit dull? Are you looking for something new to involve yourself in? Well you can’t do much better than to become a biochar soil nerd. I accept that is what I have become.

Let’s start with soil. It’s an unremarkable word, from the Latin “solium” that means seat, or ground. Soil is what we sit or stand on, as above ground creatures that live in the air. We understand our fellow air creatures, including the amazing birds and insects that can move through the medium of air without touching the ground. We can also put ourselves in the place of fish and aquatic creatures because we can see them swimming and we can even swim ourselves, pretending to be dolphins. But just try to imagine what it must be like to live in the soil.

Take the earthworm’s point of view: life exists in solid medium that I have to push aside to get anywhere. Food is distributed everywhere and I seek it out by sensing the vibrations of molecules and by navigating the fluctuating fields of electrons and protons that course through the soil medium.

Learning that biochar affects the soil electromagnetic fields as molecules, microbes, fungi, and plants swap electrons and protons, transferring energy and nutrients, opened my eyes to the complexity of the soil medium. Soil must contain the most concentrated life processes on the planet. Once you really grok this, you will become a soil nerd too. Dig it!

I would like to invite you to listen to a fun and relaxed conversation I had with fellow soil nerds, Leighton Morrison and Ken Somerville, live-streamed on The Soil Matters Podcast on Monday:

Humans are just beginning to understand some of the complexities of soil. I knew almost nothing about soil before getting involved in biochar, but since I have been following soil science and regenerative agriculture as part of my learning about biochar, I can see that we are right now in the midst of an unprecedented explosion of knowledge about soil and soil life. We will never unravel all of soil’s mysteries, but I am very pleased to have found an obsession that will last for the rest of my life and many lifetimes to come!

If you are fascinated by soil, you must have a garden, or some potted plants, or a favorite natural area to experience and observe throughout the seasons. My garden is also my laboratory where I try out new practices. Here is a video garden tour from last week where I show you a new technique I am trying out to protect brassicas from root maggots using a biochar mulch:

I hope you find that useful, and please subscribe to my YouTube channel for more of these video reports:

https://www.youtube.com/@KelpieWilson

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