36 online
 
Most Popular Choices
Share on Facebook 19 Printer Friendly Page More Sharing
Exclusive to OpEd News:
Life Arts   

Yes We Canned! AKA: Ramona's Recipe for Home-Made Dirt: The Long-Awaited Sequel

By Ramona Byron  Posted by Michael Byron (about the submitter)       (Page 1 of 8 pages)   No comments
Message Michael Byron

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

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.

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 .

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).

Next Page  1  |  2  |  3  |  4  |  5  |  6  |  7  |  8

(Note: You can view every article as one long page if you sign up as an Advocate Member, or higher).

Rate It | View Ratings

Michael Byron Social Media Pages: Facebook page url on login Profile not filled in       Twitter page url on login Profile not filled in       Linkedin page url on login Profile not filled in       Instagram page url on login Profile not filled in

Michael P Byron is the author of The Path Through Infinity's Rainbow: Your Guide to Personal Survival and Spiritual Transformation in a World Gone Mad. This book is a manual for taking effective action to deal with the crises of our age including (more...)
 
Go To Commenting
The views expressed herein are the sole responsibility of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of this website or its editors.
Writers Guidelines

 
Contact EditorContact Editor
Support OpEdNews

OpEdNews depends upon can't survive without your help.

If you value this article and the work of OpEdNews, please either Donate or Purchase a premium membership.

STAY IN THE KNOW
If you've enjoyed this, sign up for our daily or weekly newsletter to get lots of great progressive content.
Daily Weekly     OpEd News Newsletter
Name
Email
   (Opens new browser window)
 

Most Popular Articles by this Author:     (View All Most Popular Articles by this Author)

Sanders Campaign As Revolt Against Clinton's Neoliberalism

How to Defeat BOTH Trump AND Clinton in November.

Clinton NEVER!

Nothing on Earth Can Save Us

Endgame for a Traitor

To View Comments or Join the Conversation:

Tell A Friend