The discovery of hundreds of acres of extremely fertile black soil (terra preta found curiously staggered throughout the Amazon basin spawned a great deal of research that led to the discovery of biochar and using it as a soil amendment. This Terra Preta was initially thought to be a natural phenomenon but researchers soon discovered it was most certainly man made by ancient civilizations. Regions in the Amazon where Terra Preta soil is not found have very poor soils. Adding biochar created fertile soil for ancient farmers and thousands of years of rest has shown that it to only increase fertility with each passing year. Terra Preta is now mined and sold by locals as a superior potting soil for profits. The miners dig away the top 20cm of terra preta off the top of the mining area, and move on to another area, leaving the mined area to recover for 20 years. Over the course of time, the terra preta thickens as it regenerates itself from the forest litter that falls on it. Fortunately, it’s not necessary to import bags of black soil thousands of miles to your garden. You can do it yourself. Biochar improves fertility with each passing season. It’s expensive to buy but I can fire $100 worth in a few hours using my homemade kiln. INSTRUCTION BELOW

Is biochar a holistic principle? Is there somewhere we can demonstrate that it occurs in nature? According to [**Smokey the Bear](https://smokeybear.com/en/about-wildland-fire/benefits-of-fire/fire-in-nature#:~:text=the Rocky Mountains.-,Natural fires in this ecosystem usually occur every five to,manzanitas%2C ceanothus and scrub oak.)** (Remember him?) Most forests burn naturally every 25 to 100 years. Ash and biochar create natural soil amenities and helps increase soil fertility as a forest regrows. And remember that tilling is not natural or necessary. Just reminder that when you try to force a technique contrary to nature, you don’t get the best results. When trying a new technique, thinking holistically is the best policy. If you can’t see the holistic wisdom, let faith prevail.

Biochar only gets richer over time, the best way to charge it is in a compost pile or on spread out on top of the soil under a layer of mulch. The worms will eat it as it breaks down with mulch. I believe this is how terra preta ended up 6ft deep in the Amazon. I highly doubt those ancient civilizations tilled the ground 6ft deep. It is also very possible IMO that Amazon natives layered biochar very thick on the surface and covered it.

Biochar is made by means of Pyrolysis when biomass, such as wood, reaches the flashpoint in the absence of oxygen. As complicated as that might sound to manufacture, it must not be too difficult if ancient civilizations were able to cranked it out is such high volume.

Ancient biochar Kilns

Native practice of making large piles of biochar

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If someone tossed you the keys to a fully staffed 60,000sf luxury mansion with 50 rooms, all the finest food you could eat surrounded by acres of gardens and pools, think you’d move in? Well, this is exactly what you provide beneficial microbes when you toss a small grain of biochar into your soil. Biochar stores up valuable nutrients for microbial use, increases water retention in the soil and balances the PH. All of this results in increased crop yield.