Biochar attempt: The Results

So the next morning I went out to check on my barrel.

next morning. You can see the cart in the background

You can't see it in the photo, but smoke was coming out the seam around the lid! Charcoal inside had been burning all night! Was any left? I rolled the barrel out and stood it up, but didn't remove the lid lest I create a large flame with the sudden introduction of lots of air. I went inside and returned with a large bucket of water. Carefully opening the lid produced only easier exit for the smoke. I poured water all over the contents. Didn't hear any hissing, but the smoke began to dissipate. And things looked pretty black in there. Whew.

Speaking of whew, the aroma was fairly acrid.

I muscled the barrel onto a cart and wheeled it to the compost heap. Biochar needs to be seasoned for a couple months to absorb moisture and get intimate with its underground surroundings.

Here's a shot of the charcoal, perched on a stick on the rim of the barrel: Looks like grass and twigs, doesn't it? I suppose if I had put a (dead) goat inside, I would have gotten a piece of charcoal in the shape of a goat.

I really should have crunched up the charcoal while it was in the barrel (the finer the powder, the better, I'm told, and the hard interior of the barrel would have helped the crunching.) but I wanted to see how the sticks in the bottom had fared. In the top I could see a fair amount of still brown material—I think I hadn't cooked it long enough. the unpyrolyzed material will decompose and contribute to the compost, so it's not a big deal. Just the same, next time only dry stuff goes in.

So here's what the sticks and paper looked like. I took the hose to it and eliminated whatever was still smouldering.

I mashed everything up as best I could, added some manure-laced straw from the chicken coop and mixed it together. This spring we'll put it on the gardens.


I want to try another batch. The actual pile of charcoal I ended up with wasn't very large. I have several feed sacks full of nice dry sawdust, and a friend with Peace Corps experience making charcoal who might have some advice for me. I'll let you know how I do next time. Speaking of next time, I invite your comments and suggestions.