The Windowsill Tomato

Back in October I read about a project taking place at the hope mine in Aspen. A restorative initiative that has brought life to an otherwise defunct pile of heavy metals. Biochar Solutions, out of Carbondale, seeded the area and spread a mixture of organic compost and biochar, the result was amazing, a lush carpet of greenery. Biochar is any carbonaceous material cooked down by the process of pyrolysis (high heat low oxygen). Essentially biochar is charcoal, not the bricks that have "surefire" grooves and are more glue and lighter fluid than anything else, but real charcoal. Digging deeper I found out that in parts of the rainforest anthropologists have found patches of very dark, rich earth in the otherwise nutrient lacking soil. They called this Terra Preta, or black earth. Terra Preta was the result of  indigenous tribes burning refuse and burying it while still smouldering.

With this new knowledge, and always eager to increase the productivity of my soil, I went to work on an experiment. I filled pots with soil from my yard. The first was my control group containing only soil. In the second I mixed in my own compost, and in the third I added compost and biochar (hardwood lump charcoal) and sowed a tomato seed in each pot and waited. the first and only one to sprout was the biochar/soil/compost pot. It grew at a steady rate and continued to look healthy. After toughing out the dog days of winter I got a flower, and on January 26, a small tomato!

I believe biochar helped me grow a tomato in the dead of winter because of its structure. Looking at a lump under a microscope will reveal thousands of nooks and crannies that act as apartment homes to beneficial bacteria and other microorganisms. I don't believe the biochar itself is adding the nutrients into the soil, but acting as a host for natural occurrences to enrich the soil. I also believe the biochar helped create porosity and break up the hard clay soil I have, much like vermiculite. I recommend trying some for yourself. For more info on biochar check out Biochar Solutions in Carbondale or ask Patrick Selby, who included its use in his foundations presentation.