Small Farm Scale Biochar Projects

We are planning our first attempts at making biochar on the farm to use to improve the soils and crop yields.

Most of the simple means of production that I have found online either produce a very small quantity per batch or require large pits, with an associated danger of a person or animal falling through the soil layer and being severely burned. Also, the fires typically seem like they have to burn for an extended period.

I have a long row of pines that I need to take down as they are starting to shade the kitchen garden near the house, and would like to make biochar from them in the spring or summer.

I read that some make biochar by taking a 55 gallon steel drum, making air inlet holes in the side up about a 1/3 of the barrel height from the bottom, then installing a grate just above the air holes. As the wood above the grate burns, the smaller pieces drop through the grate into the bottom of the barrel where there is little or no oxygen to complete combustion.

My current thoughts are to enlarge this design vertically. First have a steel barrel that has a clamp on lid sitting on the bottom (without the lid). Then stack a second barrel on top of the first. The second barrel would have no top or bottm. It would have short sections of angle iron welded on the inside at the bottom that project about 6" out the bottom to help it nest on top of the bottom barrel. It would have a ring of air holes close to the bottom and a grate of 1/2" steel rods just above the air holes.The entire top barrel would be filled with wood and ignited from the bottom through the air holes. The smaller charred pieces would drop through filling the bottom barrel. Addition wood could be added at the top until the bottom barrel was filled. Then the top barrel would be removed and the lid installed on the bottom barrel.

For utilizing leaves, plant litter, etc. we are thinking about building a device like the one at the link below:

http://www.arti-india.org/content/view/80/52/

I am also looking into Top Lit Updraft Kilns:

http://thinkingglobalactinglocal.com/biochar-workshop-may-9-2009.html

Farm scale biochar making:

http://thinkingglobalactinglocal.com/making-some-biochar/farm-scale.html

Double barrel biochar retort:

http://www.puffergas.com/historic/rules/rules.html

Mac

Health Benefits of Duck Fat

Since we raise a flock of Muscovy Ducks every year to put in the freezer, I am going to explore the health benefits of this amazing animal, specifically their fat. We chose Muscovies because of their size, ability to fend for themselves, and the fact that they do not need a pond. With Mac’s interest in a healthy lifestyle, ducks are a no-brainer.

Recently, duck fat has come into the world’s view as a health food. There have been tons of studies involving the Gascony region of France, where the residents eat more saturated fat than any other group of people in the industrialized world. They particularly love the swanky food called foie gras, the liver of a fattened duck or goose. Adults and children alike enjoy a slab of foie gras with bread smothered in liquid duck fat. It is easy to assume that any group of people that consume this much fat would suffer from high rates of cardiovascular disease; however, studies show that just the opposite is occurring.

The World Health Organization recently posted the average number of instances of cardiovascular disease per 100,000 citizens. In the United States it was 315, 145 in France, and only 80 in the Gascony region of France. That’s 75% fewer cases! The miracle man trying to change the world’s mind about fat is Dr. Renaud of France’s National Institute of Health and Medical Research. He has published research that suggests that duck fat may improve cardiovascular health.

He has found that duck fat is closer in composition to olive oil than to butter or fat. It is 49% mono-unsaturated fat, which is known to raise good cholesterol. Also, it boasts a low 33% saturated fat content, compared to butter’s 62%.

Dr. Renaud plans to continue his research with a new $3 million grant to focus on the consumption of wine, dairy fats, vegetables, fruits, and duck fat in the United States. Time will only tell just how much these ducks are contributing to our lives.

Growing Forage for Poultry (Chickens & Ducks)

This year I managed to implement a pretty good schedule for keeping a plot of forage growing all season to feed to the chickens (broilers & hens) and to the ducks (Muscovies for meat).

The plantings include: abruzzi rye, crimson clover, rape, browntop millet, and chicory.

Feeding Greens

We feed greens to the chickens and ducks every evening. We have a 5 gallon bucket hung in the chickens' coop with four 4" holes drilled in the sides at the bottom. We fill this bucket with greens every evening. We feed greens to the ducks in a similar manner, or in feed pans with a little grain on top of the greens.

Abruzzi Rye

Rye is planted in the fall. This year I'll plant two plots of rye. The first plot is up already. I'll plant the second plot in a couple weeks. The first plot should provide some greens yet this fall and through the winter, providing greens early next year. The second plot will come up this fall, but not put on much growth until early next year when it will provide greens after the first batch of rye has started to set seed. That's the plan anyway. Last fall I only planted one plot of rye late in November.

When the rye starts to put on growth, we cut buckets of the tender grass to feed to the poultry. We continue feeding this way until after the rye has set seed and the leaves start to fade. We use a pair of lawn shears from Wal-Mart. We've found that if we cut the grass up into shorter lengths, the birds will eat more of it, especially once it has set seed. When we cut plants to feed, we always cut high enough that some leaves are left. This keeps a cover crop in place, and usually allows the crop to come back to set seed.

Protein content:  About 26% (15 to 48% per links below).

     15-26%:  http://hayandforage.com/silage/other-silage/plant-winter-rye-for-spring-forage-0720/

     29-48%:  http://outagamie.uwex.edu/files/2010/08/Fall-Grain-Rye-factsheet-3.pdf

 

     26-27%: http://www.usask.ca/agriculture/plantsci/winter_cereals/winter_rye/Rye2.htm

Crimson Clover

Crimson clover is also planted in the fall and overwinters, blooming in the spring. I've got one plot that is far enough along that the ducks are foraging on it. The second planting has just come up, but won't provide any forage or cut greens until next spring.

The clover is cut similar to the rye. Crimson clover is very determined to set seed, and will usually do so even after being cut for greens as long as it is not cut too short. If allowed to set seed and mature and drop seed, it is pretty good at volunteering again the following year.

Protein content: 20% or higher; 12-14% even at full bloom stage http://msucares.com/crops/forages/legumes/cool/crimsonclover.html


Rape

Rape is a brassica that is typically planted for forage. It can be planted in late summer, fall, and in late Feb. - mid March. I read about planting rape for poultry in The Dollar Hen by Milo Hastings / Robert Plamondon.

We are still feeding a batch of rape that was planted mid August and will soon start to feed a larger plot that was planted a little later. A third plot will hopefully overwinter, and provide forage and greens early next year.

We cut the rape leaving some leaf structure so that the plants can come back and keep a cover crop on the plot until tilled under and replanted. Because of it's high protein content, we try to feed rape during as much of the year as possible.

Protein content: 19-20% http://home.limagrain.co.uk/files/28-forage-rape-2009.pdf


Browntop Millet

Millet is a warm season grain. Browntop millet is a shorter millet that sets a lot of seed. Duck hunters often plant it.

We plant succession plots all summer and cut it similar to the rye. The ducks are very good at eating the grain off the stalks even after the stalks have fallen over, or been walked down by the ducks.

Protein content: 11-16% http://www.ag.ndsu.edu/pubs/plantsci/hay/r1016w.htm


Chicory

I just planted the first plot of chicory this fall. Chicory is a perennial. So far, the ducks seem to like it. I may overseed parts of the pasture with it.

Protein content: 30% (maybe higher?) http://www.wildlifeseeds.com/whitetail/seeds/chicory-plus.html


I'll update this and add pictures as I get time.

Mac

Horseradish, Anti-Cancer Properties

The November 2009 issue of Life Extension magazine ( "www.lef.org" ) has an interesting article on horseradish "Horseradish Protection Against Cancer and More".

From the article:

"Horseradish contains significant amounts of cancer fighting compounds called glucosinolates, which increase the liver's ability to detoxify carcinogens and may suppress the growth of tumors."

The article also reports that horseradish has up to 10 times the amount of glucosinolates found in other cruciferous vegetables.

"A recent study from the University of Illinois indicates that the substantial quantities of glucosinolates in horseradish can increase human resistance to cancer. Mosbah Kushad, one of the study's coauthors says "glucosinolates increase the liver's ability to detoxify carcinogens and they may actually suppress the growth of existing cancerous tumors." [http:www.aces.uiuc.edu/news/stories/news3066.html]"

The article also discussed study that reported similar findings: Eur J Nutr. 2008 May; 47(2):73-88

I just ordered a couple of roots to set out yet this fall.

I'll update this post after I get the horseradish roots in the ground.

Health Benefits of Rabbit Meat

Rabbit meat is really turning out to be a great choice for homesteaders for a ton of reasons. It's easy to grow, has very low cholesterol and fat, lots of vitamins and minerals, and is super easy to handle and cook. I'll summarize everything I've found about its benefits and potential as a health food.

Since it is not a mainstream food in the US, the USDA has not issued a mandatory inspection process but has provided a voluntary set of rules for rabbit meat sold in stores. Under these rules it can be graded as either A, B, or C and is safe to prepare just as you would a chicken as long as the inside temperature reaches 160 degrees F during cooking. Common sense handling like refrigerating leftovers quickly and washing hands after touching raw carcasses eliminate any risk of contamination. Great info is available at the USDA's website (http://www.fsis.usda.gov/factsheets/Rabbit_from_Farm_to_Table/index.asp).

The health benefits of rabbit meat far surpass those of other foods like chicken and pork. A blog named The Rabbit Wrangler (http://rabbitwrangler.wordpress.com/health-benefits/) has assembled a panel of health information citing the USDA. Rabbit meat has higher protein than other foods while containing substantially less calories. It has 8g of fat, 82mg of cholesterol, 47mg of sodium, and 29g of protein in a 3.5 ounce serving. The same serving size also offers greater than 10% Daily Value of the following vitamins and minerals: riboflavin, niacin, b6, b12, iron, phosphorus, potassium, zinc, and selenium. The b12 content is a whopping 138%. Very few foods available offer such a wide variety of nutrients and taste so good.

Hope this encourages someone to take the plunge and start their rabbit herd!

Purchasing Rabbits

About six months ago, I started reading into raising rabbits for meat and manure for the garden. I was intrigued by the usefulness of the droppings and the nutrition of the flesh. After researching for a few weeks, I decided on purebred New Zealand White rabbits from the best shown parents I could afford. I wanted purebred so I had a very good idea of how they were going to perform based on their parents. Purebred rabbits all have pedigrees that show three generations of lineage and the prizes and shows that each ancestor has won. Pairing that with records that the breeder has kept on litter size, litter weight, parenting ability, and feed conversion gives a good set of traits to expect from your rabbits. I chose New Zealand Whites because they are the most widely kept rabbit in America and their superior meat quality. Since so many people grow this breed, I thought it would be easy to find high quality breeding stock.


So began the search for a breeder. Phone calls to my county extension agent rang unanswered and the American Rabbit Breeders Association’s (http://www.arba.net/) list of breeders provided little help. After countless Google searches I stumbled across a very simple website with a few pictures and a phone number. I called this breeder and spent an hour allowing him to tell me about his rabbits, whom he claimed were the best in the country. Feeling pretty comfortable, I scheduled to visit his home and look at his newest litter. The drive was three hours but well worth it. When I arrived, he walked me down a rolling hill to a plain privacy fence nestled between the backyards of his two neighbors. Only after he opened the doors did I realize that this was his rabbitry. No smell, unsightly manure piles, or flies were anywhere around.

During the grand tour, he pointed out his two grand champions and told me that the litter that was for sell were descended from both and that there was no way to go wrong with these rabbits. I asked to see the best breeding pair he had for sale. After hours of looking over every feature on each one, he decided on a pair that he thought were right for me. I bought these two immediately for $50 each. In November, my pair will have reached breeding age and I’ll be ready to produce my first litter of meat rabbits. I plan to feed with all organically grown vegetables and greens. Resources are scarce for this feeding plan but a thread at http://www.homesteadingtoday.com/ provides the most tested and reliable information that I could find, including a safe food list. I’ll soon add pictures of my semi-free-range rabbit hutch and more info on breeding/feeding/caring for rabbits.

Carbon Sequestration & Sustainable Agriculture

While conventional agriculture tends to deplete the amount of organic matter in the soil, sustainable agriculture tends to build the amount of organic matter in the soil. Building up the amount of organic matter in the soil sequesters carbon and offsets the carbon released by industry.

On our farm, we have greatly increased the organic matter in the soil over the years by adding compost, planting cover crops, etc.. The soil now has noticeably more organic matter than it did when we bought the land.

Promoting sustainable ag practices looks like a good way to offset a lot of the carbon emitted by industry.

I would think that attacking the problem this way may not have the downsides to the economy that the opponents of the cap and trade bill seem to think will result from the cap and trade bill.

I've got a number of links on this topic below. The last link is to a Mother Earth News article about making biochar on a small scale to improve soil (and sequester carbon).

I have e-mailed information on this to the staff in my senators' offices. You may wish to do the same.

Hope you find this interesting!

Regards,

Mac

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Farmers Poised to Offset One-Quarter of Global Fossil Fuel Emissions"

http://www.worldwatch.org/node/6124

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Farms can sequester carbon and reduce emissions of methane and nitrous oxide in a variety of ways." ATTRA website, link below.

http://attra.ncat.org/farm_energy/carbon.html

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Making carbon crediting really work for farmers Rodale Institute

http://www.rodaleinstitute.org:80/20091119/gwr_soil_carbon_testing_institute_credits

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------


The link below has a poll in the left sidebar that reads (in part): :"recognize the role of small farms in food production and compensate them for carbon sequestration projects".

The International Biochar Initiative (IBI)

http://www.biochar-international.org/aboutbi....ws.html

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"The universe of the conference focus increased even as we met. Conference host Keith Paustian of Colorado State University opened the conference emphasizing that global soil organic matter (SOM) stocks are now estimated to contain 3 trillion tons of soil organic carbon.

This estimate just increased significantly in a recent publication in Global Biogeochemical Cycles where the authors reported that carbon stocks in peat soils are much larger than previously understood. That makes soil the largest actively cycling pool of carbon – more than quadruple the amount of carbon in vegetation and more triple that in the atmosphere.

In an era where rising concentrations of atmospheric carbon are threatening global climate function, ecosystem stability and agricultural productivity, the sheer size of the soil carbon pool makes it imperative that we learn more about the pool’s dynamics."



Soil carbon research insights show co-solutions Rodale Institute

http://www.rodaleinstitute.org/20090716/gw2

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Farming and Land Use to Cool the Planet:

"http://www.worldwatch.org/files/pdf/SOW09_chap3.pdf"

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The International Biochar Initiative (IBI)

http://www.biochar-international.org/aboutbi....ws.html


Worldwatch Report: Mitigating Climate Change Through Food and Land Use Worldwatch Institute

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Make Biochar — this Ancient Technique Will Improve Your Soil

http://www.motherearthnews.com/Organic-Gardening/Make-Biochar-To-Improve-Your-Soil.aspx


How to Make Charcoal (Biochar)

http://www.twinoaksforge.com/BLADSMITHING/MAKING%20CHARCOAL.htm

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

From Rodale Institute:

"The Rodale Institute Farming Systems Trial® (FST), a long-term study comparing different farming systems, shows that we can gain about 1,000 pounds of carbon per acre per year with cover cropping and crop rotation under organic management. This is about twice the sustained carbon gain from standard no-till planting for corn or soybeans. FST shows insignificant amounts of carbon are deposited in our conventional tillage corn and soybean rotations with chemical fertilizer and pesticide inputs."

"Our long-term trials show that composting allows for much greater accumulation of carbon in soil, while compost also recycles needed nutrients to plants over time. Manure’s nutrients, in contrast, are more quickly released with relatively little residual carbon."

"The Amazon black soils show what’s possible. Whereas many plant residues persist in the soil for months or days and compost can last for years, charcoal‘s soil lifetime has been measured in many centuries."

http://newfarm.rodaleinstitute.org/columns/research_paul/2006/0106/charcoal.shtml

Growing Tomatoes

One thing that I like to do when planting tomatoes is to dig a deep post hole where each tomatoe will be planted and fill it with compost. Tomatoes seem to run out of nutrients later in the season otherwise. This also gets organic matter deeper into the soil over time. (This is a small scale "carbon sequestration" that removes carbon from the atmosphere and sequesters it in the soil. Actually anything that increases the amount of organic matter in the soil serves to sequester carbon for a period of time. The more carbon that is in the soil, the less there is in the atmosphere.)

Rotating the location of tomatoes is also important to prevent viral and fungal diseases. There is a pretty good overview of these diseases at

http://gardening.about.com/od/vegetablepatch/a/TomatoProblems.htm

I do not know if all of their recommendations are organic.

Chicken Coops (Moveable)

This is my first moveable chicken coop.

It's built on 6x6 pressure treated (ACQ) skids and is 8' x 8', allowing it to be moved with a compact tractor. The doors on the side open to a storage area big enough for about 5 - 5 gallon pails of feed. Galvanized metal nest boxes are mounted inside on the wall.

The pvc piping on the roof feeds two micro-sprinkler heads. When the temperature gets over a 100 degrees, we hook a garden hose to it and it keeps the roof wet, which drops the temperature inside the coop significantly.



I fiberglassed the floor inside to prevent rot. I use a thick layer of aged wood chips for bedding.

This coop will accomodate 25 hens, though it usually houses about 14-15.

I improved upon some of the details in the second, larger coop that was built primarily for broilers.  This coop is 10' x 12' and is built on a steel subframe and skids.  There are no interior studs.  The 2x4 exterior vertical battens take the place of the studs, and eliminate the pockets between the studs on the interior.  This makes the interior much easier to clean.  Moving this coop is right at the limit for my compact 4wd tractor (about 30 hp).

Bobby's Background

    Since we are all new to this, I figured it would be a good idea to spend a few minutes going over my background in a little more detail than on the welcome screen.

      I am a 19 year old college kid and I do college kid stuff.  I try to surf as often as I can, will jump in any body of water to swim, and love every kind of water sport.  My parents live in a sub-division on a little more than an acre so true agricultural life started for me when I moved to the farm on my 18th birthday.  I was devoted to the FFA (Future Farmers of America) in high-school which sparked my interest in gardening, poultry and livestock.  My initial inclination toward organics was a product of Mac's influence, although I know see the benefit and importance of this lifestyle.

     When it comes to school, I enjoy most math subjects although I've had to really work at it lately.  I am lucky enough to have an academic scholorship that takes care of school expenses.  I will be transfering from community college to a four year university sometime in the next year.  I hope to begin working for an Environmental Engineer before I graduate to get my foot in the door.

     I have a very close net of friends, most of whom live about an hour from me and attend my girlfriends college.  We spend as much time as we can together, they are my foundation.  My family is extended, expanded, complicated, but great.  Both of my parents remarried after their divorce, each adding step-siblings.  Christmas is always a long day, four sets of grandparents and all.

     Right now, the farm is my life.  I rarely vacation too far away because I quickly get homesick,  between the garden, the rolling pastures, the ducks, the chickens, the horses, the cat, and the dogs, what is there to have vacation from?

Freezing Green Beans

     I tried my luck at freezing green beans this week.  I started by picking some of the older beans from Mac's garden and carrying them home (girlfriend holding them on the handlebars of my bike down a half-mile dirt path). 
     I filled a five quart stock pot about 3/4 full and put it on a burner on high.  Elizabeth snapped the ends off then passed them to me to chop them into smaller peices, about one inch long.  I then washed them in a normal collander, picking out any pieces that had rough spots or bug bites.  About the time we had everything chopped, the water had started to boil.

     Now came the fun part, beans need to be blanched to stop the enzyme action that will ruin them, even in the freezer.  Blanching time is important- too little accelerates the enzymes, while too much makes the beans tough.  Exactly three minutes produces the best frozen beans.  I dropped all the cut bean peices in at once and blanched them for 3 minutes and 30 seconds.  The extra thirty seconds was to allow the water to return to a boil.  As soon as the threee minutes was up, I poured the beans back into the collander that they were rinsed in and ran cold water into the pot they came out of.  I added a little ice and dumped the beans back in to cool.  A good rule of time is to cool the vegetables for the same time that they were blanched, so in our case, 3 minutes.  While we waited we marked the freezer bags with the type of vegetable and the date they were frozen.  Then the only thing left to do is to put a couple handfuls into each bag, squeeze out most of the air and pop in the freezer.  I've read that one handful is two servings but my serving size is usually two handfuls.

     This task was easy enough to do several more times this year without too much stress and produces lots of beans with only a little work.  Feel free to comment and point out any errors that I made or ideas that you have.  Links will be added on the right hand side of the home page.  Each has great info and easy links to instructions for freezing other vegetables.