Biochar, made and charged

Woody waste — prunings, cleared buckthorn — turned into char, then soaked in nitrogen until it feeds the soil instead of robbing it.

No. 02

What happened here

I burned a batch in a kiln in August 2026, crushed it, and charged it in a 27-gallon tote with diluted urine and water from the aquaponics tank. Then it went into the hot composter.

The step people skip

Raw char is mostly surface area, and empty surface area pulls nitrogen and water out of whatever it touches. Put it straight on a bed and the bed goes backwards for a season. Two to four weeks soaking in something rich — urine, compost tea, fish water — fills it up first. After that, the same property makes it a reservoir: it holds nutrients that would otherwise wash out of the soil.

Buckthorn

Burning cleared buckthorn is a good use of an invasive. Charring the larger rounds is better: ash is a one-season dose of minerals, while char stays in the soil for decades. Bag the berries rather than composting them.

Check the city’s rules on open burning before you light anything.

From the yard log

August 2026 Worked

Charged the crushed char in a 27-gallon tote with diluted urine and water from the aquaponics tank, then worked it into the hot composter.
August 2026 Worked

Burned a batch in the kiln and crushed it.

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