Post by rvm45 on Sept 14, 2011 8:26:02 GMT -6
Friends, have any of you heard of "Terra Preta"?
It literally means "Dark Soil".
Y'know that the top-soil in Rain Forests--i.e. "Jungles"--is very poor and thin?
Gotta be. When you have your soil covered with 200-300 foot trees, it keeps a lot of stuff tied up, that could otherwise be in the soil.
You've all heard of Swidden or "Slash-and-Burn" Agriculture? Cut and burn all the trees and ground cover. Grow two or three crops. Ground is shot all to Hell. Move just far enough to clear a whole new patch of ground.
Some of the Tribal villages have been moving in the same general area for hundreds of years. They keep going over the same piece of ground, over and over. No problem. Give the ground 20 to 30 years to lay fallow--and in many cases, the orbital period is 3 or 4 times this figure--and it will recover.
Now when modern Agriculture clears an area, they clear a much larger area. They plow much deeper and they cultivate much more aggressively.....
And 5 years later, the Top-Soil is gone. The Sub-Soil is pretty haggard--even for Sub-Soil, and much of the farm has eroded away.
Only there are little patches--usually 1 to 3 acres--where the soil is very black, very fertile--and you can't hardly ruin it, even if you try.....
And its obvious to investigators, that Terra Preta is man-made--like 1500-3000 years ago.....
Terra Preta is mostly regular soil with an exceptional amount of Charcoal--sometimes as much as 70 tons per Acre. Hence the black color. You can't afford that much Charcoal ?
Well according to the Japanese, Coal works almost as well--maybe as well.
The second ingredient is Pot Sherds--broken pieces of Terra Cotta
Pottery.
They seem to be leaving this out of the recipes lately, maybe its not that Significant.....
But Red Bricks are also Terra Cotta. With a little calling around, you could probably pick up a lot of broken Bricks or Flower Pots from the Pottery or Brick Yard--or from demolition sites.
If you can't figure out a way to improvise a Tumblizer to Break up Terra Cotta.....
Number three--Mucho Bone meal--much of it from fish. Bone Meal can be had. I'd try to find a sand and gravel company that could get you some Sea Shell aggregate--Or River Mussel Aggregate.
Fact is, whole Mussels would make dandy compost.
And lots of Humous--Manure, compost, etc.
Finally--A tip from me:
I HATE Snails and Slugs. They give me the Crawling Heebee-Jee-Bees.
I don't even like to look at the written Words on my monitor.....
In common speech, everyone knows when I say "Bastard", I'm referring to the Repulsive Mollusk.
Well anyway, you know that if you pour Salt on them, that they will dry-up and die?
Do you know what it would do to your Garden, if you poured lots of Salt Water on it?
However, researching ways to kill Bastards and or repel them.....
If you make a very Dilute solution of Sea Salt and Water, and spray it on your garden soil.....
Not only will Bastards find your Soil far less inviting--but it will actually make your garden grow better--all the Trace Elements in Sea Salt.
I don't remember the concentration--Google "Bastard Control". You only have to do it every 5 or 6 years--you could easily store a lifetime's supply of Sea Salt.
Finally, I'd recommend that while you're trying to establish your Terra Preta, that you use plenty Commercial Fertilizer. You may not have any for after TEOTWAWKI, but at least you'd start out cool.
Second, its an old fertility trick, to grow a crop or two of Alphalfa Hay, and then plow it into the ground.
The Terra Preta seems to grow about 3 times as much Crop per unit area, as regular soil.
Even a garden patch--say 110 feet by sat 50 feet--would prove very helpful--And how about those plots of ground on the side--and even in front yard?
Sure, the neighbors would think you're a Chucklehead, if you started growing Corn and Squashed there now. After TSHTF--Who Cares!?!
But it takes a while--probably a few years, to establish your Terra Preta. Garden or no, might as well start on the Soil.
One Dude ought to be able to afford enough material--remember, the Carbon is the most important--to Turn an Acre into Terra Preta--even working with just a big Roto-Tiller.....
Up to 3 Acres (This of course, assumes that you have "Acres")
Of course, if you can condition 120 Acres--or 1200 Acres--Or 12 000 Acres--knock yourself out!
Here's a Link.
Yes, I know Wikipedia isn't always that reliable.....
But they're generally my favorite first stop--because they almost always have Beaucoup good Links.
If you're serious, you should know a lot more about Gardening and Terra Preta than I do--before you buy your first bag of Charcoal--or Coal.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Terra_preta
.....RVM45
It literally means "Dark Soil".
Y'know that the top-soil in Rain Forests--i.e. "Jungles"--is very poor and thin?
Gotta be. When you have your soil covered with 200-300 foot trees, it keeps a lot of stuff tied up, that could otherwise be in the soil.
You've all heard of Swidden or "Slash-and-Burn" Agriculture? Cut and burn all the trees and ground cover. Grow two or three crops. Ground is shot all to Hell. Move just far enough to clear a whole new patch of ground.
Some of the Tribal villages have been moving in the same general area for hundreds of years. They keep going over the same piece of ground, over and over. No problem. Give the ground 20 to 30 years to lay fallow--and in many cases, the orbital period is 3 or 4 times this figure--and it will recover.
Now when modern Agriculture clears an area, they clear a much larger area. They plow much deeper and they cultivate much more aggressively.....
And 5 years later, the Top-Soil is gone. The Sub-Soil is pretty haggard--even for Sub-Soil, and much of the farm has eroded away.
Only there are little patches--usually 1 to 3 acres--where the soil is very black, very fertile--and you can't hardly ruin it, even if you try.....
And its obvious to investigators, that Terra Preta is man-made--like 1500-3000 years ago.....
Terra Preta is mostly regular soil with an exceptional amount of Charcoal--sometimes as much as 70 tons per Acre. Hence the black color. You can't afford that much Charcoal ?
Well according to the Japanese, Coal works almost as well--maybe as well.
The second ingredient is Pot Sherds--broken pieces of Terra Cotta
Pottery.
They seem to be leaving this out of the recipes lately, maybe its not that Significant.....
But Red Bricks are also Terra Cotta. With a little calling around, you could probably pick up a lot of broken Bricks or Flower Pots from the Pottery or Brick Yard--or from demolition sites.
If you can't figure out a way to improvise a Tumblizer to Break up Terra Cotta.....
Number three--Mucho Bone meal--much of it from fish. Bone Meal can be had. I'd try to find a sand and gravel company that could get you some Sea Shell aggregate--Or River Mussel Aggregate.
Fact is, whole Mussels would make dandy compost.
And lots of Humous--Manure, compost, etc.
Finally--A tip from me:
I HATE Snails and Slugs. They give me the Crawling Heebee-Jee-Bees.
I don't even like to look at the written Words on my monitor.....
In common speech, everyone knows when I say "Bastard", I'm referring to the Repulsive Mollusk.
Well anyway, you know that if you pour Salt on them, that they will dry-up and die?
Do you know what it would do to your Garden, if you poured lots of Salt Water on it?
However, researching ways to kill Bastards and or repel them.....
If you make a very Dilute solution of Sea Salt and Water, and spray it on your garden soil.....
Not only will Bastards find your Soil far less inviting--but it will actually make your garden grow better--all the Trace Elements in Sea Salt.
I don't remember the concentration--Google "Bastard Control". You only have to do it every 5 or 6 years--you could easily store a lifetime's supply of Sea Salt.
Finally, I'd recommend that while you're trying to establish your Terra Preta, that you use plenty Commercial Fertilizer. You may not have any for after TEOTWAWKI, but at least you'd start out cool.
Second, its an old fertility trick, to grow a crop or two of Alphalfa Hay, and then plow it into the ground.
The Terra Preta seems to grow about 3 times as much Crop per unit area, as regular soil.
Even a garden patch--say 110 feet by sat 50 feet--would prove very helpful--And how about those plots of ground on the side--and even in front yard?
Sure, the neighbors would think you're a Chucklehead, if you started growing Corn and Squashed there now. After TSHTF--Who Cares!?!
But it takes a while--probably a few years, to establish your Terra Preta. Garden or no, might as well start on the Soil.
One Dude ought to be able to afford enough material--remember, the Carbon is the most important--to Turn an Acre into Terra Preta--even working with just a big Roto-Tiller.....
Up to 3 Acres (This of course, assumes that you have "Acres")
Of course, if you can condition 120 Acres--or 1200 Acres--Or 12 000 Acres--knock yourself out!
Here's a Link.
Yes, I know Wikipedia isn't always that reliable.....
But they're generally my favorite first stop--because they almost always have Beaucoup good Links.
If you're serious, you should know a lot more about Gardening and Terra Preta than I do--before you buy your first bag of Charcoal--or Coal.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Terra_preta
.....RVM45