BioChar and the Art of the Slow Burn

Kids creating biochar from waste wood, hydrangeas, and hornbeam branches

How summer camp kids were making biochar. Biochar is biotic matter that is burnt and kept a low oxygen environment. This is a guest camp blog written by team Frog who made biochar for garden beds

Once upon a time, two kids were making biochar. Biochar is biotic matter that is burnt and kept a low oxygen environment.

When they opened the lid of the barrel that they were keeping the biochar in, a huge mass of steam came out! The steam billowed out towards the shed, through the garden and over the fence. The kids staggered back in horror. They slowly calmed down as they realized that the smoke was only steam. suddenly,… a fire engine red… Fire engine pulled up to the curb, and 10 firemen jumped out, shouting. “Where’s the fire? Where is the fire?” They quickly surrounded the barrel of biochar. They sprayed it as hard as they could, but quickly realized that there was no fire. “AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH” screamed Kim (not Jim) the owner of the farm camp the kids were at. the fireman, startled by the noise, sprayed Kim until he was shopping wet. the kids at the farm all laughed hard while doing their activities like poop excavation, fish pond diving, and of course push-ups. once they had all recovered Kim dumped half of the biochar in the pond paying no mind to the kids and half in the garden also paying no mind to the kids. Nothing seem to be happening in the day. Progress does normal the next day, though the pond was crystal clear and healthy! The plants were growing twice as tall as well! They had discovered the ultimate fertilizer!

Written by team Danger Noodle, also known as… Biotech.