There are two ways to get biochar for your backyard garden: buy it, or make it yourself. If you don’t have the patience or skill to make your own, you can buy it online or locally. It’s typically sold in a blend that incorporates other soil enhancing elements such as compost, perlite, rock dust, coco coir, peat moss and/or humic acid. The following merchants in Lake and Mendocino counties sell either pre-packaged brands or custom-blended biochar mixes, in quantities from one-pound bags to 1.5 cubic foot buckets:
- Grow West Organics, Ukiah
- HydroPacific Garden Supply, Ukiah
- Sparetime Garden Center, Willits
- GrowGeneration, Redwood Valley
- North American Organics, Redwood Valley
- Weathertop Nursery, Laytonville
- Agro Lake, Nice and Lower Lake
- Nottingham Nursery, Clearlake
- Kelseyville Lumber and Supply, Kelseyville
If you want to make your own biochar, be aware that it’s not difficult, but it’s a multi-stage process that requires an investment of time, energy, and possibly money: you have to collect some sort of biomass, pyrolyze it, then “charge” it with nutrients by combining it with compost or other materials. The pyrolysis is the tricky part – there are many ways to pyrolyze (ground pit or trench, metal bucket or barrel, homemade oven, or commercially made kiln), and which one you choose will depend on your technical abilities, budget, and personal preference. You might also need a burn permit, depending on where you live and which method you use. Many great books and internet learning resources can guide you through each step. Here are some suggestions:
- Gardening with Biochar: Supercharge Your Soil with Bioactivated Charcoal, by Jeff Cox
- Small-Scale Biochar Production, from the International Biochar Initiative
- Learning How to Make Biochar, from 5 Acres and a Dream
Click here to read about the science of biochar, farms that are using it locally, and efforts to create it in Lake and Mendocino counties.
