Black Earth

Googling bio-char will describe better than I can the benefits of this practice. In the middle of the vegetable garden I put a barrel of steel with a lid that has a hole in the middle. All the debris from last years growth gets burned in it. The charcoal gets spread over the garden beds and dug in. When there is a lot of hot coals in the barrel

the lid goes on. The barrel has a few holes around the sides that at this point get plugged up with some loose fitting bolts.

Now it simmer burns into a pile of charcoal. When it cools down a bit I take the lid off and add snow to stop it or water. In the morning the charcoal gets spread on the beds. It's fun too.