At Olympic Biochar, we’re passionate about the potential of biochar to improve soil conditions, create a more climate-resilient agriculture, conduct bioremediation and detoxification, and help de-carbonize construction materials such as concrete, asphalt, plaster and insulation. The unique characteristics of biochar have a proven ability to support the regeneration of soil by encouraging microbes, bacteria, and mycelia— while also sequestering carbon from the atmosphere. Biochar uses include: 

    • Improve soil biology and fertility

    • Reduce need for fertilizer and water

    • Reduce soil acidity

    • Store and restore carbon to the soil

    • Drinking water filtration

    • Decontamination

    • Sanitation of human/kitchen wastes

    • Composting enhancing agent

Charging Biochar

Because biochar attracts water and nutrients to itself, initially it will be competing with plants for those nutrients -- if uncharged. Charging is the process of infusing the biochar structures with plant nutrients before it is worked into the soil. There are many ways to charge biochar. These are a few of the most common methods:

 1. Add biochar to your compost while it is being made -- up to 10% by volume of raw material. It will be charged by the time the compost is finished. Added benefits: it speeds up the composting process while reducing its emissions of greenhouse gases. We do this at home by scooping 1/8th cup of biochar into our kitchen countertop compost bucket.

2. Biochar can also be added to finished compost, at a rate of up to 50% by volume. This should sit for a week or so before being incorporated into the soil. 

3. Use it in the barn, adding it to the animal bedding. Added benefit: odor control, ammonia absorption, reduced nutrient leaching and improved pathogen control. When the bedding is spent, the whole urine-soaked manure/straw/biochar mix can be added to the compost.

4. Fill a garbage can or other container with raw biochar, then add until covered a dilute mixture of one or more of the following: a) fish emulsion; b) worm tea; c) compost tea; d) a slurry of animal manure(s); e) urine; f) seaweed extract; g) powdered mineral rock dust. A diverse selection of charging agents is almost certainly better than one. Adding a handful of humus-rich soil from the garden can also be helpful for introducing microbes. Let it sit -- anywhere from 5 days to 3 weeks. There are no set guidelines here.

5. In autumn, in areas where plants have died back and no winter crops are planned, it may be possible to spread raw biochar directly on the ground, with other soil amendments, to be naturally charged by the time spring planting time arrives.