Recreating Terra Preta: Good Soil for Centuries! (Complete Film)

Centuries ago, natives of the Amazon managed to turn terrible yellow clay into soil so rich that it's still fertile five centuries later. It's now called "terra preta," the dark earth of the Amazon. How was #terrapreta made? What is the secret behind terra preta? Today we begin an experiment to see if we can recreate terra preta in the home garden by using what we know already.
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Manure, pottery shards, burned brush, seaweed, bones, kitchen waste, layers of charged biochar, plus micronutrients like greensand and Azomite for an extra kick. Will it work? I have high hopes! #biochar #organicgardening #gardeninghack
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David's daily gardening blog: www.thesurvivalgardener.com

[@davidthegood]

See the two-month update here: kzbin.info/www/bejne/o4aUk3mrmp5mfck

[@monsurbanpatch]

you can cook in the hole. It's called a hungi pit LOL

[@saspen3]

@@monsurbanpatch Hahaha was just thinking that!

[@jadedengineer]

How scaleable is this technique?

[@MichaelFingland]

@@jadedengineer very

[@johndoh5182]

So, as soon as you said burn and turn, I knew why the soil quickly lost everything, because burning and turning is almost as bad as using chemicals on the soil, it sterilizes it. Soil can be built even in FL using compost but you HAVE to keep stuff growing in the soil and you can't be turning it. The microbiome that you start to build has to be maintained and the only way to do that is keep stuff growing on the soil, and adding compost. Now, if you want soil at depth in FL then you have to do an initial dig, and then add mulch and other materials at depth and then work compost in as you fill with soil. This is similar to what was done here and if you want to add biochar or simply burnt material then you can do what you did, but I personally find that bad for the environment because of how much carbon is being released and I'm much more of a fan of creating compost without burning, considering today we are in a climate crisis due to CO2. The best thing to do is get that carbon into the ground, and you do that by no-till or no-dig methods, which you can't do anywhere. As in FL you will often have to work a plot to a depth before you can use something like no-dig, no-till, and FL soil has to be worked first and a lot of material added, to depth. So, it's not simply "add more compost will fix the problem". No, there is science involved in building soil, and the science points to stuff growing on the soil as much as possible, AND not digging up what's in the ground once you've got your bed planted. And by doing this, EVEN IN FL you will build up soil over time, probably having to use cover crops more than other places.

[@free_at_last8141]

When you're gone, I imagine someone's going to raise an eyebrow at the grave-shaped spot where things grow well.

[@OfftoShambala]

Especially if there is a ‘compost your enemies’ t shirt left behind.

[@sebastiangarcia41910]

@@OfftoShambala 😂😂😂

[@jksatte]

LOL

[@unclebenny9028]

Screw their eyebrows...

[@estebanjohn4308]

Hahahaha first thing I've read this morning. Makes my day!

[@briantorsell]

Looking forward to the 1,000-year update!

[@lockwooddev]

David the Good the 40th will report in due time

[@mwnemo]

I’ll have to leave it in a will for one of my ancestors to check the update 😂

[@FlyingBalcony]

@@mwnemo hahuehuehahuehuehue

[@TrollHiddenCave]

I feel like he's burying everything too deep kind of wasting it unless he's going to grow a bunch of trees

[@JoeZyzyx]

LOL. I was thinking it might take a few years, 2-3 for the payoff to start becoming fruitful. However, if it slows the loss of water and nutrients, it should do quite well in coming years.

[@_VICK_]

I come from a long lineage of farmers in Mexico. That migrated from the Amazon once upon a time according to the stories my aunts and uncles tell me. My grandfather passed, didnt have much time with him. One of my fondest memories of him was doing this same thing you’re doing on his farm. I would watch him while me made me clean the horse stables . I always wondered what he was doing. I thought he was trying to figure out ways to get rid of his trash lol. Seeing this video, now I know what he was up to. RIP Grandpa, the man who taught me all the answers I need in life, can be found in nature ♥️

[@davidthegood]

That is wonderful.

[@lilliananderson1986]

I love this! So happy you shared! 🤗🥰

[@jonnyhawt8973]

Thanks for sharing.

[@jonhackel3579]

You need a skidsteer if you plan on continuing this!

[@cnrmcdonnell]

Interesting video, the clay pots act as water retention, bones calcium, the ash potassium, vegetable matter green and grey for a rich compost with all sorts of nutrients. Onto something 👍

[@Simlatio]

I come from a land of red clay and the most fascinating part to me was watching you dig two feet down with a spade, quite comfortably I might add.

[@trentp151]

When my Cuban fence builder was putting up fences around our ranch property in Texas, he said, "You no buy la rancha, you buy la rocka." 3" under the surface is about where we hit rock, so red clay would be very welcome lol

[@Simlatio]

@@trentp151 Yes, it is true that digging limestone with a spade is quite a bit more difficult that bone dry compacted clay.

[@Cody_Ramer]

Yea on my property if i want to dig more than an inch or two i need a pickaxe watching him dig what would have taken me a day in a few minutes...

[@tealkerberus748]

I'm on mudstone with quartz intrusions and iron pyrites. You want to dig a hole like that, you bring a pick, and on a cloudy day you'll see sparks. Unless you find an old goldrush era pit, and then there could be a void several feet deep under the skin of soil still held together by the grass.

[@sjoroverpirat]

I'm from Norway and my house is built upon granite mountain. I'm quite jealous of your clay!

[@gtmunch]

Well, if anything, the plants that grow there will never get bored. They will be thinking “what strange present from David awaits my roots today?”

[@grasssiass3016]

Only 5 acres to go!

[@davidthegood]

#goals

[@lucyrickard9182]

🤣🤣🤣

[@probablynotdad6553]

5 acres and 500 years boys, we got this.

[@utubesanti1992]

@@lucyrickard9182 t

[@AndreaDingbatt]

​@@lucyrickard9182T

[@markkolmorgan7728]

Hey, I'm an archeology guy, wanted to pass along what I've heard on the topic. They were canal builders as well, so much of the earth used to elevate the fields was dredged from waterways and channels. I got the impression that all household organics were tossed into the waterway then this material was tossed onto the slash/char. The earthworks are extensive, pretty much the entire S.American continent was terraformed before European intervention. Great video! Keep em comin'

[@cljcrescent]

Has anyone looked in to the fact that primitive pottery kilning and charcoal manufacturing are essentially the same process? Pottery shards, microchar, and ash are the byproducts of primitive pottery firing techniques. It's great to think ancient peoples had wisdom we don't have today but unintentional results tend to be more common.

[@chal29]

Do you have a book to suggest on the topic?

[@insomniousdream]

I can’t believe you convinced me to watch you throw random things in a trench for 38 minutes. Well done!

[@tonysaladino1062]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/qpzNn3qphqeemdE

[@jksatte]

IKR!!!!!

[@macoppy6571]

If you pay attention, he slowly reveals the ingredients of each layer in his Lasagna. Next time I'll take notes.

[@nickthegardener.1120]

@@macoppy6571 this didn't work tho.

[@InappropriateShorts]

This should have been 5 minutes so much dead time

[@JohnSmith-jr9jx]

Those chicken seeds should sprout in about 3 weeks, it takes awhile when they are planted so deep but the tap roots enjoys the room.

[@lizeggar2421]

😂😂

[@ripentheconclave]

@@lizeggar2421 eggar enjoying the chicken seeds 🤣

[@kellymorgan4783]

I got lost in my envy of being able to put a spade into the ground more than 3mm 🤣

[@sundancer442]

In my town, we break out small jackhammers, to plant trees. Seriously.

[@justsomeguy4033]

Hah! Me too! I was watching him like WTC! Some of my desert dirt takes a full swing with a big pick axe just to get 1-2 inches in. Although it gets softer at about 1.5 ft. But i still have to literally jump on my shovel. Oh well, at least I get to grow muscles.

[@reneebrown2968]

Amen. It takes a hulk Hogan size dude a week to plant a tree in my yard let alone digging a hole that size. Jealous. Really.

[@justsomeguy4033]

@@reneebrown2968 lol! Yup took me 2 weeks to dig my trench. I only got 3 ft down, so I built a stone wall around it 2 ft up for a total of about 5 ft overall depth.

[@MichaelSmith-ri1rb]

Seriously, if I lived there, I'd probably quit gardening and just dig huge holes for fun! I'm thinking a tunnel system like in the last Rambo movie. 🤔

[@fungdark8270]

Letting the kiddo help is always a worthy endeavor, takes only a few seconds extra but yields so much

[@louisejames1844]

I live on what used to be the midden of a medieval castle. That’s the ditch around the hill where all the waste was thrown. It’s not been there for hundreds of years but the soil is beautiful. Unusual for this area. Like your example- lots of old pot shards in it too. Interesting stuff.

[@calebfuller4713]

I think the broken pot shards are the clue. It seems pretty obvious that these were originally village midden pits. The ash and charcoal probably came from people dumping their cooking and heating fire ash, or maybe they set it on fire if a lot of burnable material got dumped in their. Possibly some soil was layered over the top if the smell got too bad. When full they just dug another pit and everything in the old one was left to compost.

[@HostilePride]

I was like "Sweet lets go find this guys followup on how it did!" and realised the video is only from a few days ago.

[@FallLineJP]

Same 😅

[@ianbreuser2265]

David the Good; There are indigenous cultures practicing the soil building practices of terra preta. Many farmers in west Africa are farming in dark soil. They have done this simply by burying their cooking waste: food scraps and the remaining charcoal/ashes in the fields every day.

[@SkillCult]

Hi Ian. Do you have a reference for that? I was wondering if that was still an active culture there. I'd like to read whatever is known about current practices. Thanks.

[@mymy3172]

I am doing the same experiment here in the pacific northwest on Vancouver Island. I have developed two contraptions. One is the biochar TLUD retort (kiln) and the other is a vermicompost bathtub. So in the winter, wind storms snap branches and twigs off the Douglas fir trees which we rake into piles. This is feed stock for the biochar kiln and we make pure carbon from the twigs which is easy to crush as compared to larger pieces of wood. In the tubs, we use red wrigglers and a manure base and place in kitchen food scraps and the worms make castings and more importantly worm liquid that comes out of the drain in the bathtub. I call the liquid "worm Juice" and I take this liquid and soak the fresh dry biochar with that. Let this mixture soak for several months at least. When preparing garden beds for planting vegetables, simply dig in this mixture . The results are truly amazing and if you do it over and over the soil never denigrates. We do not buy vegetables from June to October and have stored crops in the basement for the winter. And that is not bad considering this is Canada. Cheers

[@timothywilliams2021]

I'm in Washington state. Not too far from Vancouver Island. I've been doing something similar the last couple years. Originally hard rocky glacial till clay soil in my garden. It's working for me pretty well. Still harvesting some winter crops and it's almost January now.

[@maureendonnelly9075]

Good job 👏 Vancouver island is not the Pacific Northwest fyi it’s the Pacific southwest coast region of British Columbia. Canada 🇨🇦 hopefully that’s just a typo 😅

[@mymy3172]

@@maureendonnelly9075 The description of the Pacific northwest on Wikipedia is the area defined as British Columbia, Idaho, Oregon and Washington. The context of the descriptor is that it is looking at the North American continent as a whole and not looking at just Canada. This is widely known and used in this context all the time. We here on VI call the west coast of VI, the west coast and anything beyond VI northerly as the North Coast. We call the mainland from the 49th parallel to basically Pine Island as the South Coast. In my 60 years, I have never heard anybody call the area the Pacific Southwest region of BC.

[@ellendehollander7684]

Isnt it fascinating how almost every comment of someone posting something positive about their experience with soil in their region somehow attracks people who find a way to turn it into a - quite frankly - exhausting discussion on what region is called what and who decends from where and who has the right to talk about it. Good lord people. If you insist on correcting other peoples topography ; theres a bunch of other channels that feed on that stuff. These people are just sharing positive stuff about their experiences with gardening and soil. Can we keep it that way?

[@mymy3172]

@@ellendehollander7684 Amen and totally agree. However, no douch bag is going to correct me and tell me that I live in a place with a new name that is totally incorrect imo.

[@dennistaylor3796]

What do you throw on an open latrine. Ashes to keep flies away and charcoal to absorb the smell.

[@donHooligan]

outhouses are the way of the future.

[@jungle6201]

11:28 if you want clay to dissolve in water its best to dry it thouroughly and crush it before adding it to water, then leav it undisturbed for a few hours, this will give you more of a slurry that you can then dry again into something more workable. i dont know if all this is worth doing in the context of making terra preta but its what we do in the pottery in ireland i work in. have been recycling broken pottery in my own terra preta experiemnts! Great video David!

[@davidthegood]

Thank you for the pro-tip, @Jungle. I am no potter. That will help.

[@jerrywhidby.]

@@davidthegood AKA clay slip

[@meikala2114]

And a power drill with an appropriate home made slurry mixer bit

[@patriciopincheira3552]

Sorry for my English as I am using the translator I would recommend that you try to plant kiri paulownia as a plant to generate biomass since it is an extremely fast growing plant in addition to being used to generate the preta land in addition to combining this technique with the hugelkultur type cultivation could greatly accelerate the process of creating soil.

[@bte_permaculture]

Yes, we are doing Hugelkultur ❤️ will add your info too🙏

[@albertomagdua7109]

Biochar..That Simple.Olden but Golden!

[@dennistaylor3796]

If you are in a warm (tropical) area organic matter decomposes quickly unless it is "burned".

[@dubsbarry9963]

Appears to me your translation app did a fantastic job

[@gioknows]

Tremendous and fascinating. Imagine a community of 10,000 people doing this together. It wouldn't take much time to transform a large amount of low grade land into Terra Preta. Now imagine a community of 100,000 people. Cheers from Ottawa, Canada🍁

[@daleval2182]

The cities in the Amazon were at 20 million actually

[@pellucoso]

@@daleval2182thats the size of chile

[@cynthiaboggs1730]

And had been work on it for only 20 thousands years or so. Give me fn break. Old European history that was hidden is coming to to light. And don't get me started on the stolen riches from around the 🌎🌍.

[@cynthiaboggs1730]

At the Vatican.

[@kingofthecrows8802]

if you want less smoke, try putting the biggest stuff on the bottom and follow up with incrementally smaller pieces. Doing it this way also prevents the larger fuel pieces from being fully cooked

[@MrBrznak]

imagine a "bring your own organic junk day" where a village meets once every month and just burns a fire in a trench , everyone dumps their kitchen and garden scraps in the trench and fruittrees are planted on that strip every month

[@pennyfulton3418]

You might be surprised to learn that, contrary to the way man lives today, people actually lived IN nature ! Animals are the real source of ALL THINGS for human need, in return we only need to cherish, honour, and mimick their being, as best we can and ' SEE ' them . And definitely NOT eat them. It's exactlyy the same and as evil as eating babies . By far the most important 'ingredient ' of ALL sustainable life , is ANIMALS , THEY create all things, as well as being our teachers in how to live and how to ' be ' .

[@pennyfulton3418]

@the last brain cell No, I am NOT a 'vegan ', but a vegetarian . Vegan's would have the whole of nature taken up with the making their poisonous vegetable oils , ( it takes acres of eg olive trees to make one bottle of olive oil, ditto sunflower oil etc. etc. ) . Vegans are anaemic, weak and puny , because they imagine that the best most natural foods in the world are animal products ...Milk, butter etc. eggs . They contain EVERY nutrient necessary to life, in the perfect balance and without the need for large quantities . There is no suffering for animals in producing milk for a few extra years , any more than there is for human mothers who do exactly the same . The natural balance in plants, tells us what quantities we should eat of them ie SMALL amounts and the practice of extracting isolates from plants is contrary to nature . I despise veganism , it is an evil which steals the land intended for animal habitat ; expounds the principles of isopathic artificialism, and manufacture and is stunting the growth of children in their FORMATIVE ( most damaging of all ) years .

[@pennyfulton3418]

correction : 'they imagine that the most beneficial food in the world ' ...IS BAD FOR THEM .....etc.

[@j.l.thurman2725]

@the last brain cell they're kinda funny in a sad way aren't they?

[@probablynotdad6553]

@@pennyfulton3418 Humans are omnivores weather you like it or not friebd. No where in nature will you find a tribe of vegans, but ocean fairing tribes and many Inuit peoples are practically full blown carnivores due to where they live and how little plant life grows there, let alone edible plant life.

[@defaultdamager7639]

Soaking your biochar in nutrient rich liquid is ABSOLUTELY key to this process and will accelerate your turn around and effectiveness! Can’t wait to see the return video, thanks for the great content 😀

[@brycehorton4849]

THIS, and I mean the nastiest water you can't muster up imo, personallyvi soak rabbit bedding in a 5 gal bucket in sun for about a week and let the water absorb the nutrients. Do the same for grass clippings, black/raspberry sprouts are my all time favorite tea fertilizer

[@darrellluck7230]

@@brycehorton4849 Don't forget to use your own urine by the bucketful. High nitrogen biochar !!!

[@vidard9863]

Very interesting, I was once told it was just charcoal in the soil. That might actually be it, the problem with the soil is the nutrients wash away, the charcoal just traps the nutrients and makes them available long term.

[@daleval2182]

You are correct and pee on the crushed char

[@mourlyvold64]

@@vidard9863 Never ever burry uncharged uncharged charcoal in your soil. It will rob your soil of nutrients for years. Very dangerous!

[@nlcpope]

Your definitely leaving a geologist record that someone may dig down trying to figure out what this is! Excellent video-thanks so much for sharing this process and information!!

[@markgelinas8114]

My grandmother did something similar but without the biochar. She said that would make the soil "bitter". She would have us rake up all the leave and sycamore seeds where she would then have a trench cut and this material would go in. Because our ground was rotten granite, it was awful to grow anything in. Sand, peat, and manure was the augment thrown onto the leaves and yard waste (grass and such) as well as kitchen scraps from the parings plus bone meal, blood meal and kelp meal completed the mix. She did this year after year until they moved to a new place and started the process over again. I suppose this is a swale crossed with hugelkultur. How will this look in a couple of years and will you repeat the process over these beds in the future?

[@greenghost6416]

Amazonians: "You need centuries to make this soil" David The Good: "Hold my guitar for a day"

[@CorwynGC]

Amazonian's: started with crappy soil and made fertility that has lasted for centuries. Europeans: started with great soil and made deserts in mere centuries.

[@epicpaper3994]

@@CorwynGC dont be that guy.

[@CorwynGC]

@@epicpaper3994 My apologies for pointing out the failures of your ancestors.

[@epicpaper3994]

@@CorwynGC accepted.

[@jamescurtis1226]

They very well may have done it for centuries, but they WERE eating every day...Last years terra preta is this years food. (Not centuries) pssst just like leaves falling from a tree every year provides the foods for the soil and food for next years growth. Last years leaves are this years produce.

[@ubuntunewb]

It's like intense form of lasagna gardening & hugelkultur principles combined and buried deeply, I love it!

[@MandieKramer]

Came here to say this! Hugelkultur with FIRE!

[@doloresreynolds8145]

The charcoal acts as a sponge to hold the nutrients, as do the pottery shards.

[@benemubi]

I love your determination. Soil can be changed .intact my grandparents would say' anything that has no mouth can be changed'

[@link12313]

All the pottery and charcoal means that the terra preta pits used to be large pottery kilns. The shards would be from pots that broke during the firing and the charcoal would be from the large amount of fuel put around the pots.

[@vincenthickey8622]

I wish he observed if the pottery bites was re-burned in original terra preta site. It would be a clue to it's manufactured. A Midden is what is called farmer's trash site for the kitchen scrapes disposal.

[@entrepreneursfinest]

I had the same thought. I believe you had larger populations using a trench on the outside of the fields for throwing trash, crop cleanup debris, and cleared brush as well as firing pottery and using as a latrine or sewage disposal. All unsavory things you didn't want to get into barefoot went into it until it was full and then you just dug it a little further and planted crops behind it. Over time it would grow more food, increase the population, and accelerate the process.

[@eyesofthecervino3366]

Could be. That, or it's an ancient landfill, and the broken pottery was just broken from everyday use and buried there.

[@lindaobrien7383]

It sounded like their form of land fill. And it turned out to be to their benefit after many years. Chet O'Brien

[@kmw4359]

Sort of, but they were burning it and likely it was for the specific purpose of growing food. When Monty Don did his Around the World in 80 Gardens, he had an episode on the Amazon. Worth a watch. The true floating gardens are an amazing idea on their own. Back to the point: he talked about terra preta, and then interviewed a tribal woman who gardens like her ancestors did and she was making bio char for the specific purpose of using it in her garden.

[@billwilson3665]

@@kmw4359 The only way they had to clear land was to burn.

[@billwilson3665]

@@kmw4359 I put lump charcoal, azomite and bone meal among other things in my worm beds.

[@kmw4359]

@@billwilson3665 nice! I mix up equal parts of 1/3 coir, 1/3 coarse vermiculite, and 1/3 compost + manure.

[@jo9732]

Yes. It looks to be that way. Probably each house or whatever had their trash pile for a year. Makes a lot of sense.

[@tinamariepayne7291]

Dang this video really made me appreciate my good ol’ rocky top Tennessee more than I did. That sure is a lot of work for some good soil.

[@lilliananderson1986]

I feel bad. This was gratifying and relaxing to watch. You worked your butt off! Love the process. I’m sure it’s gonna be great and the worms are gonna love it too!

[@wingsandbeaksbirder2312]

How could all those ingredients and all that hard work not turn out wonderfully?!😊

[@donaldtrumpjr]

Love the topic. I'm interested to see the long term results.

[@roberthayes2027]

Just use the fast forward button w the time warp option, okay?

[@esioanniannaho5939]

Yep dont forget the living ecosystem (worms etc) that are a feature of Terra Preta. Also for wet conditions checkout Hugerkultur. Use in mounaineous poor soil in north Germany and Scandinavia. I also save cardboard old clothes and anything organic and throw into the mix after a years decomposing. Good luck I remember that programme re Amazonas 15 years ago. If my memory is correct some German scientists were leading the investigation into Tierra Preta. Bon chance

[@K4lr0b]

Here in Peru people in rural areas always do something like this but not in pits but at soil levels. You can find terra preta in some places and close to the Amazon too. I think they just did that over and over until it became that much fertile.

[@hanspur1980]

When that cute "lawn ornament" (6:08) MOVED (6:18) I nearly screamed out loud! I'll be cutting back on the coffee I guess. 😆

[@KellenChase]

I just have to say, I’m so grateful for you as a human and the stuff that you put out in the world. Watching and learning. Thank you

[@Kevs2tuff]

This is one of my favorite videos brother! Terra preta is like a bio char hugulculture hybrid! Amazing!

[@-Rickster-]

I was thinking the same thing

[@JoeZyzyx]

charcoal can absorb so many things, so probably helps hold the nutrients too.

[@Kevs2tuff]

Nutrients and beneficial organisms!

[@jettyeddie_m9130]

Your grave digging skills are on point ... kinda scary and kind of cool !

[@marker113]

Composting all the enemies:)

[@cdevidal]

Yeah you noticed the trench is six by six eh? Compost your enemies :)

[@SuperKingslaw]

The REAL secret to terra preta.

[@robdecarlo1225]

Damn, that was a massive physical activity ever since in garden videos I've never seen. Thanks, David you're a reasonable example of a green thumb.

[@strikebreed7697]

My dad used plants rye grass and clover around the bottom of his plants. He believes the rye grass's long roots would pull nutrients from the deep soil and redistribute it to the top soil when it decomposed. Clover is a nice natural mulch that houses nitrogen fixing bacteria. His plants always do awesome.

[@ThoughtfulBiped]

My wife and I started learning about Biochar, Terra Preta, and African Black Soils a few years ago. Very intriguing information out there. But the proof is in the pudding, so it is said. So, for the last few years we have been charring up mostly oak limbs cut from our fire abatement efforts here in CA. I have read that hardwoods make better char. We keep a lot of chickens and have been aging their manure with the char, "charging" or "inoculating" the char, in hopes of eluding the (supposed) two year nutrient sink of raw char. From what I have read, because it is so porous it has a tendency to suck up nutrients from the soil, before the microbes colonize the char, and it begins to give anything back in terms of plant growth and food production. Our hope is to settle into a no dig style of permanent beds and will be adding small quantities of our chicken-char to the beds each year in hopes of creating the deep, rich, lasting soils seen in the Amazon and Africa. This last year was the first year we used it on, what we consider, a "large" scale. We had just developed a new area of 20, 50' beds. We added it to a handful of them as an experiment. We did not notice any negative side effects but, as they were new beds and the first time we used the char, we did not notice anything exceptional or beyond the realm of our expectations. We were left wondering if it was just the addition of the chicken manure or other amendments that things did as well as they did. We have pretty heavy clay with lots of decomposing granite and quartz and the field had not been cultivated for food crops in quite a number of years, before that, decades ago it was cattle ranch land. It was mostly overgrown with vetch and other weeds. We ripped it to 14", added lime, gypsum, and calphos, aged horse manure, and the chicken-char, tilled it in, shaped the beds and planted right away. We always seem to be doing everything right as the season starts and it doesn't always produce the best results. We were quite pleased with the garden last year. Having not noticed anything negative, I would venture to say it was a success and over time it should only improve. I would definitely recommend to anyone with brush to burn to make char and give it a shot. If nothing else, when done correctly, the carbon will go into the soil and not the air where it will stay for a long time, and with no dig methods it will not be disturbed and released into the atmosphere as dust. Happy Gardening, All.

[@giulianogarridorocchetti4902]

Thanks for your contribution, man. Good luck for you

[@captdrastic]

I can't wait to see what this looks like in two or three years. So cool.

[@thecoryanhealthcabanas]

Me too. I'll be staying tuned.

[@acebilbo]

I think it will really work well this year, but, you're right. In 2-3 years? Looking forward to that.

[@MaatsFeather]

Ok it’s been 3 years.

[@jasonespinoza5105]

Real talk on that Florida soil. Each situation is different. I've gone the rout of ignoring most gardening advice that didn't come from a gardener or farmer in my area.

[@ceruleanblue2161]

Loved the video! Very tranquil! Thank you for sharing information about terra pretta!

[@justsomeguy4033]

Great video! I thought i was the only one doing this. I dug a 12 long trench at 2-3 feet down, then built 2 feet up for a raised bed. So 4-5 ft total depth. I did it last fall, so I started with logs, dead plants, bushes, desert straw, weeds, flowers, rock dust, chalk, biochar, ash, saw dust, wood chips, kitchen scraps, chicken, rabbit & dog poo, sand, compost/mulch, but mainly all the leaves from my whole street since it was fall. I kept it chaotic, so everything isn't layered even all the way across. The branches are standing up or at angles so nothing is uniform. I've let it sit undisturbed all winter, still waiting for my southern California high desert to warm up before I plant anything. Im a rookie, so this is the first thing Ive ever done. It was just gonna be a flower bed, but I'm getting tempted to try food.

[@wmluna381]

Sounds interesting. Hope you post an update.

[@justsomeguy4033]

@@wmluna381 it's a deal👍🏼 There seems to be a lot of interaction over on FB, with permaculture & such. So I recently got on FB with a new account under my actual name (David Paland). I only used this name (Dvarai) on YT to keep the trolls at bay when i was interacting on political videos. My new FB is where I'm beginning to post stuff I've been doing lately, to show friends & family but its set public so feel free to check it out & i haven't even added anyone yet lol. But I'm a total rookie, not like David the Good here. So I'm nobody impressive.

[@LuisC7]

@@justsomeguy4033 Updates?? Awesome work

[@redshedllc9054]

That's going to produce amazingly. I do this with native soil and rabbit manure , all the same stuff you used but I added a bag of soil with crop specific mycology.but it did way better then my garden with bagged soil I amend ,I make it a living soil . Native still won . Good stuff man

[@KB-2222]

Updates?

[@66bigbuds]

My instinct is to add a huge compost pile on top of it, and wait a year. My best compost is made from mountains of green wood chips layered with lake and pond weeds. And all the other regular items mixed in.

[@TrollHiddenCave]

You could do that just keep piling stuff on top each year

[@Pipsqwak]

Yep. I have compost toilets, and the material from them (mixed with sawdust) is added to my compost piles along with kitchen scraps, paper, litter from my chicken coop, grass clippings, charred wood from my woodstove, leaves, and straw. I also make biochar and mix it in, too. It heats up to between 120 and 160 degrees Fahrenheit and holds that temp for weeks between "feedings". I never turn these piles; the covering material is peeled back, a slight hollow is scooped into the top of the steaming compost, and new material added. Then the covering material Is pulled back over it. No flies, no stink (sometimes you can see steam rising). The high temps ensure that pathogenic bacteria, viruses, and parasites or their eggs are destroyed. After a pile is full I leave it alone for a year before using it. I get loads of rich, black compost this way.

[@tonysaladino1062]

Char is not compost.

[@mrdavman13]

Add manure

[@NelsonZAPTM]

I bought my little farm about 10 years ago. The soil was depleted and hardly a worm to be found. I started composting with manure, dead animals, hay, any organic material I could find, and the original dirt. After three years there was a critical mass of biology in the soil and I use it as a starter every year for the next season. 10 years later and I have created over 50 cubic meters of compost for my raised beds, the worm count is off the charts, and I have an abundance of home grown food. Starting a garden from absolute scratch is hard work, but very rewarding.

[@marxerm]

Looking forward to seeing the results from this one. I'm predicting a win, particularly after a year or so. Thanks for the back breaking experimental work!

[@vansgardens2304]

I honestly think Terra Preta is simply the result of ancient landfills. Great video👍🏻

[@davidthegood]

Very probable.

[@mitchspurlock3626]

Was gonna say the same thing. In ancient times everything was organic, so the town dump was effectively a giant compost heap.

[@carmenortiz5294]

Yeah, sure, because you burn wood and bury it in landfills. They followed a precise method and the only locations where you find terra petra (black soil) is where they would burn the wood, not all over the Amazon. Why not, lets underestimate the people who came up with the process and compare them to our wasteful way.

[@carmenortiz5294]

@@davidthegood Very unlikely, you mean. The guy is being rather "amusing" by comparing something that has managed to last hundreds or maybe thousands of years, with "landfills" where we dispose of garbage that never will turn into fertile soil. Terra Petra is Portuguese. The pots are made of clay, so it's just more clay added to sand and it was not centuries ago by people who are gone, because some tribes in the Amazon are still doing it, which is why people who teach how to do it, know how it was done.

[@mitchspurlock3626]

@@carmenortiz5294 you burn wood and dump ashes into a landfill, those ashes likely contain some char. It's called organic decomposition, there would be plenty of fertile soil to be made from our garbage if we separated the organic matter from our modern waste, which they certainly didn't have in the ancient Amazon.

[@-Rickster-]

I watched a TED talk about farming in Saudi Arabia in the desert. The father son team used a clay mixture in sand which then held the nutrients and allowed plants to anchor into it. They were growing corn in sand within 3 months ircc.

[@davidthegood]

Excellent. Clay is amazing.

[@dadodadic9125]

in sandy soils it is best to add untreated clay

[@martinwilliams9866]

​@@davidthegoodLiquid nano-clay, see rexresearch

[@maryhudson6137]

Totally fascinating! Thanks for sharing. So trite, but so sincere.😊

[@carlitomk]

Something I’ve always been curious about since I first learnt about it 11 years ago … so cool that you’re doing this .. thank you for sharing!

[@bettylane6982]

That’s a small bed for all that work. But, I see what you are doing. Good job DTG.

[@thecurrentmoment]

Work that will last for hundreds of years

[@rebekahdavis5935]

" Dad can I do it? " Dad- I think it's too heavy for you " No it's not " LOL , takes me back to helping my Dad when I was little.

[@KingEst87]

Great video ! Great dialogue, great story ! Thanks Bud

[@ita_2467]

This was such a satisfying video to watch. Great ideas too!

[@anitapaulsen3282]

Wow! That has got to be the richest garden bed ever. Will be interesting to see how it is over time.

[@garyshaw3575]

David as a former Archaeologist this. Is a common experience I have had in excavating old Historic and Prehistoric Human occupation sites . You almost always find rich loamy soils remain after centuries or even as little as 50 years after the occupation mostly in village sites or long term occupations the only other type sites which it was common was in large butchering sites.

[@davidthegood]

Very interesting, Gary. Thank you.

[@SouthFloridaSunshine]

Umm, @Gary Shaw can you clarify large butchering sites? I am hoping I won’t regret asking that question.

[@mwnemo]

A Fishes and Loaves Life, I went to a butchering site for Buffalo up in Canada at a Buffalo run. It was pretty cool, it’s where the natives would get Buffalo to fall off a cliff and butchered on site. It’s a popular place to dig because you know you will find old tools.

[@garyshaw3575]

@@SouthFloridaSunshine yes a "Butchering Site" would be any Site utilized by any Human occupation to process some animal remains from a hunt or trap area in mass quantities year after year. A example would be a Buffalo Jump or Trap where because of the Topo craphic Terrain a small canyon can have a funnel effect to a sharp cliff in which the Prehistoric population would stampede Buffalo or a Antelope or Elk or Deer over the edge in a panic. At the base of the cliff, they would be either dead or certainly crippled. The indigenous people could then slaughter the animals easily and process them for Meat ,Bones for tools, Hides for clothing or shelter. This Site would be invaluable to be utilized year after year for possibly centuries. I have found this type of a Site in northwest Wyoming,, myself and worked on it numerous times.

[@c.j.rogers2422]

@@garyshaw3575 But Gary, that doesn't fit the popular narrative that indigenous peoples were all one with nature and respectful of their prey and such great resource conservationists and only killed what they absolutely needed. Probably even shed a tear doing it. They did what they had to do, as efficiently as they could. If they could make their lives better, easier, you bet they did.

[@lisashirtz7224]

I learned about biochar. I made some and added worm castings. It was the best combination for our local area.

[@phyllisclark3896]

Wow David. I am so grateful for this video. I learned something new day. Thank you 🙏🙏🙏

[@paullynch2747]

Thats one way of getting rid of a body.

[@agrarianarc]

Compost your enemies

[@michaelripperger5674]

Plant flowers 💐 🌸 on top

[@davidschmidt270]

Pushing daisies.....add some fish heads and you could say that Luka sleeps with the fishes

[@yoopermann7942]

pigs work too i hear!

[@JimTribble]

@@yoopermann7942 Then you can use their poop.

[@rogerhostetler1359]

There's nothing like digging a hole . West central Fla here been putting all the organics I can get my hands on and after 20 years it will go back to sand in a season. Been doing some char for 2 years now. Some of the mounds had layers of pottery and carcoal layers in them. Great video

[@kelceyreina603]

I am new to central west florida; what are you doing to improve your soil? I can't dig a huge hole like David. Biochar and what else? No clay here- we do have some pond lily pads

[@ingojones7404]

Thanks for sharing. Keep us posted

[@TheFarmacySeedsNetwork]

Excellent video! Gonna go see how it's coming.. Hoping for updates!

[@TheMilkmaidFarm]

Those deep roots are in for one heck of a surprise!! This is awesome, David.

[@wes9451]

There aren't many that aren't trees. Most veggies are rather shallow. I'm really thinking raised beds would have been a better use of time.

[@c.j.rogers2422]

@@wes9451 Not so great here in the deep hot south, especially in sand.

[@rebellionpointfarms6140]

MY friend! you are in it to WIN it!!

[@davidfoster9073]

I've used this in East Tennessee and greatly improved the fertility and production of my garden soil. I made my charcoal and very little ash then ran the dried charcoal through a chipper. About two inches were applied on the garden and tilled in to about 10" inches deep. The soil keeps improving each year with no additional charcoal added. The charcoal lasts for thousands of years...mulch about one.

[@fordprefect.betelguese]

Very interesting.. I like the concept...it's basically a huge, well made, compost heap..nice for a small garden but a lot of work for a decent size veg plot

[@graphene1487]

I can imagine if trenches were dug and fires made, the people of the amazon cooking their meals over those same fires and putting the bones back in the fire so the future soil is all the more rich. And maybe the pottery shards helped reduce the likelihood of erosion?? Thank you so much for making this video. I learned a valuable lesson this day :)

[@markislivingdeliberately]

I’m guessing pottery shards were more for “hey what do we do with our broken pottery? It’s sharp and stuff… guess throw it in the pit?” May act the same way rocks act. Roots Can do some mineral mining.

[@CampingforCool41]

Terra cotta pottery is porous, so I might act the same way as biochar

[@JC-zd3hp]

Terra cotta retains moister and the plants wrap their roots around it. look up ollas watering system

[@vidard9863]

The clay in the Amazon is not great for pottery, they probably lost a LOT of pottery in the firing process and as noted isn't too different from charcoal structurally.

[@pineberry212]

I'd suggest looking up Andy Ward's ancient pottery here on KZbin, and see how they fired pottery, as it's a bit obvious that they fired their pottery in the pit itself. Possibly doing a forgotten method to get deoxidizing firing for painting, and left the broken pottery, and broken sherds in the pit.

[@reneebrown2968]

Gotta love the deep litter method of making soil. Love the mega lasagna gardening method.

[@jamisonryon3009]

How have I, and 480K other people watched this guy dig and refill a hole for 40 minutes! Awesome stuff man! Thanks for sharing this, super interesting!

[@VOTE4TAJ]

I remember watching that documentary almost a decade ago, back in Pakistan making trench and digging every house hold scrape was very common practice within gardening/farming community. Sometimes the best advise for a new garden was to dig up an old landfill (typically several in the open area where neighbourhood household waste including wood ash ends up) In 1993 we created just over 2 feet of raised garden using only 2 truckloads of pure river sand and a truckload of cow dung. No fertilizer was added for next 4 years (I am not aware what’s the current situation as property was rented out since 1997)

[@babarbaloch842]

Can you tell me what exactly he is adding .i mean from bigning to end .

[@VOTE4TAJ]

@@babarbaloch842 کچھ خاص نہیں گھر کے بچے ہوئے پھل اور سبزی ، راکھ بشمول کوئلہ اور دیگر پتوں کو گڑھا کھود کر اس میں ڈال رہا ہے جس سے کھاد بنتی ہے۔ مزید یہ کہ ہڈی، مچھلی اور پیشاب وغیرہ بھی ڈالا ہے۔ یہ تکنیک کئی ہزار برس سے جنوبی امریکہ میں استعمال ہو رہی ہے اور بعض مقامات کی مٹی اب تک زرخیز ہے۔

[@TrollHiddenCave]

Me: *taking a break from digging a hole so I can move my Tangerine trees to a better Sunny Spot watching a guy dig a bigger hole* 😁📈

[@kathywinkler9802]

I heard about those gardens years ago!! ... Always wanted to try it myself!! ... I'll be watching for updates!!

[@suzipam1234]

I have learned so much. Thank you

[@garden_geek]

This is so fascinating! It makes me feel grateful for my hard clay soil. I can’t wait to see how this plot compares to your others. I’ve actually made slurries of my own clay soil to add to potting mix and my raised beds. It’s super hot and dry here most of the year and the clay helps retain moisture in my experience.

[@davidschmidt270]

J E Could you maybe give me a run down of your process?? Lockhart said in a previous post that the reason why this will work is because the clay will bind to everything so, ....guess I need a run down on how to make clay

[@garden_geek]

@@davidschmidt270 Oh it’s basically what David is doing here. I just dig up some of my native clay soil, put it in a 5 gallon bucket and cover with water and let it soak overnight so it softens up. The next day I’ll break up the clay with my hands and then put the lid on the bucket and shake it as much as I can. Eventually I’ll end up with a slurry and I’ll just pour that over the potting mix in my wheelbarrow and mix it in with my hands.

[@davidschmidt270]

@@garden_geek WOW bl cool you are

[@michaelgibson2163]

Oh man where i live is all hard blue clay. Its a nightmare to work but ive grown stuff in it. Somehow lol i dunno how.

[@kaybonette]

@@davidschmidt270 I think someone here mentioned cat litter as its supposed to be clay. I'm going to add cat litter and charcoal to my sandy soil here in Fl.

[@jo9732]

Did you ever read about the guy who dumped a coupe of truck loads of orange peels on some really crappy desert like sand and a few years later it bloomed with hundreds of types of native flora. I saw that article years ago somewhere in a Spanish language journal.

[@rwinkler7511]

I'm simply impressed with this guy's ability to spread clay/charcoal evenly through throwing it

[@ianh7710]

This is so relaxing watching this cheers mate

[@dylan8285]

Sounds like it was just an ancient civilizations landfill to me

[@NunYaO]

I was thinking the same thing...waste pits for settlements are all over every continent. That's generally how we learn about civilization pre-bronze age.

[@haddone8054]

its so funny. I am putting in a garden in totally deficient clay, with an inch or so top soil. I've started with every six feet, compost holes covered with peat, surrounding clay/ gypsum, top soil, manure compost, repeat. and in betwen each is a 18 in+ trench with logs, then clay/gypsum, then m/compost, top soil. once all in, do the solomons minerals then plant. I started some beds last fall, minus the logs as we didn't have the trees down yet. We dug out the in between areas to put logs in then cover again, all the mixed beds were dark rich looking soil, fully integrated all ready! I'm so excited to get to the planting part to see how effective this will work. I am in TN, 7b area. I just love all the information that is out there to really expand and make gardening such an adventure. thank you Dave! very inspired.

[@josephwirth3892]

very informative. Excellent video

[@rickmurphy9613]

Very cool, thanks.

[@rebekahdavis5935]

It would be helpful if you listed on the screen what things were as you added them to the pit. Most of it I think I guessed but... Also just THANK YOU SO MUCH for trying this. Ever since I saw the documentary that enlightened people that there were actually MILLIONS of natives living WELL and talked about their soil , I've been so fascinated with the soil. I've always suspected there were WAY MORE people than archeologists were saying. Not ALL the knowledge is lost either. A lot of native knowledge that still exists among natives just doesn't make it's way to main stream society because many people don't go and ask them or ask the right people. I'll def be checking in to see you go :)

[@quincyberman5629]

That is pretty much what I do every time I plant a new spot or put in new trees.

[@MissZ1KCMO]

First let me say thank you for sharing a wealth of information. Your channel took me back to things I learned from my grandmother on her farm in Mississippi. This year I use compost that was made with biochar, used potting soil, walnut tree leaves, urine, coffee, alfalfa pellets and kitchen scraps inoculated with Bokashi grains. Now not knowing that walnut leaves have juglones, I used the compost on all my plants. The results were amazing, in fabric containers I had tomato plants that grow up to 11 feet tall, that produced clear into November, without the need for fertilizers. My plants that got a fertilizer , started off better but stalled in July through August when our temperatures reached record highs. My though is that because I use a chemical fertilizer the microbial life could not thrive as well, which meant the plants didn't get the benefit of the chemical based fertilizer. This year I added Steve Solomon's mix and alpaca manure from a local farmer to my compost.

[@NS-rm7df]

Just finished watching your biochar update. Very encouraging. My soil is pretty dead too. Basically a sand dune with a used up pecan orchard. We started 12 years ago and have made so many expensive mistakes I don't want to think about it. So I tried a burning pit like yours, and a few others, in hopes this will finally be the magic trick. Fingers crossed. I did one last fall, but just used straw and pee to inoculate it. Guess what: straw is in no hurry to break down. I planted garlic with it, and it is doing better, but not wonderful. This batch I inoculated today is around 175 gallons. Can't wait to try it on the fall garden. Hard to find a good day for a burn around here because of dry, windy conditions. Month or so ago a whole town burned a few miles from us. Don,t want to risk doing that!

[@eyesofthecervino3366]

I wonder if you could add some oyster mushroom spawn to your straw to get it to break down faster. Although that would pull nitrogen out again, so I don't know if that's what you'd want.

[@DeadeyeJoe37]

21:03 - David the Good prepares his Easter Egg Hunt.

[@jabesmond8401]

How did none of those eggs break? :mindblown:

[@laurenandreas5950]

@@jabesmond8401 ...Healthy home grown hens! Store ones would have for sure cracked when tossed!

[@davidschmidt270]

@@jabesmond8401 I know right?? I didn't noticed till you pointed it out

[@tmontero8492]

I sure enjoy your crazy adventures with dirt. I also learn so much. Thanks Mr Good.

[@JamesGreen-hd4ux]

Fantastic Dave cheers

[@udoheinz7845]

We started our permaculture garnden / food forrest last season. for the beds i borke up the soil with a broadfoark, layed cardoard and then added self made terra preta. i bought a big amount of compost from a local composting facility and added bone meal, biocharcoal and stone meal to every wheelbarrow. after planting the first crops this season i can already see so much life in the soil. we also cover everything with wood mulch. in spring i was suprised to find literally everything covered in mycelium

[@davidthegood]

That is great!

[@ifragpsn6431]

Haha man you said you had clay, I started laughing out loud when you began shoveling. Out here in AZ you're breaking through the first 12 inches at least with a pickaxe, or spending $50 worth of water to soften everything first lol.

[@yashveer1x]

Ikr I wish I had his "clay soil"

[@peterlockhart2588]

The Clay slurry is key because the molecules bond with and hold the nitrogen - it would not work as well without Clay slurry

[@davidschmidt270]

Good point Mr. Lockhart....I didn't even think of that....dang....I'm going to have to find some clay know

[@WisdomIsPrecious]

Would this apply to calcium and magnesium too since they also have a positive charge in ionic form?

[@flightographist]

Not so, you should perhaps investigate further. As a soil scientist, I have been investigating TPdI for a very long time. CEC is the key and the biochar accomplishes that very well indeed, the bump from clay CEC would be beneficial but unnecessary.

[@peterlockhart2588]

@@flightographist translate that please into English

[@thecurrentmoment]

@@flightographist horsetail is not ubiquitous in all forest systems. Where did you get that information from? Although it is high in many grasses and palms I think your explanation is good but you could explain it a bit simpler for the person who asked. There was a lot of jargon. But maybe you should ask them, I'm just stepping in on their behalf Edit: I meant SILICON is high in grasses and palms

[@PortugalaGals]

Subbed. This is absolutely fascinating.

[@Kinuhbud]

There ought to be country wide efforts to do this to farm land gradually. Small plots one at a time. Fascinating video. Terra Preta has always captivated me.

[@mars_official]

I'm so happy to see the kids want to get involved with what dads doing. Gives me hope at least there will be some hope for the future if they learn and retain this information.

[@JoeZyzyx]

The kid reminded me of "Ralpie" in "The Christmas Story" "You'll shoot your eye out kid!"

[@XxSrelhowxX]

I didn't expect you to plant strait after without letting it cook for a season first. Kinda interested to see how the first few grows go vs a year or two later. Great video thank you.

[@rotcaka]

Reminds me somewhat of banana circles Geoff Lawton explains. Mesquite is grown as a pioneer and then once succession occurs it is all cut down and burried in a pit and bananas grown in a big circle around it! So much cool stuff out here!! 🌱

[@itsasickness4939]

My beds were made in a similar fashion 3 years ago.( South Louisiana hard pan silt) I have around 20% biochar charged with urine for a month before adding when I made my beds. I have noticed improvements every season, first summer season was bad but the fall was better and the spring better yet etc.... I usually plant exactly the way you did in this video, just a minimal hole enough for a seedling. Just a few days ago I planted out some leggy tomato plants so I used a long bulb planter to get them deep and the soil that came out of the holes was truly amazing... crumbly, loamy, tons of organic matter, worms and very black. I predict your results should be similar but I have no experience with sand.

[@TheRainHarvester]

What container do you use to charge biochar? (At twenty percent biochar, that sounds like a big volume.)

[@itsasickness4939]

@@TheRainHarvester I used various containers, buckets, barrels, trash cans etc... I have plenty of resources for making it. I use an old sugar kettle for my burn. According to “The experts” 20% is a high percentage but I didn’t know that when I made the beds. And maybe that’s why at first plants struggled, obviously I had some nutrient deficiencies. All I know is now the beds perform extremely well and seem to be improving.

[@TheRainHarvester]

@@itsasickness4939 Nice. I've just started adding biochar. What is the recommended percentage? (So far I don't have anything close to twenty percent. ) I made all my soil from leaves (on my channel), but I want to absorb those nutrients for later too!

[@itsasickness4939]

@@TheRainHarvester 5-10% is recommended but I honestly don’t think they know. Btw I checked out your channel and like the way you up cycle. I will move this conversation to your channel.

[@homesteadinginnorthflorida]

@@itsasickness4939 - I often wonder if percentage of char has something to do with how finely ground it is. But there are no articles out there.