I Brewed My Own Biochar

[@MMSpan]

Samuel: your animation was the highlight of this episode. Keep on doing what you're doing, and you'll be a pro before you're 16.

[@dustupstexas]

Thank you!

[@portiamonnette]

YEAH ! Love the animation. Maybe he could animate the whole project as he grows and his talent grows as the project grows..... It would be a totally cool way too show and explain to kids how it all works and could be easily dubbed in other languages ❤😊🎉

[@DaDunge]

Haha yeah he'll be a pro long before the desert forest is anywhere near complete.

[@myounges]

Good job Samuel!!!!!

[@davidturner8637]

Great job, looking forward to more.

[@SnakeyRaptor]

As someone who is surrounded by freshwater in Michigan, I've never been as excited for the rain to come as i am for you and your work.

[@sonarun]

At this point, I feel like his next rain episode will break the internet.

[@justiceO8149]

Absolutely agree .... I move a motion for remote cameras on the washes ... and the earth baths ;)

[@oloplyflapdar7384]

@@justiceO8149 A small solar panel with a battery attachment can probably power a lower resolution, lower frame per second camera that he could go to every 30 days and switch the SD card/hard drive to get the content out. Don't forget a nice lighting rod attachment so you don't fry the whole thing. Although, I'd rather he keeps the ball rolling some more before any of this happens.

[@brandonjuber1586]

I grew up in Phoenix and always dreamed of living in a place that had an abundance of water. I now live in Eastern Idaho, a short drive from glacial lakes and snow! I love the rain!

[@66block84]

From the land of 10,000 lakes I totally agree.

[@brucefollett8117]

The importance of parents supporting their children's passions cannot be overstated. A parent's insistence that their child's path in adulthood be practical and safe is well meaning but wrong. Samuel, keep up the good work and look for people who can help you learn more about what you love. Remember that from the top of the mountain you just climbed you can always see another horizon. This is a lesson your dad knows well.

[@kevinpaulmyrick]

Love the animation!

[@paulbombardier8722]

That animation was wild. He already has a good head start at working at this. Good job!!

[@cannon3267]

as you were raking, I couldn't help but notice the wealth of dead and down branches. with a cheap wood chipper, a couple gallons of gas and some work, you would have a supply of wood chips for mulch, composting, ect. also IIRC, there are free range cattle that "visit" your area regularly. spending a bit of time once a week or so to scout their paths on your atv and pick up their "cow pies" would give you another free source of very rich organic material

[@dustupstexas]

The cattle trail runs through Dove Alley where I'm working. I think the wood chips are the most efficient use of time. But I really need a dump trailer

[@foutoconnard4510]

@@dustupstexas pull behind dump trailers are like 5.000-25,000 not much if you have a list of joel epstein i mean osteen churches and aks each for 1 dollar . finding the money is easy as begging on facebook or local tv/radio stations

[@magesalmanac6424]

Those dead branches are an essential part of the ecosystem they are already in. Remember he’s just ‘borrowing’ a bit from this area.

[@jeffpittman8725]

Geoff Lawton plants specific trees that he in turn makes mulch with for this very reason. They grow rapidly with very little water need and tolerate heavy pruning.

[@joggabonkers6380]

Yeah mulch either bark/wood chips or a mix, it retains moisture and promotes fungal growth.

[@66block84]

Your efforts in the West Texas desert make me gratefull to live in the land of 10,000 lakes. Good luck - hope you get the rain you need.

[@Tugedhel]

My son started animations when he was 11 with Blender. He started out with multi-poly 3-D models and then went into bone structure animation. He's now a professional videographer able to do custom animations in the midst of the rest the rest of a video's content and understands what is behind the special effects so he can leverage them transparently. It looks like you have a diamond in the rough there my friend. When my son was frustrated by not knowing "right now" how to do something really cool he would describe himself as incompetence or dumb. I kept telling him that even with all of Einstein's natural talent, he never would have done anything but be a store clerk had he not actually studied math and physics and kept at playing with it until he really understood it. This is the great benefit of having an interest at hand to drive the motivation to learn the tools he is using. When my son finally got that principle, his growth and joy took off like a rocket (or exponential mycelial growth). He did studied on his own and was WAY ahead when he took related classes in high school and then breezed threw the college classes he chose to take in the field. He was already doing paid professional work his senior year in high school.

[@yrp237]

Excellent story! Thanks for sharing & thanks to Samuel for inspiring it.

[@ArturBerkut]

Samuel, your passion for animation shines through in your work. Each creation is a testament to your talent and hard work. Keep chasing your dreams and exploring your creativity. Your journey is an inspiration, and your future in animation is bright. Stay determined, keep animating, and remember that your unique vision brings stories to life. Keep up the fantastic work!

[@ADIYHD]

Samuel’s animation was way better than I thought it would be. It was really cool! It looked just an online game scene.

[@dustupstexas]

I'm so proud of him!

[@sandramelia3765]

I’m cheering for Samuel and his tech wisdom.

[@paulgallagher6544]

Bears eating Salomon often dump most of the fish on the riverbank. The remains have a mineral found only in saltwater oceans. Trees 3 miles away have that mineral moved there by fungus. Iit is thought that in that area the soil is rich mainly due to the ocean.

[@dustupstexas]

Awesome

[@CandycaneBeyond]

I wonder if there are any companies with organic waist that need to get rid of it?

[@DaDunge]

@@CandycaneBeyond problem is that such waste will contain a lot of water making it heavy to move.

[@ericmaclaurin8525]

Bears poop in the woods. Dropped food and fungal transfer have a very limited range.

[@paulgallagher6544]

@@ericmaclaurin8525 but over time fungal networks transport over long distances. A fungus can be thought of as a giant structure though each part can be cut and live on they network. So in the soil things move. Fungus transport sugars from one plant to another along with everything else that the fungus wants. It's not for the trees but they help share our resources ultimately growing the habitable zone they can live in. The specific of marine fish is just something that's been tested if the study hadn't been done I would not say that.

[@DJ-xs7ln]

This guy reminds me of myself going back to 1986 in my hometown. My mother was complaining about the dust storms that would hit the house due to strong winds coming across an open field from the south. So I went out and collected about 20 tree saplings and planted them across the street for the start of a wind break. My mother has been gone for over twenty-five years from that address. Guess what the trees are still growing and creating a small shelter belt. It appears that someone extended that small shelter belt the full length of the street, one block in length. Now some 38 years later the trees are growing well along with underbrush. where there was only barren wind-swept dirt before. My little drop in the bucket.

[@omegafighters]

Mycelium are truly amazing! Not only do they share water and nutrients, they also share information, like if one becomes injured. I also recently learned fungi more closely related to humans than plants, fascinating! Exciting to see the future of your project.

[@o00osimbasmateo00o]

Awesome work and Samuel has a lot of opportunity ahead of him working with you! A side note: the bacteria in your biochar blend really need to be aerobic (oxygenated) vs anaerobic (deoxygenated). You should try to get an aquarium bubbler in your basin to mix air in for the bacteria to multiply within the charcoal pores as they consume the molasses. The dark is their friend as is oxygen 👍. God speed brother.

[@awfominaya]

I recently discovered and binged all of your videos. Was so sad to catch up to real time and am eager to see what you're able to pull off. Keep going, man.

[@jameschristophercirujano6650]

How is your comment 9hrs old?

[@awfominaya]

Wrote it last night?

[@jameschristophercirujano6650]

@@awfominaya video has just been uploaded thirty minutes ago though?

[@dustupstexas]

Thank you for watching them all!

[@dustupstexas]

We accidentally added it to the channel playlist as a private video prior to release. It had 47 views prior to going fully public

[@isaactrujillo76]

Ah, one of my favorite weekend shows!

[@pauljackson171]

Random tangent 8:15 good choice of respirator! So useful on the field with dust coming left & right, let alone (most) biological hazards, while ergonomic for most wears. Bit of a pain to chat with on but a godsend! As always, thank you for keeping Dustups going!

[@InfamousAustinT0]

It's always a joy when you upload. I really hope that you succeed.

[@Sputnik2020]

Your heart is the healing of the earth and its people. The photo shot will always be brilliant.

[@cdpoolgirl2813]

So happy to see you did the research, you are doing such a good job, I know it's frustrating, but now that you are doing things properly you're going to see a bloom in the desert, should take a couple years for you to see a huge difference, but it will happen, we need more people in the world like you thank you so much

[@darinstephenson4895]

This is my favorite episode so far. You are making the bridge to regenerative agriculture systems. Microbes are what will make it all work. Have you ever watched any of Gabe Brown’s videos?

[@TekedixXx]

The animation looked great. I create video professionally and there are plenty of professionals out there who will deliver less for a lot of money. I started out teaching myself and that turned into me winning editing awards and starting my own company. Film school offered nothing to me so I stopped going. All my colleagues who perused degrees in film are all doing unrelated stuff, unhappy with their lives, paying off their film school debt. Keeping your passion to learn and improve is all you need with the resources available for free online. My wife taught herself blender over a few years and now she does all my company's 3D renders. As long as you care about improving and love learning, you'll make incredible things.

[@dustupstexas]

Samuel read your comment and said "That's nice!"

[@dustupstexas]

Also, it's awesome being able to point him in the right direction. Friends already told him about Scratch, but he hadn't heard of Blender

[@baytownbert2]

I was so excited to see you posted an update. As a fellow Texan, I am living vicariously. Might consider venting that drum.

[@lornacy]

Yes, I wonder about that too ... Why anaerobic fermentation?

[@ellencox8415]

​@@lornacybecause aerobic needs water and air... and he's in the desert. He is only here a couple times per month and can't baby it like aerobic needs. This is my guess at least.

[@lornacy]

@@ellencox8415 Seems plausible! I live in the Pacific Northwest and the climate is very different 😃 My compost gets too soupy, not too dry.

[@brianclemetson8781]

Samuel never lose that passion buddy. You did awesome, we all want to see more of your work.

[@adeel109]

SHAUN is a man of facus, commitment, sheer will, something you know very little about. The commitment this guy has shown in this project is extraordinary remarkable. Even reaching this place is a challenge itself.

[@jackalopefpv1708]

As a visual learner, I appreciate all the animations I can get!

[@olgck]

Being watching this channel for a couple of days, really interesting project. And I like your dedication. It made me think what I would do, how I would approach this task. Probably would focus on a small area and try to grow a dozen of trees there. Like create a small patch with better conditions, where biomass will accumulate. And then work outwards from this spot. Didn't watch every video, so maybe this is what you are doing ) Anyway, subscribed for future updates.

[@Mustard_Mann]

Good to see that Samuel is good at animating, the running motion was very fluid. Also, if you want to make your own biochar you could grow woody plants next to your house, since that is the place were you can most easily get rain water, something like okra could work really well!

[@Martintubeification]

That proud smile when one talks about their children's ideas! Loving it! Great animation, Samuel! Your father must be really proud of you! And by the way: You can be really proud of your father, too. He is doing great work!

[@titograndis9355]

You could try to use hügelkulture but using the death and dry organic material that you find near your camp. Try a little space 1m x1m and it should help to capture water and speed up the fungal micorrizal growt . Wish u the best luck for this huge project.

[@annak011]

hugelculture is marvellous witht he logs in the botton of the tun covered with grassclipping from you mover and leaf litter reallu adds nutrients to the soil.

[@cabbagenut]

I love how much you appreciate your teachers. It's fascinating to see how you are learning to adapt and discovering resources you never considered.

[@whistler2006]

Man, that animation... Reminds me to my early days learning programming. I just wanna encourage you Samuel... If you like doing animations, just do it. Maybe do a cartoon of your school, or of your city. It does not have to be perfect, first it has to be rough. Present something what matters to you. I'm all for it.

[@lornacy]

Samuel, thank you for the animation. It's easier to visualize the process now!

[@menace2906]

The biofertilizer you're making will work if your goal is to add carbon and nutrients to your soil... However, it may not multiply those healthy soil microbes you want. Soil microbes are generally aerobic in nature - they like oxygen. But because you're sealing the air out of your container, you're creating an anaerobic environment that those microbes can't survive in. It's possible they miiight survive for 30 days with the air left inside the container, but if you really want them to thrive I'd suggest adding oxygen by mixing the material in open air every 3-5 days.

[@DaDunge]

The mycoryzal fungi should have no problem with respiraiton, transporting things betwen diffrent locaitons is what they do. Any benefitial bacteria may have a harder time, though many of them are sporiform and will enter hibernation when they run out of oxygen.

[@anibch1]

I don't think he can mix the biofertilizer that very often. In fact, the process he has taken up will make this thing silage, an animal fodder.

[@DaDunge]

@@anibch1 Well Fungi are actuallt closer related to animals than plants.

[@ryanbrown982]

Better yet, put a solar powered bubble pump in there.

[@dustupstexas]

I'm following the instructions given to me. We'll see soon!

[@Z1212Z-X]

Your son is definitely gifted, and I wish him well.

[@lindacgrace2973]

I am familiar with JADAM ferments and Synbtropic agriculture and I am deeply concerned that your ferment is too dry. I think you'll need a couple more gallons of water in there. At least all of the ferments that I've ever done were a lot wetter. Have you asked Tiago about the moisture level? "As damp as a wrung out sponge" is the most common description. Unless I'm missing something, your ferment is considerably drier than that.

[@dustupstexas]

I'll be adding water when it goes in the biochar

[@lindacgrace2973]

@@dustupstexas 🤔 Oh. I thought the water was necessary for the actual fermentation.

[@esmith1771]

I thought the same. Bacteria needs a certain amount of water to do their job effectively. The mix looked extremely dry. When I make compost in my garden it's composed of wet grass, food scraps, leaves, etc, that all have a fair amount of moisture.

[@lindacgrace2973]

@@esmith1771 I guess we'll all find out soon 🙂. Good thing Shaun is young and has plenty of time to figure it all out. I'm fascinated with watching (and I hope, encouraging) his journey.

[@markgreen4706]

Tell Samuel to keep on creating! My son (now 35 yo) started out 25 years ago leaving comments on video game sites. By age 15, he had progressed to helping companies like Lucas Arts create new games. He went on to get a degree in Game Design. He is now a programmer working for a DOD contractor doing things he cannot tell me about anymore. He loves it.

[@umayoub5]

For faster growth plant prickly pear that have 3 leaves, 1/3 of 1st in ground

[@MichaelFCorbin]

Samuel - I loved the animation! Hearing your dad talk about things is great, but when you add visuals it helps me to retain the information better and I’m being very serious about that. I’d love to see at least one animation per video. I’m sure you are learning new techniques every day. Show them off :) And - Tell your dad to quit hogging all the airtime for himself ;)

[@dustupstexas]

❤️

[@notflanders4967]

If your son is even half as persistent as you are, he will succeed as an animator or whatever he chooses! Love the updates to the project! I look forward to watching these every weekend! And I look forward to more animations from Samuel!

[@ThriftGrift]

Looking forward to see new green plants popping up with summer rains!

[@eddavanleemputten9232]

To Samuel: feed your passion, work hard in school and don’t get discouraged if things don’t work out immediately. Look at your Dad: he does research, tries something and if something doesn’t work he tries a different approach. Even if over time animation turns out to be something that leads to something else (it might, or it might not), you will have learned A LOT. You never know where life leads you. You never know where the knowledge and skills you acquire along the way will come in useful. So just keep going and be proud of what you’re doing. Because it’s awaesome. Shaun, I’ve binged every video you’ve published on this channel in the last 24 hours. I’m happy for every success so fat and for everything you’ve learned along the way. Fermenting biomass for soil improvement and to introduce microbial life is great, I commented on it in a previous video. The tough part of re-establishing a working ecosystem is that everything is connected and you need to start somewhere. Over the past year, hopefully you’ve laid the beginnings of the structural groundwork. Now the next leg of the journey starts: combining the upkeep and possible expansion of those structures with soil improvements, sowing/planting and battling the climate/weather conditions whilst preserving the extremely fragile beginnings of new life. Small scale keeps things manageable but at the same time more fragile as there is no micro-climate (yet). I admire your determination and can’t wait to see how this progresses. There’ll be times you do everything ‘right’ and fate will throw you a curveball, possibly undoing most of your progress. I hope you’ll keep going despite setbacks and criticism. And I’ll be watching out for your next video!

[@TrzCharlie]

Your son did a great job of communicating how roots work. Great job Samuel.

[@brammutje15]

dustups has become my favorite greening/rejuvination whatever its called project on youtube. keep it up shaun

[@erikcoll8563]

One of my favorite videos so far. Samuel did an amazing job. I know you’re proud of him. I have no doubt he’s proud of you as well.

[@leonnetto8075]

Probably your best video yet this year, keep it up :)

[@iamunknowable]

Could mix the stuff pulling on the edge of the tarp like how people mix cob.

[@troygoss6400]

Water is the new gold. I live in the Missouri ozarks and even with our high rainfall, water is precious.

[@davidlavine8523]

My second job was doing computer animation for my dad's presentations. Can't go wrong with learning and perfecting skills.

[@BrainsofFrank]

Hey have you ever looked into making biochar to help rebuild the soil nutrient profile. The people of the Amazon made something called terra preta. Very high value natural fertilizer and it retains water better the most things commercially available hahaha I suggested this too soon. And here you are at the 7 minute mark bringing in biochar

[@jaytuberr]

I live in the pacific northwest so I'm a 30 minute drive from rainforest at any point and entering a forest here makes the relationship between fungi and a healthy ecosystem extremely obvious. Tasty too, if you happen upon a porcini or chantrelle which live exclusively near partner trees and help share nutrients.

[@JD0ng]

I need more animations! Love your restoration efforts Shaun.

[@HippocratesGarden]

I'm at 4:00, One thing about describing the mycorrhizal network as a wire or bridge, is suggesting they are inanimate like copper or concrete, they are not, they are living almost sentient like participants.

[@TheCharlesAtoz]

Samuel!! You'll be able to tell all sorts of stories as you learn your craft- keep going!!

[@jameskotsch8271]

Samuel I really liked your animation. Shaun, I really appreciate what you are doing to improve the land, we need many more people doing good things instead of being evil like I see everyday,

[@tonybarrett8543]

Sam, greetings from Ireland 🇮🇪. Your animation is great and an important part of your dad's work and conservation not just in Texas but the 🌎.

[@brianmb]

I have a Spanish teacher that I was trying to explain what this channel was about AND why is it so entertaining in Spanish. It was difficult lol

[@dustupstexas]

Keep on keeping on. Learning a language is the best way to get over feeling self conscious about learning new skills

[@HalfAssedRanching]

Drink a couple of beers before class. It really helps with the speaking.

[@AmazingJane137]

How exciting! I really look forward to hearing how the ferment goes. And Great work with the animation, Samuel, that would be very helpful for anyone teaching about symbiosis.

[@CriticalThinkingGuy]

You might also check with companies near your home that do power line clearing. They often have branches and woodchips that need disposal. Where I live e have leaf and compost pick-up. The city in turn has free compost for the residents. Usually filled with native seeds.

[@sayeedmuratbekov887]

Samuel, kudos from Kazakhstan! Go ahead, your animation is great!!!!

[@Jaaaaaffff]

Last week I was in Terlingua staying in a container house in the desert while visiting Big Bend, so it's weird that the algorithm showed me your channel this week. Good luck to you, sir!

[@Janer-52]

Samuel - go for it! You will be a top creator as you perfect your skills. Dare I say a pioneer in new animation techniques?

[@paulmcclaren1202]

Samuel, loved the animation! Shaun, the bacteria will need water. You can get the same benefits by adding worm casting to water, molassas, and aerate with a small bubbler pump. 24 hours and you will have increased the bacteria by 1000%. Also, while raking up your biomass I noted that there was a lot of dead wood. Next time take the trailer, load up the wood, dig a hole at the ranch, throw the wood in with some metal pipes from the sides down to the bottom of the hole. Start a fire in the hole, when it is really raging, bury it completely. Eventually, block the pipes. The fire is hot enough that it will keep "burning" the wood without oxygen and when there is no more "fuel" it will go out and you will be left with free biochar. Lots of videos on youtube for this. Anaerobic bacteria will create methane. You will want aerobic bacteria. Love what your doing! Keep it up. Wish I had time to come out and volunteer.

[@fayebird1808]

Awesome suggestion Paul!

[@bobjones8864]

I’m starting to believe you have the staying power to make following your channel worthwhile. Keep going.

[@Ifyouarehurtnointentwasapplied]

Stoked you are thinking about this ✌️

[@TubeAccount-b1f]

as a software entrepeneur myself building a 40ft trimaran yacht with zero experience :) I salute your efforts :)

[@tomrobertson3236]

Here around seattle , they planted trees in abandoned pastures. Most died Forests are fungal Pastures are bacterial They found mixing some forest dirt in the hole , most trees survived

[@Bodg3r]

Your storytelling and quality of dialogue has improved hugely. It used to be difficult to find the time to watch a full video and there was alot of rambling. The last few videos have been consistently on point and moved your story forward. Maybe its a sign that your project is picking up momentum at the same time. All the best, regards from Africa.

[@dustupstexas]

Both. I'm getting better at story telling. But yes, the momentum is also picking up

[@merlin3381]

What I like to do to mix soil conditioners together is use a compost barrel off the ground that spins. Kinda like a cement mixer. Having less strain is more favorable

[@ethandoingstuff1433]

Samuel, amazing work! Keep combining your skills and passions and you’ll be a happy man!

[@martincatoniryan1638]

Shaun I'm still rooting for you can your project! Keep going, I'm certain you'll get there! I hope to , someday, visit! I applaud your enthusiasm and work!

[@mselkee]

I'm watching your progress with great interest. We have been producing about 60 yards of mulch a year on site as part of our land restoration project. Fortunately, we have local access to good base ingredients and have onsite means to chip wood. Several years ago I slpit production piles and inoculated one very heavily (the downwind pile) and ran the other pile as normal. In the end there was no real tangible difference in results, including decomposition temperatures of each pile. A parallel uniocculated control test on your end would be interesting. Fungi, being fungi, makes me suspect my two piles were soon cross contaminated as life seems to always find a way. Good stuff! Thanks.

[@martincatoniryan1638]

samuel, keep working on your animation skills and they 'll get even better! every time that you can, keep learning and improving. Good luck!

[@RTeBokkel]

I have the exact same shovel as you. I use it on the west coast of Canada for gardening. Your son should pursue his love of animation and follow his dreams, just like his Dad did. I work on major motion pictures here in Vancouver as a carpenter. It took me 12 years but I reached my goal and I thank God every day for everything.

[@DaDunge]

Fungi are amazing they have an extraordinary ability to evolve to be symbiotic with plantsthey coexist with.

[@937mike]

Keep going on the animation, Samuel! It looked great, and eve if that's not your future, It helps expand your mind, your skills, and your confidence! Plus you brought a little bit of joy into thousands of people's lives, and that is a huge impact.

[@awildstrongmonappears6770]

I’ve been wondering when mycorrhizae would be discussed on here. Before the pandemic, I was in university for biochemistry, which was inspired by my love of fungi. Happy to see it here.

[@michaele.4702]

One thing you could do is get a solar window airconditioner or some other Paltier device would extract about a gallon of water a day out of the air. Also remember biochar helps a lot but it also increases the breakdown of plant material for the same reasons so expect to feed more into it then is typical.

[@heidilady]

Loving this episode! Im looking to do something similar in NM. I never even thought of fungi and mocrobes. Fungi and cactus silage.. honestly mind blown. 🤯 Great work Sam!

[@keithiebaby100]

Samuel: my son started with Blender open animation software in grade 10. It got him into design, programming, and now he is five years in at Facebook as a designer. Looking forward to your next animation. Go for it!

[@dustupstexas]

Too cool!

[@zabuDFK]

I believe the beneficial microbes you are after prefer an aerobic environment to flourish. Ive seen others brew a compost tea then soak the bio char in order to "charge" it. Basically compost (prickly pear material in your case) +water +molasses. Brewed in a barrel with an aerator/cheap aquarium pump. Love the videos, keep it up!

[@f1bernet]

OUPES are the best. As far as producing and providing the power advertised

[@QuiChiYang2]

My-core-rye-zell - mycorrhizal are saprophytic. Please make sure to charge your biochar with IMO you collect from a flourishing desert environment. Use the river water next to you as a medium for ionic exchange.

[@dustupstexas]

What is IMO?

[@QuiChiYang2]

@dustupstexas Initial Micro Organism. I learned from Steve Cornette- Nature Always Right YT channel. He is big into Korean Natural Farming methods known as JADAM. They teach you how to create abundance in your soil biology. Some of the students from this discipline are pioneering some very effective teraforming methods & procedures. Thank you for posting very educational content. I will be farming on my ancestral lands in the Philippines in 6 months. I hope to document my progress as you do.

[@juncuspatens]

Samuel the animation rocks! Visual storytelling is the thread that binds us, I hope within the year these episodes are populated with your animations as much as dustups is with prickly pear 🌵 🍐

[@jamesdark1]

Good job Samuel! Keep thinking, learning, and animating!

[@ChainsGoldMask]

You're finding many ways to get it done. And you have made progress. You fricken rock dude. 10 years from now when you are laying in shade on the property, rejoice will be abundant.

[@fuzzy3440]

I actually learned something from you. I had always assumed there was no mycorrhizal fungi in the desert and grasslands, only in forests. I was going to post about this, but decided to do a little more research before looking like a halfwit, and it turns out there is mycorrhizal fungi activity in the desert. Thank you for expanding my knowledge.

[@genesmith4642]

Have some land in NM similar to yours and its being used by dirt bike and ATV enthusiasts. Would love to convert the land back to nature. Keep doing what you are.

[@jeffstokeley2664]

It’s cool that we can learn from your videos and the comments as well. A wealth of knowledge between the two.

[@opcn18]

So in the last ~25% of this video along with the thank yous you talk about using admixes and the like to inoculate the biochar and prevent it from pulling nutrients from the soil. How I learned it when I was just getting into permaculture in ~2007 was that it was biochar when you were done with that process, and before that it was just charcoal. Horticultural charcoal is something you can buy off the shelf at a good garden center (or grind up lump wood charcoal for cooking) and it all comes from living matter (mostly wood) but making it something living again is the difference between charcoal and biochar.

[@cjgardenman]

I stumbled over your channel a few weeks ago and am very fascinated about your project. Now that I've arrived at the actual episode I feel confirmed about my idea to work with biochar. Additionally to al the advantages you already mentioned you can produce it very easily on site. You just need dry biomass and a hole in the ground. Maybe you've already heard about a kontiki, which is kind of a bath that you fill with dry biomass in order to make biochar. Additionally you could turn some of your IBCs into wormbins. There you can produce Compost with fresh biomass, cattle manure and even the disposals of your compost-toilet. It's very easy to install and doesn't really need any particular care.

[@centpushups]

Reminds me of the Rez of the Navajo. We have sheep and goats roaming around and eating the dead brush. And of course there is plenty of turds that is released.

[@BullgearRCvideos]

Great to hear biochar is in the plans. Should help to capture a lot of what you're looking for. Also easy to make yourself with a homemade retort kiln. Seen a lot of dry wood laying about while you were raking

[@chelseaananda2831]

I’ve seen several of your animations now Samuel…. They’re amazing!!! Looking forward to the next one!!!

[@markp2085]

Cool to see a 12 year old interested in animation. When I got started in animation back in the 90's, our workstations cost around $30,000. We had a bank of 12 workstations we would use to do a render. How things have changed. Hopefully, you encourage him to continue making animations. OH, and I really enjoy your videos.

[@jmason61]

Excellent as always. What's very cool is how you are talking us along & never act like an expert about this stuff cause it's a learning process. Also you can get a cheap compost/mixer tub thing to save your back. Oh also even the solar generator company looks badass

[@Sharlenwar]

I'm glad you're sharing this project. This is the sort of content that KZbin needs in general. Thanks for what you are doing! I'm inspired to do something similar where I live.

[@cheryllewis-battles7664]

Samuel: How awesome! I enjoyed your presentation. I look forward to seeing more...

[@SuerteDelMolinoFarm]

KISS is the recipe for success. This message should be repeated in every video. Well done.

[@ourrockydreamontheelephant4188]

Yep.

[@beeheart6324]

oh this is so interesting, I love it! Thanks for sharing your journey. I live in the West of Ireland where it's windy, cold and wet a lot. Still, there is a lot to learn about processes: how nature works and how we can learn from her. I love the way you describe your approach of going slow very much! With slowing down we not only can save money, time and energy but we also learn so much more, things can sink in and as you are experiencing now: people are coming to you to assist you with knowledge. Best of luck for everything you are doing! and: wonderful to see your son is involved in this too! ;-)