Gardening with biochar

First book in French on the subject

The richest soils in the world are the "black earth" of the Amazon, or terra preta. Its ancient inhabitants incorporated a particular form of charcoal there, known as "biochar." Simply adding this powder of carbonized plant matter, produced in the presence of very little oxygen and inoculated with microorganisms, to your soil will improve its structure, reduce the need for fertilizers, mitigate the effects of toxic metals, stimulate plant growth by storing water and nutrients, and increase microbial biodiversity.

Furthermore, its controlled production is not only very low-polluting but also contributes to carbon sequestration in soils. Jeff Cox teaches you about biochar, how to use it effectively, and even how to produce it yourself, step by step, in your garden or in a stove. And for those who want to take things further, they'll find instructions for building the ultimate biochar stove.

The author
Jeff Cox is the author of twenty-one books on gardening, cooking, and wine. He was the editor of Organic Gardening magazine and contributes to Horticulture magazine, where he writes a regular column on the science of gardening.