I first heard about this from listing to Graham Hancock, the mysterious super fertile soil from the Amazon.
From wiki https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Terra_preta
I went far down the rabbit hole on this and made the soil myself. Got all the ingredients, charcoal, bones, broken pottery, compost and manure. Ended up doing allot soil experiments over the years. Maybe this will just be the thread for gardening tips, there is allot I can share.
A rate of 1 centimeter a year is rather poor. I got 6-8 inches in one spot I roughly measured over 2 years, 3-4 inches per year, but it depends where I dig. Planning to do some gardening tomorrow if health allows and will do a proper job at measuring.
Will post recipes and so on as time allows, what I found is more than charcoal and broken pottery or whatever else; the most important ingredient is the little critters that works the soil. If you want your garden to die and get weeds, use chemicals and be forever trapped in their use. Weeds is an interesting topic in itself.
Here you can see some little dudes at work sorting out an old apple, churning it into the ground. A thin layer of mulch is required, it protects the soil from harsh elements, keeps it moist and provide food and homes for critters.
![[Image: Screenshot%202025-10-10%20111227.png]](https://denyignorance.com/uploader/images/Screenshot%202025-10-10%20111227.png)
Don't get fooled and buy expansive 1000% poor grade carbon, biochar or whatever that is maximized and otherwise, is just a "scam". Sure it works, but so does your leftovers from the BBQ.
The soil I got to work with is pretty poor, aeolian sand, windblow from marine origin. It's all black now and sticky, portably mostly from bugshit, the plants love it so who cares.
"David The Good" had a couple of interesting vids on the process he followed.
From wiki https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Terra_preta
Quote:Terra preta owes its characteristic black color to its weathered charcoal content,[2] and was made by adding a mixture of charcoal, bones, broken pottery, compost and manure to the low fertility Amazonian soil. A product of indigenous Amazonian soil management and slash-and-char agriculture,[3] the charcoal is stable and remains in the soil for thousands of years, binding and retaining minerals and nutrients.[4][5]
Terra preta soils were created by farming communities between 450 BCE and 950 CE.[10][11][12] Soil depths can reach 2 meters (6.6 ft). It is reported to regenerate itself at the rate of 1 centimeter (0.4 in) per year.[13]
I went far down the rabbit hole on this and made the soil myself. Got all the ingredients, charcoal, bones, broken pottery, compost and manure. Ended up doing allot soil experiments over the years. Maybe this will just be the thread for gardening tips, there is allot I can share.
A rate of 1 centimeter a year is rather poor. I got 6-8 inches in one spot I roughly measured over 2 years, 3-4 inches per year, but it depends where I dig. Planning to do some gardening tomorrow if health allows and will do a proper job at measuring.
Will post recipes and so on as time allows, what I found is more than charcoal and broken pottery or whatever else; the most important ingredient is the little critters that works the soil. If you want your garden to die and get weeds, use chemicals and be forever trapped in their use. Weeds is an interesting topic in itself.
Here you can see some little dudes at work sorting out an old apple, churning it into the ground. A thin layer of mulch is required, it protects the soil from harsh elements, keeps it moist and provide food and homes for critters.
Don't get fooled and buy expansive 1000% poor grade carbon, biochar or whatever that is maximized and otherwise, is just a "scam". Sure it works, but so does your leftovers from the BBQ.
The soil I got to work with is pretty poor, aeolian sand, windblow from marine origin. It's all black now and sticky, portably mostly from bugshit, the plants love it so who cares.
"David The Good" had a couple of interesting vids on the process he followed.
