(Transcript from video)

Courtney Brooke:  Good Morning Leon. What are you doing?

Leon: We are mulching. You take the cover crop and we’re spreading it out so no weeds will grow through. And no sun will hit the ground. And we’re gonna move this greenhouse onto it. Then plant some ginger.

Courtney Brooke:  Wow.

Leon: It will get nice and hot in there and it will get watered everyday by a little spray system. Hopefully grow pretty fast.

Courtney Brooke:  Wow that’s really thick mulch, huh?

Leon: Yeah, it’s thick mulch and it grew right in this spot. Take a closeup. Here’s where it grew. Take a closup!

Courtney Brooke:  You know what, hold on a sec. Yeah, this is amazing. It’s such a feeling in the body of wealth.

Leon: Of which?

Courtney Brooke:  Wealth?

Leon: Wealth.

Courtney Brooke:  When there’s this much mulch. It’s just so clear that we are rich. What’s he doing? What’s he doing?

Leon: Oh.I think you’re just feeling the diverse life that is here.

Courtney Brooke:  That’s the wealth feeling?

Leon: Maybe that’s what you mean when you are wealthy. Ok, perfect. This is the soil. Get a closeup.

The post Mulching with Leon from Full Circle Farm at Earthaven Ecovillage appeared first on Earthaven Ecovillage.

(Transcript from video)

Courtney Brooke: What are you doing, Uncle Zev?

Zev: I’m admiring this cover crop that Eli put down with veggie ladies. And Daikon’s flowering with all of their, so many insects, bumblebees and honeybees and little parasitic wasps and stuff, into their flowers.

Courtney Brooke: These are the daikon’s!

Zev: And these Austrian winter peas that are yummy. In fact I think I’ll have one right now. Mmmm.

Courtney Brooke: What’s it taste?

Zev: It tastes like nutty sweet freshness. And um and then rye in there. It’s a nice mix.

Courtney Brooke: This is the rye.

Zev: Daikons dig deep down and create channels of organic matter and air and water getting down into the soil and make a food source the daikon radishes.

Courtney Brooke: It’s probably hard to see but I can see just hundreds of pollinators on here right now.

Zev: Yeah it’s amazing. And the grass makes a bunch of biomass, that rye does. And the peas fix nitrogen and improve the soil that way. Yeah really nice.

Courtney Brooke: Hallelujah for cover crop!

Zev: Hallelujah for cover crop!

The post Tour of the Cover Crop Mix with Zev at Earthaven Ecovillage appeared first on Earthaven Ecovillage.

About ten years ago, many of us watched a YouTube documentary called The Secret of Eldorado and got wildly excited about the possibilities of biochar.

Biochar is a kind of charcoal made by burning carbon in a way that produces a stable amendment to increase soil health. There are exciting studies going on about how it can be used to mitigate climate change.

We’re experimenting with it on a very small scale. You can learn more about it in this video featuring my dear friends Courtney Brooke, Dimitri, and Zev.

You can learn how to make biochar at Earthaven Ecovillage Experience Week in June. We hope to see you here.

The post Making Biochar appeared first on Earthaven Ecovillage.