On June 23rd we held our first Webinar on the topic: Nutrient cycle with kitchen waste in the city?, as part of the Zero-Waste Salon. We had the chance to present our experiences from our Terra Preta project in Pankow with thirty interested listeners. Afterwards many of them asked us a lot of questions, which we were glad to answer.
We appreciated all the feedback that many of you sent us. This Webinar has been a great experience for us! We learned a lot and we have so many ideas how to improve for the next time.
We are not able to announce a date for another webinar, but we are committed to offer more webinars in the future!
For some of the questions that were asked during the webinar you can find answers below.
Do you put cooked food into your Terra Preta? What about meat and bread? Doesn’t this attract rats?
Small amounts of cooked food, meat as well as bread are allowed in our Terra Preta. The fermentation process makes the kitchen waste unattractive for vermin. During our project in Pankow we had no issues with rats and other animals at all.
Where can I get biochar?
There are a lot of biochar retailers on the internet. The most important thing is that you look for certified biochar that is suitable for gardening and does not contain any toxic residues! These products are called biochar or bio charcoal.
Can I use ashes from the stove instead of buying charcoal ?
No you can not, there are often pieces of charcoal in the ashes but it is not the same.
Ash is not suitable for Terra Preta but can be used to clean pots and pans. If you have a fireplace at home you can produce small amounts of charcoal by yourself.
Put dry woody material in a sealable can. Close the lid and leave it in the fireplace when you go to sleep. You don’t need to have a big fire, low heat is enough. On the next day you will have a small portion of charcoal in the can, enough for one day. If you establish this as a daily habit, you can always produce charcoal at home without buying.
In the pictures you can see how Ayumi used this method in India.
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(German)
