May I ask what is biochar? And how does an oil distiller work, is it easy to use? Please forgive my interjection of newbiness. Very cool toys my dear.
Thank you and everyone in advance for the replies. KiG
No problem Snidrajsed. Ask anything. To answer your biochar question I borrowed a post Conradino shared on his outdoor journal last year. Let me preface this by explaining that biochar is burnt organic matter produced under controlled conditions (smoldering and oxygen-deprived).
"My Land Institute colleague Tim Crews, whose ecology research focuses on soil nutrient cycles, says biochar has two primary agricultural benefits: improving soil “tilth” (its physical condition, which affects plant growth) and increasing the soil’s capacity to retain nutrients and make them available to plant roots. “Biochar is not,” he stresses, “a significant source of nutrients itself.” If nitrogen, or phosphorus, or other essential elements are deficient in a soil, incorporating bichar into the soil won’t add enough of those nutrients to make a difference. But for certain types of soils that don’t hold onto nutrients or water very well, biochar can help.
Addition of biochar improves soil tilth and nutrient-holding capacity, according to Crews, only when it's in the technique’s “original context.” The practice was first used millennia ago to improve heavily weathered tropical soils in the Amazon basin. “There,” says Crews, “years and years of slash-and-burn cropping cycles, with long periods for regrowth of natural vegetation between episodes of burning and tillage, added charcoal that persisted in the soil for a very long time. Not just any old kind of charcoal-making will result in such durability, so it must have been done with some insight; the burning must have been done with a smoldering fire in an oxygen-deprived situation, which is required to make ‘good’ biochar.” And it was done again and again and again. Over the centuries, that charred plant material was incorporated into the soil and has remained there.
In those very old, weathered, acidic, iron and aluminum-rich soils with often low organic matter—known as Ultisols and Oxisols —the addition of biochar brought significantly better crop growth, because the soils were better able to retain essential nutrients until the crops needed them. Those soil types are found throughout the tropics, but in the United States they are common only in parts of the Southeast. Most soils in temperate latitudes were rejuvenated in relatively recent geological history by glaciers “rototilling” the Earth. These soils retain nutrients very well without any amendments like biochar."
My joy is in knowing I'm increasing the nutrient storage capacity of my soil.
As to the distiller: a steadily increasing group of us are making our own concentrated cannabis oil to help our bodies return to homeostasis. I mean seriously, cannabinoids
kill cancer cells and have no adverse side effects. Why is this not the headline on every paper and every news story out there? Sorry - it makes me a little nuts. Watch someone you love .......... Yeah.
We as a group recently discovered these tabletop essential oil and water distillers that make the job of producing CCO easier and allows for the reclamation of some of the solvent, one of the more expensive components of the process.
I have yet to make my first batch of CCO, but now I'm one step closer. I was thankful that this discovery of the distillers occurred right before I was preparing to purchase all the other equipment this unit replaces.
The pots are all ready to go.
The auto tent
Future occupants.
The photo tent.
Future occupants.
The tiny closet.
Its future inhabitant (the Dark Devil Auto). Let's see what that Vero 240 can do with my favorite strain.
Everything's about ready to go. Think I'll take myself out to dinner and swing through Target on the way home with a new tote for drenches and some small fans to hang in the grow spaces. Pots have been thoroughly watered with a light TransWater and the seedlings got a nice spritz of Destress and a thorough watering. Let everything sit overnight and transplant first thing in the morning.
I've been so busy I've yet to get Callanetics in.
I simply must take time tonight. It keeps me emotionally stable too, and today's been one of those days where grief keeps trying to blindside me. Geez, it's got to get easier guys. I work right through it now, a good sign, and I'm happy with how it's going, but it wearies me. I've come a long way though, so let's grab onto those positives, eh?
And right now, standing here and surveying my little kingdom with the smell of fresh brownies filling the apartment, life is pretty darned sweet. Tomorrow I turn on the big lights and the filtration system and zip the tents up. .
Let me have that evening brownie and get to dinner.
And it's white!!
I have a Dorm Grow 450 in reserve, so I can get both tents going. I'm still wrapping my head around the embarrassment of light riches I'm blessed with.
but I will give it a shot. The distiller will reclaim about 80% of your solvent. You still need to finish the last part and decarb it on your induction top or what ever cook top you are using. On a chart I saw (I will have to find it. I sure Sue has it somewhere in her archives 
) most of the terpenes remain in tact. Most of them evaporate at temps over 250 degrees. There are only a couple that are below that. Hope this helps. 
I knew it was there somewhere and if I saw it, I knew Sue saved it!!! 
I'll have you know I just got the ability to give reps back and you, my dear, are the very first recipient. 
