Turning Scotch Broom into Biochar with 10YKI - Ocean Shores
Come watch invasives & wood waste become something soils love.
Join the 10,000 Years Institute for a biochar demonstration designed for anyone who works with Scotch broom or woody waste material.
You’ll see the kiln in action and observe the burn process up close as you learn how biochar is made, how it improves air quality, how it enhances soil health and fertility, and how it offers a sustainable alternative to pile burning, creating a valuable soil-building amendment for forests & farms.
This is one of three events; others are taking place:
Who should attend
This field experience has been designed for landowners, land managers, farmers, foresters, restoration project sponsors, community advocates, decision makers, and all curious minds.
What you'll Learn
We'll be running at least one Biochar Kiln and have a variety of sizes (from 3 ft to 10ft diameter) on display to provide a biochar production demonstration experience of assembling, loading, lighting, fueling, quenching, raking, and disassembling.
A variety of soil health application approaches will be discussed - come with your questions!
What to wear/bring
We strongly recommend wearing:
a long sleeved shirt and pants made from cotton or wool, as synthetic materials can melt
a hat with a brim with any hair tied back and/or covered
closed toe shoes
And bring a water bottle to stay hydrated!
Schedule
10 am: Arrivals & check-in
Ongoing demonstration & share-outs
1 pm: Break Down & Pack Up
Meet your educator
Korina Stark - in a addition to having created tons and tons of biochar using flame-cap kilns, Korina is Founding Partner at Circular Spring, where she is the Primary Investigator on a USDA Forest Service-funded project to explore Biochar Markets to support small forest landowners. She is Program Director for Biochar On Site, a community of practice focused on on-site biochar production and application. She also manufactures small-scale FlameWise biochar kilns for individual & community use. She and her honey steward 20 acres of forestland in central Washington State, which is how her interest in biochar began. At this demonstration, she’ll lead the discussion, including feedstock preparation, equipment setup, safe operation, and efficient biochar production.
Thank you to...
Jill Silver and the 10,000 Years Institute (10KYI) who catalyzed and spearheaded this demonstration series.
Working across watersheds on the Olympic Peninsula to provide local jobs and protect communities, forests, rivers, coastal dunes, agriculture and communities from invasive Scotch broom and wildfire, 10KYI is building a Conservation Corps program that aims to integrate biochar into a range of local natural resource stewardship practices including watershed restoration, forest thinning, and invasives prevention.
AND a huge thanks to our local partners in this demonstration series: