Making biochar for small farms in the southwest. People have told me to use biochar for years. It can improve water quality, increase soil fertility and raise agricultural productivity. The reason I am just barely testing it out is, areas that have low rainfall often have alkaline soil. Biochar is also alkaline and I was always concerned that I would create a soil with PH that was too basic to be beneficial to the plants. I always explained that once I added enough organic matter to my soil it should become more neutral at which time I would experiment with biochar. Well today is the day. I tested my water, native soil, compost and biochar to show you guys how the soil and levels change.