The municipal composting ope
ration at Fallbrook, California makes clever use of this method
to produce a smaller amount of high
-
grade product out of a larger quantity of low
-
grade
ingredients. Mixtures of sewage sludge and municipal solid waste are first composted and after
cooling,
the half
-
done high C/N compost is shallowly spread out over crude worm beds and kept
moist. More crude compost is added as the worms consume the waste, much like a household
worm box. The worm beds gradually rise. The lower portion of these mounds is pure
castings
while the worm activity stays closer to the surface where food is available. When the beds have
grown to about three feet tall, the surface few inches containing worms and undigested food are
scraped off and used to form new vermicomposting beds.
The castings below are considered
finished compost. By laboratory analysis, the castings contain three or four times as much
nitrogen as the crude compost being fed to the worms.
The marketplace gives an excellent indicator of the difference betwee
n their crude compost
and the worm casts. Even though Fallbrook is surrounded by large acreages devoted to citrus
orchards and row crop vegetables, the municipality has a difficult time disposing of the crude
product. But their vermicompost is in strong de
mand.
Medicinal herbs, kitchen herbs, perennial edibles and berries: https://mountainherbs.net/ grown in the Blue Mountains, Australia
"The highest function of ecology is the understanding of consequences."
"Cultivate gratitude; hand out seed packets"
A human being should be able to change a diaper, plan an invasion, butcher a hog, conn a ship, design a building, write a sonnet, balance accounts, build a wall, set a bone, comfort the dying, take orders, give orders, cooperate, act alone, solve equations, analyze a new problem, pitch manure, program a computer, cook a tasty meal, fight efficiently, die gallantly. Specialization is for insects.
-Robert A. Heinlein
Medicinal herbs, kitchen herbs, perennial edibles and berries: https://mountainherbs.net/ grown in the Blue Mountains, Australia
Medicinal herbs, kitchen herbs, perennial edibles and berries: https://mountainherbs.net/ grown in the Blue Mountains, Australia
And then we all jump out and yell "surprise! we got you this tiny ad!"
the permaculture bootcamp in winter (plus half-assed holidays)
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