Super-Compost at Missouri Organic Recycling
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David Yarrow
Mar 26, 2017, 2:03:03 PM3/26/17
to Growing Growers Discussion List, kpc...@googlegroups.com, bio...@yahoogroups.com
January 30, we built our first experimental windrow at Missouri Organic to see if we can produce a higher quality compost. Since then, we have steadily watched our windrow to understand how the transformation of biomass into compost is progressing, and how to improve our management of the operation. We have learned a lot, and remain confident we have a sound recipe to create a "premium" compost.
WINDROW INSPECTION, 2nd week: sub-freezing, with brisk wind. I started near the middle of the 300-foot windrow, and began to explore its inner contents. Carefully brushing aside a few inches of brown mulch, I exposed windrow surfaces – visibly darker gray, and solid, coated with contrasting white fuzz of fungi. Already, fungi had grown 150 feet through the windrow from opposite ends where inoculant was applied, and were now growing inwards to digest the plant biomass.
I scooped over two dozen holes 6-inch-deep into the windrow at 10-foot intervals to examine conditions inside. Faint steam misted from the interior as microbe digestion heats the biomass. Deep inside, the windrow generated ample heat to sustain vigorous microbe activity. However, outer inches of biomass and mulch were cooler, with few signs of active digestion and decay.
Microbe activity varied a lot, suggested an uneven start. In a few areas, biomass was packed too tight, and coated with clay, resulting in poor air infiltration and mostly anaerobic digestion. Parts of the windrow need to be opened to aerate the interior and improve microbial action.
Many areas felt dry; the biomass seemed thirsty, in need of more water. A few areas were definitely too dry. Living cells are 90+% water, and a prime purpose of fungi is to pump water through whisker-thin tubes of hyphae. A cup of healthy soil has miles of mycelium, mostly made of water. So, water is a primary, critical limit on microbe growth. Water shortage in our windrow was serious enough to weaken microbe activity, retard fungi growth, slow biomass digestion.
Kevin agreed the windrow needs water, and to wet it and turn it again. While it’s best to not disturb fungi and their networks, it’s urgent to get more water inside to feed their proliferation. If conditions inside are optimum, with abundant water and food, fungi will recover quickly to regrow their networks. Turning can also open and aerate the biomass for faster digestion.
THIRD INSPECTION: The next week was the worst weather yet: heavy overcast, near-freezing, nearly rain, stiff wind blowing over fresh windows full of fermenting bacteria outgasing acids and other irritating aerosols. I endured the distress long enough to dig half-dozen holes in the windrow.
Surface layers were still cool, suggesting minimal microbe activity. But three inches deep, biomass got warm, with lots of heat deeper. All biomass surfaces were covered in white fungal fuzz. Inside, the windrow is warm, teeming with life.
Weather made serious inquiry impossible, but I noted no strong odor from holes in our windrow – another sign a different compost is taking shape under the plain brown mulch. Instead of outgassing volatile, reactive chemicals, nutrients are being fixed and retained, thanks to biochar, alkali minerals, clay, and fungi.
ADDING WATER & TURNING: Two weeks later, water was added and the windrow turned. Wednesday, March 1, Kevin and his men attempted to mix a large volume of water into an even larger volume of biomass. The tank truck and hose used to make the windrow didn’t deliver enough water; at least three times more is needed. Now, a larger pump fed water to large PVC pipe on a simple boom arm, with three outlets to splatter water on top of the windrow.
Truck tank was filled with pond water, with wood vinegar, sea minerals and humic acid added to boost electrolytes and stimulate microbes. The truck crept beside the windrow, just ahead of the ahead of the turner. The larger pipe delivered nice streams of water, but was hard to aim or control, and synchronizing turner with truck proved awkward and messy. Mulch cover tended to shed water, so if truck stopped or slowed, water quickly puddled, then washed off the windrow onto the ground, carrying mulch and some windrow with it.
After a pass down and back with water truck and turner, we agreed our windrow was still thirsty, needed more water to support a vigorous fungi bloom. So, the tank was pumped full again, and truck and turner made another pass down and back, this time with smoother coordination and success, but still clumsy, with poor flow control.
FOURTH INSPECTION: Two weeks later, i gently swept away brown mulch to expose windrow surface, then scooped out half-dozen 6-inch-deep holes to reveal thick growth of white mycelium. Inside, every biomass bit was ghostly grey as fungi surrounded and encased it. This was the explosion of fungi I expected to see four weeks ago eating the biomass. Seemed our watering and turning was a success to boost digestion.
I stuck my hand way in, forced fingers deeper into warm, wet biomass. It felt far softer, less tight than a month ago. Heat from digestive fires in the interior was so intense, I had to pull back my fingers. In seven more weeks, biomass composting should be complete, and stable humus complexes formed.
OUR FIRST WINDROW WILL BE READY to distribute in April, probably after the 15th, since our windrow got off to a cold, dry, slow start. Samples will be sent to labs for chemical and biological analysis. We’ll do quick tests with seedling trays, and start long-term test plots outdoors with different crops to evaluate effects of our new compost.
Distributing portions of our first windrow is expected to begin May 1. Kevin Anderson asks a modest $44.95/cubic yard – barely more than production costs. Growers who want to test our first effort at a premium product should contact Joel Adams. We are looking for growers willing to allocate test plots to conduct simple side-by-side comparison trials.
WINDROW INSPECTION, 2nd week: sub-freezing, with brisk wind. I started near the middle of the 300-foot windrow, and began to explore its inner contents. Carefully brushing aside a few inches of brown mulch, I exposed windrow surfaces – visibly darker gray, and solid, coated with contrasting white fuzz of fungi. Already, fungi had grown 150 feet through the windrow from opposite ends where inoculant was applied, and were now growing inwards to digest the plant biomass.
I scooped over two dozen holes 6-inch-deep into the windrow at 10-foot intervals to examine conditions inside. Faint steam misted from the interior as microbe digestion heats the biomass. Deep inside, the windrow generated ample heat to sustain vigorous microbe activity. However, outer inches of biomass and mulch were cooler, with few signs of active digestion and decay.
Microbe activity varied a lot, suggested an uneven start. In a few areas, biomass was packed too tight, and coated with clay, resulting in poor air infiltration and mostly anaerobic digestion. Parts of the windrow need to be opened to aerate the interior and improve microbial action.
Many areas felt dry; the biomass seemed thirsty, in need of more water. A few areas were definitely too dry. Living cells are 90+% water, and a prime purpose of fungi is to pump water through whisker-thin tubes of hyphae. A cup of healthy soil has miles of mycelium, mostly made of water. So, water is a primary, critical limit on microbe growth. Water shortage in our windrow was serious enough to weaken microbe activity, retard fungi growth, slow biomass digestion.
Kevin agreed the windrow needs water, and to wet it and turn it again. While it’s best to not disturb fungi and their networks, it’s urgent to get more water inside to feed their proliferation. If conditions inside are optimum, with abundant water and food, fungi will recover quickly to regrow their networks. Turning can also open and aerate the biomass for faster digestion.
THIRD INSPECTION: The next week was the worst weather yet: heavy overcast, near-freezing, nearly rain, stiff wind blowing over fresh windows full of fermenting bacteria outgasing acids and other irritating aerosols. I endured the distress long enough to dig half-dozen holes in the windrow.
Surface layers were still cool, suggesting minimal microbe activity. But three inches deep, biomass got warm, with lots of heat deeper. All biomass surfaces were covered in white fungal fuzz. Inside, the windrow is warm, teeming with life.
Weather made serious inquiry impossible, but I noted no strong odor from holes in our windrow – another sign a different compost is taking shape under the plain brown mulch. Instead of outgassing volatile, reactive chemicals, nutrients are being fixed and retained, thanks to biochar, alkali minerals, clay, and fungi.
ADDING WATER & TURNING: Two weeks later, water was added and the windrow turned. Wednesday, March 1, Kevin and his men attempted to mix a large volume of water into an even larger volume of biomass. The tank truck and hose used to make the windrow didn’t deliver enough water; at least three times more is needed. Now, a larger pump fed water to large PVC pipe on a simple boom arm, with three outlets to splatter water on top of the windrow.
Truck tank was filled with pond water, with wood vinegar, sea minerals and humic acid added to boost electrolytes and stimulate microbes. The truck crept beside the windrow, just ahead of the ahead of the turner. The larger pipe delivered nice streams of water, but was hard to aim or control, and synchronizing turner with truck proved awkward and messy. Mulch cover tended to shed water, so if truck stopped or slowed, water quickly puddled, then washed off the windrow onto the ground, carrying mulch and some windrow with it.
After a pass down and back with water truck and turner, we agreed our windrow was still thirsty, needed more water to support a vigorous fungi bloom. So, the tank was pumped full again, and truck and turner made another pass down and back, this time with smoother coordination and success, but still clumsy, with poor flow control.
FOURTH INSPECTION: Two weeks later, i gently swept away brown mulch to expose windrow surface, then scooped out half-dozen 6-inch-deep holes to reveal thick growth of white mycelium. Inside, every biomass bit was ghostly grey as fungi surrounded and encased it. This was the explosion of fungi I expected to see four weeks ago eating the biomass. Seemed our watering and turning was a success to boost digestion.
I stuck my hand way in, forced fingers deeper into warm, wet biomass. It felt far softer, less tight than a month ago. Heat from digestive fires in the interior was so intense, I had to pull back my fingers. In seven more weeks, biomass composting should be complete, and stable humus complexes formed.
OUR FIRST WINDROW WILL BE READY to distribute in April, probably after the 15th, since our windrow got off to a cold, dry, slow start. Samples will be sent to labs for chemical and biological analysis. We’ll do quick tests with seedling trays, and start long-term test plots outdoors with different crops to evaluate effects of our new compost.
Distributing portions of our first windrow is expected to begin May 1. Kevin Anderson asks a modest $44.95/cubic yard – barely more than production costs. Growers who want to test our first effort at a premium product should contact Joel Adams. We are looking for growers willing to allocate test plots to conduct simple side-by-side comparison trials.
for a green & peaceful planet,
david yarrow
Super-Compost
$44.95 per cubic yard
20% grower discount
to collaborate in simple field trial
side-by-side comparison plots
to get a yard of Super-Compost
Joel Adams
Green Frontier Soils
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