Re: RE: SCD world kitchen composter

[Guest guest]

,

I prefer just to bury it after it has sat a while in the composter.

When I have to keep it sitting around in a bucket, I put some stale

dry bread or other absorbent organic matter in the bottom -- I figure

that will absorb the liquid. I have no idea if that is the best way

to do it, but it seems to work just fine for me. The main thing is to

keep air away as much as possible, I think.

Irma

On Thu, 3 Mar 2005 22:05:42 -0500, Pugh <labradors@...> wrote:

>

> I'm very excited about this kitchen composter and would like to make my own.

>

> I understand the concept with a wire grid to stop the veggie matter from

mixing with the liquid that collects at the bottom and needs to be drained off.

However, I'm a bit confused as to how it works as I would have thought it would

need to be immersed in water.....

>

> If it has to be left alone for 2 weeks, I can see transferring it to a bucket,

but does it still need to be drained at this point?

>

> I'm used to an aerobic composter......

>

> Cheers,

> and the K9's

[Guest guest]

From what I gather from my various gardening books and online

resources. It's ALL good!

The liquid is rich in available/soluble nutrients.

It is potent and may be too acidic to use directly on/around certain

plants. Azalea's, Rhododendrons and other acid lovers will love it

though.

The solid matter is also rich in nutrients that are released more

slowly as they further decompose. With compost it is most important

that you do not use it for planting until it is no longer " HOT " .

Large piles attain inner temps well above 125F when active. If this is

used on plants prematurely it will burn them. Not necessarily a burn

from heat, but from the toxic immature compost. (I have much more to

learn myself concerning the details here)

The composting buckets are great for harvesting compost tea and if

you don't have a place to build an outdoor pile.

Composting is a whole other realm of culture maintaince. I am very

proud of my sweet smelling end product of rich, ready compost. It

takes a bit of work but it is very satisfying to strive for everyday

" Perma-culture " .

Take Care,

Beau

On Fri, 4 Mar 2005 14:52:17 -0500, Pugh <labradors@...> wrote:

>

> Hi Irma,

>

> >I prefer just to bury it after it has sat a while in the composter.

> When I have to keep it sitting around in a bucket, I put some stale

> dry bread or other absorbent organic matter in the bottom -- I figure

> that will absorb the liquid. I have no idea if that is the best way

> to do it, but it seems to work just fine for me. The main thing is to

> keep air away as much as possible, I think.

>

> Thanks for the info. You could also use newspaper to absorb the liquid, and

it will degrade fine.

>

> I wonder if I am missing the point and it's the liquid that is the good stuff?

>

> and the K9's

>

>

[Guest guest]

>Composting is a whole other realm of culture maintaince. I am very

>proud of my sweet smelling end product of rich, ready compost. It

>takes a bit of work but it is very satisfying to strive for everyday

> " Perma-culture " .

>Take Care,

>Beau

Another great kind of composting (albeit with a bigger organism)

is a worm bin. You get this great dark mulch, plus lots of worms

to feed chickens, or to go fishing with! It took me awhile to get

into it, but it's really easy (albeit it pretty much has to be outside: some

folks DO have them indoors though). The only trick I came up with: don't put

onions or citrus in with the worms. They really don't like those. They handle

anything else. Worm bins are also great places to sprout seeds, carrot tops,

whatever.

Heidi Jean

[Guest guest]

Oh Heidi...

...I can't wait to do that! I think we'll be setting up the bin asap!

Since you brought it up, might you have any suggestions as to where I

get the worms? " Redworms " are'nt they?

We have plenty of area near the compost pile for a good sized worm

bin. At one time I was culturing three different types of

nematode/worms and one variety of flightless fruit-fly, to feed our

little Cichlid fry (baby African freshwater fish) when we were

" culturing " fish.

All of those fit into a cabinet, so I am very excited to " GO BIG " with

some garden worms, that's more like it!

We happen to have chickens also and I do have fun tossing them a few

worms when I'm digging in the garden, the more worms the better.

So you mentioned sprouting seeds...in the worm bin? Right in there?

On Fri, 04 Mar 2005 19:16:49 -0800, Heidi Schuppenhauer

<heidis@...> wrote:

>

>

> >Composting is a whole other realm of culture maintaince. I am very

> >proud of my sweet smelling end product of rich, ready compost. It

> >takes a bit of work but it is very satisfying to strive for everyday

> > " Perma-culture " .

> >Take Care,

> >Beau

>

> Another great kind of composting (albeit with a bigger organism)

> is a worm bin. You get this great dark mulch, plus lots of worms

> to feed chickens, or to go fishing with! It took me awhile to get

> into it, but it's really easy (albeit it pretty much has to be outside: some

> folks DO have them indoors though). The only trick I came up with: don't put

> onions or citrus in with the worms. They really don't like those. They handle

> anything else. Worm bins are also great places to sprout seeds, carrot tops,

whatever.

>

> Heidi Jean

>

>

>

>

[Guest guest]

> might you have any suggestions as to where I

> get the worms? " Redworms " are'nt they?

http://www.google.ca/search?num=100 & hl=en & q=vermicomposting+worms & meta

[Guest guest]

>Oh Heidi...

>...I can't wait to do that! I think we'll be setting up the bin asap!

>Since you brought it up, might you have any suggestions as to where I

>get the worms? " Redworms " are'nt they?

My local hardware store had them ... now they don't. Call around? They are

difficult to keep in a store ...

they eat too much ...

>We have plenty of area near the compost pile for a good sized worm

>bin. At one time I was culturing three different types of

>nematode/worms and one variety of flightless fruit-fly, to feed our

>little Cichlid fry (baby African freshwater fish) when we were

> " culturing " fish.

Wow! Well, redworms will be easy then.

>All of those fit into a cabinet, so I am very excited to " GO BIG " with

>some garden worms, that's more like it!

>We happen to have chickens also and I do have fun tossing them a few

>worms when I'm digging in the garden, the more worms the better.

Yeah, it IS fun tossing them LOTS of worms. The worms mulitiply amazingly.

>So you mentioned sprouting seeds...in the worm bin? Right in there?

I haven't tried seeds, but any bits of potato or carrot you throw in WILL

sprout.

The author of " worms eat my garbage " said the wormbin is the BEST place

to sprout things. I'd guess seeds too, but seeds are so easy to sprout I

don't know that I'd bother.

Heidi Jean

[Guest guest]

Hi Bruce,

I know you have a huge green thumb so I was wondering what your

opinion was regarding aerobic vs. anerobic composting...

The SCD compost bin that is used with the " Bokashi " EM soil is

anerobic with a tight fitting lid, whereas these " compost tea

brewers " >

http://www.acmewormfarm.com/compostbrewers.html

....come with a blender that constantly stirs and aerates the contents.

Here is what they say:

" SoilSoup's compost tea brewers use a device called a Bio-Blender

that continually infuses air into the tea while stirring it, and come

with a nutrient solution to feed the microorganisms. Beneficial

bacteria, fungi, protozoa, and nematodes are extracted from the worm

castings. During brewing, there will be a huge increase in fungal

biomass, and an almost unbelievable increase in bacterial populations.

By the end of the brewing cycle, bacteria populations will have grown

to more than one billion per teaspoon. "

So what the heck? I want to make one of these to throw my spoiled or

failed ferments into with the hopes of brewing some super compost tea.

But I don't know what would be better an aerated compost brewer or an

anerobic one?

Your opinion sir?

Thanks,

Beau

On Sun, 6 Mar 2005 20:57:47 -0700, Bruce Stordock <stordock@...> wrote:

>

> > might you have any suggestions as to where I

> > get the worms? " Redworms " are'nt they?

>

> http://www.google.ca/search?num=100 & hl=en & q=vermicomposting+worms & meta

>

>

>

>

[Guest guest]

[beau] I want to make one of these to throw my spoiled or failed ferments into

with the hopes of brewing some super compost tea. But I don't know what would be

better an aerated compost brewer or an anerobic one? [/beau]

Hiya Beau, I was wondering the same thing sort of. My question is would adding

a failed/questionable vegetable ferment to the bokashi would be a problem? If

undesirable organisms proliferated in the failed/questionable ferment, would

that hinder the organisms in the bokashi?

One of the points on the " helpful tips " instructions that came with the

composter reads " Only add fresh garbage to your compost bucket, reduce moistue

content as much as possible (wring dry). Never add rotten or moldy wastes " .

So, where would failed/questionable vegetable ferments fall?

---Carol

[Guest guest]

> Hi Bruce,

> I know you have a huge green thumb so I was wondering what your

> opinion was regarding aerobic vs. anaerobic composting...

> The SCD compost bin that is used with the " Bokashi " EM soil is

> anaerobic with a tight fitting lid, where as these " compost tea

> brewers " come with a blender that constantly stirs and aerates the contents.

> http://www.acmewormfarm.com/compostbrewers.html

Hi Beau,

I'm sure you realize that the compost tea brewer is sold for making a nutrient

tea from finished compost not for doing the composting process in.

Your idea of using it for processing old fermentation products in is an

interesting one. I'm sure it has merit and would be an interesting experiment.

> I want to make one of these to throw my spoiled or

> failed ferments into with the hopes of brewing some super compost tea.

> But I don't know what would be better an aerated compost brewer or an

> anaerobic one?

> Your opinion sir?

I have always thought that in general aerobic composts were nicer. Though

regular compost piles decompose under both aerobic and anaerobic conditions at

different times in the process.

A predominately anaerobic process can produce some interesting odors in my

experience. We had neighbours when I was young that had a compost box that was

made of made 2X8 lumber low to the ground and covered tightly with black

plastic. The process was definitely anaerobic and the end product was smelly and

of an unpleasant wet sticky texture. If you have ever smelled pig manure you

have smelled exactly what it smelled like. I think that in general aerobic

processes are less odorous.

In general anaerobic composting techniques leave a very different end product

from aerobic methods. Generally the structure of the material is broken down

more with less humus and structure being present.

Methane digesters are a good example of anaerobic processes.

The SCD kitchen composter doesn't really sound like it actually makes anything

that is really too compost like. They say it " pickles " the vegetable scraps

which to me sounds like a process that creates an acidic mixture of vegetable

material with little actual breakdown of the material, though I suppose it could

become mushy if that sort of bacteria took over. Likely the material produced

would require significant additional breakdown still before it would be reduced

to a form where it was able to be taken up by plants.

I suppose the biggest advantages of the " Bokashi " method would be in controlling

odor and not having to empty the container very often.

I do think worm composting is an excellent idea and have always wanted to try

it. Conditions in the soil where vegetable materials are broken down as part of

the seasonal cycle of growth and decomposition are naturally aerobic conditions.

regards, Bruce