As an avid aquaponic gardener I find myself with more waste from trimming, harvesting and ultimately eating my veggies and fruits. Organic waste, as I see it, is in itself a resource that can be used as an input for another cycle in a biosystem so composting was a no brainer. Our composter setup was made using the rejected frame for solar panels, a 55 gallon barrel, and some old longboard trucks and wheels to allow the rotation the compost in the bin. This is all secondary to a few features that let me harvest black soldier flies (BSF). First of all, the 55 gallon barrel has two ~1" diameter holes on the top that allow BSF adults to lay their eggs in the rich compost. After adding some burst cantaloupes and watermelon rinds to the compost I can expect to have about 2 cups of BSF larvae easily picked from the top of the pile in a day or two. There are far easier methods of compost farming BSF on the web that can use the BSF's natural movement to autoharvest bigger quantities, but since I don't need more than 2 cups every other day and don't mind the 10 minutes it takes to pick out the larvae I just work with what I have.
On top of the BSF, which make excellent feed for our fish, a finished batch of compost can be used to make a powerful compost tea foliar spray. Our process consists of taking a 5 gallon bucket, a pillowcase filled with about 1-2 (~1 kg) of finished and mature compost, One ounce of unsulphured organic molasses, and an air compressor with air stones for aeration. We simply steep the compost in the molasses water mixture while adding copious amount of aeration to cultivate beneficial aerobic bacteria and prevent harmful anaerobes from rotting the mixture and causing a stink. The aerobic brewing lasts for 3 days and the final product is filtered through a strainer to be used immediately. The benefits of a compost tea foliar spray are significant. It establishes a healthy bacterial biosphere on the plant to combat bacterial and fungal infections and pests as well as providing a complete nutrient mixture for better growth and flavor. My favorite part about all of this an overarching principle that the cyclic movement of nutrients and energy is in harmony with nature. Similar to how a dead deer decomposes to feed very grass that sustained its life, it's evident that nature abhors waste so it's in our best interest to follow suite. By constructing systems that use the waste of one process as a resource for another, we can begin to optimize the conservation of nutrients and microbial life all while greatly minimizing waste.
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Javier Kane
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September 2020
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