[compost_tea] composting system

From: kevin john richardon <kmagic_at_backpacker.com>
Date: 5 Nov 2003 07:37:41 -0000

What a great project!

I would greatly enjoy working on such a project. I do not know about your neck of the woods and what it takes to make things happen, but here in the states, it is very much a political process to initiate such an undertaking, unless it is a private gig.

Seems to me like there are many great ways to get that sort of job done; you would probably begin by taking an inventory of the materials needing processing, the resources available and the goals you wish to accomplish.

For many years now I have desired to get deep into the study of "permaculture"; this methodology seems to be the ticket, and I believe Dr. Ingham knows a great deal about it; I think she mentioned she is working on such a project just N of Corvallis?. I also believe the gentleman who coined the phrase is an Aussie and has a research facility in Oz.

I mention this because your letter seemed to indicate aspects of dairy farming, pasture production and keeping community waterways free of excess nutrient inputs. The scale also sounded large, an excellent opportunity for an innovative demonstration project to include community involvement (participation, support)?

The processes you choose to manage the "waste" materials - does these process necessarily have to go anaerobic? is that just the nature of the beast due to shear volume? will you attempt to generate biofuel during the management process?

Fascinating! I hope I have an opportunity to participate in such a project someday. I would absolutely leap at such a prospect.

Farewell, Go for it! Keep us uptodate.

~K

ps In my quest for such information, I have found the key (buzz) words: "sustainable development" and "appropriate technology" most helpful and productive in information gathering about such subjects ~talleyho!


I have been aproached by a quasi govt organisation regarding helping set up a integrated waste management and fertility management system.
Is there any one out there who has done this already or know of a system in place already that will save us reinventing the wheel?????????.
The objective is to reduce utrophication of waterways (from excessive fert) , manage waste from the farm in an economic manner as well as increase profitability and improve quality of produce from the farm.
The system we invisage is as follows.
Dairy Farm
Manure from the cows would be composted in a static compost heap using forced air to help breakdown.
This stack would likely go anaerobic and would need to be left for some time to break down 6 months to a year perhaps. This partially composted product would than be fed to worms to form vermi compost. This product would then be used to make compost tea or liquified vermicompost and sprayed onto the pasture thus completing the cycle.
We plan to do Soil and compost Food web testing and hope to be able to show improvements in the soil food web using this system.
The system must be simple and must be economic, there will be funding to develop this system over the next few years with a budget to include SFI testing to tune the system.
Any help would be appreciated, I imagine the Kiwis will have something like this in existence already so if you can help please let us know.
Regards Mike Harvey http://www.composttea.com.au


                      Kevin John Richardson
                         Local Solutions
                Sustainable Soil Fertility Systems
                    19025 Villages Scenic Pkwy
                       Anchorage, AK 99516
                       (907) 522 0679 Land
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                      kmagic_at_backpacker.com
                 
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Received on Wed Nov 05 2003 - 06:29:19 EST

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