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Happy World Soil Day - December 5. I’m wondering if soil is kind of like a belly button. We play with it when we are young, but as we get older, we generally ignore it.....Soil is full of microbes, many of whom we have not identified, just like in our belly buttons. The Belly Button project has identified up to 2300 different species of bacteria in our belly button, with over 1400 of them unide...

My aerated windrow looks great on the outside, the temperatures on the inside are great, but.... When I open it up after four weeks, there are columns of drier material, the microbiology is variable within the windrow, and some of the material at the bottom is 35% moisture. Yes, its composting much better than if I did not aerate it, but it really needs to be mixed more often to optimize compos...

Adding more carbon such as woodchips for composting low C:N ratio manures like poultry manure can be annoying for three reasons: 1. It may cost more money, 2. It increases the volume of material to be composted requiring a larger compost facility, and 3. We have to screen out this carbon after the process. However, experts suggest adding carbon is important to optimize the composting process. I...

While we may love to believe that dried and ground food scraps from our kitchen composters are proven to create greener lawns and abundant gardens, let's also consider the practical. They create a flush of microbes that may temporarily change some of the characteristics of the soil. We may be inviting unexpected guests to our gardens - animals both small and large! Yes, the dried and ground foo...

How can I compost the dried and ground food scraps from my kitchen "composter"? They are packed full of energy, but there are no microbes left in it. We need to add the microbes and create the right conditions for them to thrive - including moisture and especially enough oxygen! This video shows how we created compost that looked and behaved much differently after a 5 week composting process. I...

I love my kitchen "composter" but calling it a composter is not only incorrect, it misses an opportunity to produce renewable natural gas! We found that the methane generation potential of these dried and ground food scraps is similar to fresh food scraps per kg of volatile solids. The benefits include a dry and stable product, free of contaminants and having 4 times the energy per kilogram com...

I used to suggest that making good compost is like making wine - it gets better with age. I was wrong. With composting food waste, why do I have four-week old compost that is just as mature as another 1 year old compost. Why does this 1 year old compost have a more pungent odour than my two week old compost? I explore some of the factors impacting potential odor and time to maturity. Perhaps co...

Compost maturity can be easily measured with a 1 L Thermos and a thermometer! Its an opportunity for smaller composters or composters in remote areas to easily and cost effectively measure compost maturity. We are getting similar results as the Dewar self heating test. Its not an official test, and its not quite as sensitive as the Solvita test, but it gives composters and compost users a reall...

Regulations in Canada define compost as being mature but don't explain what mature is, or how to test for it. I like using the Solvita test or the Dewar self heating test as long as the instructions are followed. We can do these tests ourselves. We know how we have prepared the compost and we are responsible for its quality. Although third party testing may be a regulatory requirement, we alrea...

Most of us appreciate and expect compost to be mature. We assess maturity using a stability test. Our compost may be stable but not mature! Forced air compost systems in particular, allow us to stabilize the compost by drying it, but it may not be mature. Dry immature compost may heat and create odor when its rewetted. It also may contain high fecal coliform that survive the high temperatures e...

Is compost maturity important? Its important for microbial diversity that help plants with disease resistance. We normally use a stability test to estimate compost maturity. A stability test works when there is adequate moisture, and there are microbes! We must understand the limitations of stability testing so that we don't confuse stability with maturity.

Approximately 400 L or more is evaporated from every tonne of composting material. When we compost outdoors, we hardly notice. When we compost indoors, we may be surprised, perhaps because we can’t see anything, or because its raining inside, or because our building is corroding. We will calculate the water loss, then discover what may be in that water!

When we compost high energy wastes like food waste, the compost dries quickly. Its a tricky balance - we can optimize the compost process, which then includes managing the moisture and mixing the material. Or we can provide less air, have a less efficient process, risk a lower pH in the compost, and risk potential odor. We have a choice, depending on how efficient we would like our compost to be!

On World Soil Day, we celebrate a class of soil microbes that help us flourish. They participate in sustainable food production, they provide hope in some of the ways that we harm our planet, and they provide antibiotics that keep us healthy. Actinobacter are a class of microbes that we can see and smell. We are only starting to learn the incredible diversity and function of soil microorganisms...

Limiting Aeration to Control Temperature

Is Low Oxygen Composting a Thing

Composting Outdoors in a Rainforest - Surprised by Mature Compost

Claystone Waste - Composting Effectively and Efficiently

Composting on the West Coast of Vancouver Island Establishing Priorities

Creston BC One Year of Composting

Removing Plastic at Small Food Waste Compost Facilities

Evolution of composting in Whitehorse, Yukon

Aerating Compost Impact on pH and Volatile Acids

Do I Have a Healthy Lawn?

Measuring pH in Compost

Low pH May Limit Composting Food Waste

World Soil Day Dec 5 2022

Drying and Grinding Food Scraps as a Waste Diversion Option

Composting in Small Communities