Monday, April 02, 2018

Humus with One M.


Do not scroll down through this post. Yes, it is boring and maybe repetitive for some of you, but the next time you feel helpless in fixing this old planet, you now have one tool below.

My state is making an effort to improve the way we deal with waste. We are composting (turning organic material into soil conditioner instead of waste) big time! And, because you may have a busier life than I, I am going to take you on this selective tour with Master Gardeners and Master Naturalists on this cold day.

First, we got a slide show and a brief intro. This man loves his job and these "Masters" were serious enough to take notes.






This facility has a potential for 200 acres but is currently only using 40. They produce two kinds of humus. That compost which is made just from leaves, branches and grass clippings and a second process from plant material and from human food wastes. They are marketed as Leafgro and Leafgro Gold. They accept truckloads from all over the contiguous counties and charge a fee to leave waste. No plastic, ceramic, tissue, styrofoam, diapers, foil or glass is accepted, although bits and pieces do sneak in.



There are rows and rows of this compost in various stages of decomposition.  




The plastic that sneaks in is filtered at the very end.




There was only the odor of freshly chopped wood and garden mulch.  On warmer days the smells may be stronger.  We did have to be careful where we walked as there were some pretty muddy areas.




They were moving into a more technological approach by covering the rows with a permeable long-lasting fabric and then pumping air to control temperature and oxygen levels for the breakdown.




There are environmental companies that pick up the produce and plant materials from stores and restaurants.  This man below had more customers than he could handle and delivered from some of the finest restaurants in D.C. since this facility accepted raw meat!  He had to pay a fee to deposit these materials but still turned a profit from the retailers' fee he collected.




This material was immediately covered by the bulldozer with several feet of plant materials and that insured that no rodents or animals came in.







And for us gardeners, we were drooling over the final product...black gold.  They sold everything they produced and always had a waiting list.  They sold directly as well as through over a dozen retail outlets that sold both in small bags and by the truck!  There was a sliding scale and I cannot remember the price, but it was reasonable.






Now some of my readers may have no interest in this process or resulting product, but you cannot tell me you are uninterested in much smaller landfills, much less pollution, and a healthier environment!  (Don't I take you to the best places?)

21 comments:

  1. Good day out amongst deadness compost, ummmm, love it.

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  2. Seems good and hope it continues to be profitable enough to keep going.

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  3. We compost on this island as well. The rich black earth is sold back to gardeners. The process has been going on for more than ten years here.

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  4. Just magic stuff. Blacker than black and will feed anying popped in front of it.

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  5. Great idea. I will look and see if anything like this exists in my area.

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  6. Washington State, at least the western part of the state, has been doing this for a long time. We used to compost our own yard waste and kitchen scraps, but now we fill the yard waste bins for pick up. We still do some of our own composting too, in our own bins.

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    1. Yes, this facility used some of the ideas from Washington State!!

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  7. A great idea. bravo to the inventors.

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  8. It would make my heart sing if we could have such a facility around here. We do pretty well at recycling, but composting hasn't kicked in on a big scale.

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  9. Our town does not have the facility for dealing with kitchen waste, but grass, leaves and brush are fair game. Many bigger centres collect kitchen waste curbside.

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  10. I use that black gold in my garden and flower pots, too. It's wonderful stuff and a much better way to get rid of food waste! Great post, and I found it fascinating. I'm glad I live in Washington State where recycling and composting is everywhere. :-)

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  11. I would love to get a truckload of that!

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  12. BTW, this is not boring at all. Very exciting actually. :)

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  13. It is a very, VERY good idea, but what do they bag it up in? Plastic is doing the round in England as being number one polluter, especially of the seas.

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    1. I have not purchased the bags as they come from private contracting companies, but here is now a form of bag that decomposes within a year and I would hope that that use that.

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  14. I have ten acres but too rocky for farming. I keep thinking I could set up little houses for homeless people in the clear field. It will never happen.

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    1. How far are you from transportation for homeless? Have you investigated insurance and liability issues? Did you consider Go fund Me? My stream of consciousnesses thinking on this.

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  15. Wish I had time to do something like that! I get to pay for all my dirt these days.
    "Humus with Humor" is what I thought here!

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  16. That's even cooler than Floydfest's compost and their biodegradable utensils. I do covet that final product.

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  17. This is a wonderful business and project, kind to the earth and a bonanza for gardeners. I like that the young man has a business picking up restaurant waste and taking it to the place where they make black gold. When I saw the word humus I first thought of the delicious food made from chick peas, also I know a dog named Humus. But this is a different kind, ha ha.

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