The Accelerated Worm Composting Station uses surface area to accelerate the composting process. First of all, worms don't eat food scraps directly - other living things get a first bite, such as molds and bacteria. The bacteria we want needs oxygen (aerobic) and can get to it's food faster when exposed to the air.
This station masticates (mashes up) the food, much like our mouth, thereby making more surface area for the bacteria to access. More surface area = more bacteria eating = faster decomposition. This process is similar to how our own bodies ingest food. Imagine putting food directly into your stomach without chewing it.
Our teeth are similar to the garbage disposal / food grinder. Our saliva is like the bacteria and other microbials in the air and dirt. The folds in our intestine creates a lot of surface area for absorption. Similarly, we can create a lot of surface area for our kitchen scraps when we smash it up and spread it out over the surface of the dirt in our worm bin.
How much does this help? In the human body, the simple shape of the intestine has about 1/2 square meter of surface. But the mucosal folds, villi and microvilli in our intestine turn that into 250 square meters of absorptive surface area - about the size of a tennis court! That's an increase of 500%!
In the compost bin, A watermelon rind or an apple chore can can easily last up to a month. In this system it can be broken down and "absorbed" in about 3 days.
This video taken at "Ignite Sebastopol"
produced by O'Reilly Book Publishing
hosted at Hop Monk Tavern,
Sebastopol CA
Why Compost?
Deserts are blowing,
pavement is growing,
pesticides are flowing....
Soil is being lost.
Dry soil is dead soil.
Good soil has 1 billion bacteria per teaspoon.
Most commercial potting soil is sterilized
Roots, Worms, Fungi, bacteria...
They all need each other.
The plants actually send sugars and starches down to their roots to feed bacteria at the rhizosphere - a symbiotic relationship.
Bacteria, in turn, feed the plants roots with boost of nitrogen and other nutrients in a steady stream.
These natural nutrients are more easily absorbed by the plant than chemical fertilizers.
"Plants need bacteria at their roots.
Plants feed bacteria with their roots.
Soil Alchemy = Life Diversity.
Microbiology feeds the world you see."
[Wisteria AlchemiFire, Peter van Gorder, 2009]
Chemical fertilizers kill the food web making the plant dependant on more chemical fertilizers.
But ultimately you can't keep up and most of the chemicals go into your drinking water.... Here's to your health!
And these plants have less nutrients in them. They are a ghost of plant in comparision.
These foods are sold in the store as "Conventional" - but they are far from convintional. In fact, they should be labled "poisioned".
"Organic" food is the real conventional food and by definition.
Brown composting is good for large dry stuff.
Green is good for kitchen scraps and creating rich, wet soil that sustains a vibrant food web.
Worm compost, which could also be called "bacteria compost", is alive and rich.
It has soil structure which holds more water, has more oxygen, and feeds more life.
You can amplify your effort with compost tea - brewing trillions and trillions of microbes you can apply directly to the soil or to the plants leaves.
To get going to put your scraps in a bin and wait...
and wait....
as your pile grows and grows.
My mom used to tell me "you're putting too much in and it's killing them".
The idea of "too much food" seemed absurd and I started looking for more clues that told a larger story...
Clue #1:
Turns out that bacteria eat first. Then I thought: They can't get through these tough fruit skins!
Ever notice how you can have an apple on your counter for weeks, but as soon as you take a bit out of it it starts to decay?
Clue #2:
Surface area!
I needed to create more surface area so more mouths can feed at one time!
I also needed to break up those pesky fruit skins that keep the fruit from decaying.
I want it to decay faster.
I want nature to be as enabled as it can be.
Epiphany:
Mash it up!
This is, so far, my best addition to the planet: Teeth for bacteria and worms!
Teeth with lots of horse power!
Phase 2 will be hand crank or solar electric power.
I run the food through a garbage disposal, it also aerates the liquid, and I collect it in a bucket.
It's very simple. But none the less most people throw these nutrients in the land fill and then purchase them back again (steralized and dead) as "dirt" while at the same time filling the landfill with nutrient rich worm food.
I also add some fiber for drainage, calcium for ph, and grit because worms need grit just like chickens.
I pour it on. Notice the surface area, and how easy it is for worms and other microbes to move through it. In the summer I don't worry about the extra water - it will drain right through or evaporate.
In the winter I frequently drain the extra liquid - but save it for the compost tea.
Bacteria are the Alchemist of the soil and quickly get to work with all the surface area that's been created.
Worms are 'secondary eaters', coming along to eat after the bacteria and mold have started.
I've started making my own bins to handle the volume and to save money. Stirring in the mix helps too.
Some people know how to take soil and plant a seed, water it, let it pollinate, harvest it, and voila! Food.
But it's an incomplete cycle that is very much a part of desertification, soil loss, planet heating, and a dimished richness of life.
Knowing how to make soil, you have earned your gold star for helping the planet.
