Boulder Vermicomposting

Follow up on worms in a toilet system

When we last talked to Mike, the Eldorado State Park employee with the human waste (aka poop) problem, he was attempting to introduce redworms into the system.  He was planning to start small and see how the redworms reacted to the environment they are in.

I followed up with him in mid June (the start of the really busy season for Eldo) and he had this to say:

The worms are pretty doggone happy.  There’s the can where they get raised
in cardboard, soil, and food scraps, and that population is doing well.  I
was initially worried about the worms in the sh***er because I couldn’t see
them – but with some excavation, I found them down about a foot in the pile
of poop and wood chips.  They’re thriving.

I’m still a little gunshy about introducing the effluent to some worms.  I
guess they’ll turn their noses pretty quick if they don’t like it.

The temperature in the experimental vault is rising slowly (90 degrees as
opposed to 60 for the control vault).  I’m doing the humanure approach and
adding plenty of greens and sawdust.  Honestly, it’ll probably take years to
get that pile cooking – it’s a giant mass of dead, anaerobic, cold waste.

My (adapted) plan at this point is to keep at it with worms and the humanure
approach. Best case scenario: Some combination of heat and osmosis will
start drawing water up into the pile to get hot and evaporate.  Worst case
scenario: thermophilic & vermicular composting produce wastewater that
beneficial for vegetation and I can start using that “waste” water in the
park for new plantings, etc.

In short:  Worms alive and well, and the sh***ers are learning adventure in
progress.

It sounds like he’s mixing it up–along with the redworms, he’s doing some humanure composting (probably based on The Humanure Handbook–well worth a read if you haven’t checked it out).

I’m thrilled that this experiment is going well.  Will keep checking in with Mike in the future.

Add comment June 30th, 2010

NC Vermiculture Conference

This conference in North Carolina has been going on for 10 years, and had 116 participants this year.  Wow.  More here, including some names of worm farms around the country.

Add comment June 20th, 2010

Durango’s Evening Star’s Local Farm Food café uses worms to complete the cycle

I thought this article about a Durango farmer, who is also running a cafe named Evening Star’s Local Farm Food Café (where does she find the time!), was interesting because it references closing the cycle of nutrients that so many restaurants leave open.  From the article:

It’s a “green” cafe, George says. She uses compostable plates, napkins and cups. Patrons who bring their own fork will get 25 cents off their order. Food waste goes into George’s vermiculture (worm) bin for later use in fertilizing crops.

The whole article is here.

Add comment June 17th, 2010

CA Dept of Pesticide Regulation Fines Castings Producer

Via this news article, I learned that a California producer of worm castings, Worm Gold, was fined 100K by the California Department of Pesticide Regulation.  The fine was because the Worm Gold product is touted as “helping plants repel bugs”, and so should be classified as a pesticide, and thus regulated.

This is being fought as a free speech case–you can find out more here.

2 comments June 15th, 2010