Author: Danielle De Mesa, Soil Amendment Group
Hey there! My name is Danielle, an environmental science major at Kean. In regards to the compost, we have not done much manual labor to it as the weather has still been so cold and the ground has been pretty frozen. However, we are working hard to learn the details of composting and creating the best solutions for Joe and Springstone Farm. It’s hard learning to be a farmer!
Hey there! My name is Danielle, an environmental science major at Kean. In regards to the compost, we have not done much manual labor to it as the weather has still been so cold and the ground has been pretty frozen. However, we are working hard to learn the details of composting and creating the best solutions for Joe and Springstone Farm. It’s hard learning to be a farmer!
The compost pile at Springstone Farm (as of our recent trip on March 11) is about 12.6 m x 1.3 m x 4.1 m and composed of branches, wood, straw, hay, leaves, and manure from Springstone Farm’s rescued animals. Our current plan involves sorting the compost pile to help it mature faster and properly, inputting french drain pipes (or an equivalent) to the bottom of the compost pile to allow for convectional aeration, and establishing yearly compost piles. Currently, the pile is quite organized, but not in a good way. It’s split up into three portions, the newest end is composed of straw and manure, the middle has large branches and wood, and the other end is all leaves. For a healthy compost pile, the carbon and nitrogen must be mixed; therefore, we have suggested that Joe mix the manure and leaves ends together. The branches and wood in the middle need to be removed as they would take very long to decompose and slow the compost’s maturation. However, Joe mentioned repurposing them for a plant mound which we agree would be a fun experiment. Towards the end of 2018, we suggested that Joe create a second pile for 2019; that way he can begin a new pile while the current 2018 one cures. During the visit, Joe turned the pile and we were able to see the inner layers of the pile. We were happy to find that the manure end had worms which helps the composting process. Also, we noticed steam which is a good indicator that the compost pile was warm in the center and the leaves were successfully breaking down even though it has been so cold.
We have also learned about compost tea! Compost tea is a water extract of compost that is used to increase plant productivity and protect against plant pathogens (Pane et al., 2016). This method would maximize the benefits of the compost on site and further prevent the use of pesticides in conventional farming, keeping Springstone Farm in line with its commitment to the environment as an organic farm! However, this project may be saved for the future as we will mainly focus on compost management this semester.
Reference:
Pane, C., Palese, A. M., Spaccini, R., Piccolo, A., Celano, G., & Zaccardelli, M. (2016). Enhancing sustainability of a processing tomato cultivation system by using bioactive compost teas. Scientia Horticulturae, 202117-124. doi:10.1016/j.scienta.2016.02.034
We have also learned about compost tea! Compost tea is a water extract of compost that is used to increase plant productivity and protect against plant pathogens (Pane et al., 2016). This method would maximize the benefits of the compost on site and further prevent the use of pesticides in conventional farming, keeping Springstone Farm in line with its commitment to the environment as an organic farm! However, this project may be saved for the future as we will mainly focus on compost management this semester.
Reference:
Pane, C., Palese, A. M., Spaccini, R., Piccolo, A., Celano, G., & Zaccardelli, M. (2016). Enhancing sustainability of a processing tomato cultivation system by using bioactive compost teas. Scientia Horticulturae, 202117-124. doi:10.1016/j.scienta.2016.02.034
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