[compost_tea] RE: Re: fungal vermicompost & NOP manureheads

From: Kirk Leonard <kirk_at_oregonatural.com>
Date: Sat, 18 Oct 2003 17:37:51 -0700

Someone recently asked how to move vermicompost fungal and paper food was
suggested. That's true, but not all papers work well, reportedly, and there
are other good things to use, too. It's been on my mind but I thought others
might post, which didn't happen, so here I am again with a couple more
cents.

Cardboards and kraft papers are also real good fungal stimulants for worms,
as are dried leaves, grasses, ground wood wastes, or any high-carbon
material that can cultivate molds, actually. A caution here -- the mold any
old wet paper or cardboard or plant waste can make is not necessarily good,
it's just an indicator of fungal-worthiness, hmm? I trust worms to make
good stuff of the basic materials but wouldn't include their molds in worm
food, except leaf or wood molds that smelled and looked good.

Papers, cardboards, dried leaves, grasses, chaffs, stubble, woody materials,
whatever, are best dried and aged a bit and shredded for worm food and
fungal content. Shredding first is probably better. Wastes reduced in
fields or orchards support worm activity in place.

Papers with lots of ink or dyes, especially color inks, and especially
coated and colored papers are thought not to be good as worm food.
Depending on the kind of wax (least petroil content), waxed cardboards can
be ok. They must be shredded though. Re-wetting all dry materials on
feeding to worms is a good idea.

The shredding part is important. If you lay a whole triple-corrugated piece
of cardboard on a worm bed, you can make an effective strata barrier and it
will take a long time for the worms to work, right? (Actually, in my
experience, they will inhabit and keep corrugated cardboard for months,
using it as sort of a home base...:) Same shredding is important with paper
and wood foods. Smaller pieces work best in a worm bed/bin. Hand cutting
or tearing up, shredding with a chipper or grinder, reducing however. High
lignin materials like wood probably need grinding and aging. Haven't tried
wood like that, so I'm not sure. Have seen worms have a lot of productive
fun (so it seems) with cardboard...

On another subject, a lurker here reminded me manure vermicomposts are still
not USNOP-approved, suffering same 120-day raw manure rule stupidly and
ridiculously applied to any/all compost teas, as well. In fact,
vermicompost doesn't officially exist yet either! (Which is also why manure
vermicompost is raw manure, right?) And compost teas are not likely to be
supported anytime soon, either, unless we speak up. Anybody heard any news
on compost tea or vermicompost from USNOP?

ACT and vermicompost are demonstrably not raw manure, even when made from
it, which is real easy not to do. Several levels of safety and good sense
are easily applied here, eh? USNOP manureheads are being extremely stupid
on compost teas and vermicomposts. NOSB meets again this coming week.
Maybe there'll be some better sense and good news, who knows?

Kirk L










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Received on Sat Oct 18 2003 - 23:40:34 EDT

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