THE PROCESS

Strong, healthy soil is essential for nutrient-dense food. How we produce our vermicompost is biologically excellent for liquid applications. Our vermicompost is better suited for liquid applications in both the root and soil zones.

We use high-carbon materials to produce our vermicompost for fungal activity. Our pre-compost feedstock consists of:

1. Unfinished compost or old vermicompost to start the process.

2. Mixed hardwood wood chips, shredded paper, and cardboard as carbon material.

3. Small percentage of green waste. To keep the mycorrhizal fungi alive, we leave some active non-weed seeds with the green waste throughout the process.

4. Frass or crab shell meal for the chitin properties. Chitin helps the plant defend against diseases from the soil.

5. Comfrey and nettle plants for additional nutrients for the microbes. We grow comfrey and nettle on the property and liquidize the plants for easy mixing.

6. Effective microorganisms are added to the pre-compost to help speed up the decomposition process with lactic acid bacteria.

After a few weeks of pre-composting, we added to our worm bins for vermicomposting.

We produce vermicompost in small batches in trough-style worm beds and an indoor worm bag system.

To produce an end product efficiently, we use various compost worms: a mix of redworms (Eisenia fetida and Eisenia Andrei), European Nightcrawlers (Eisenia Hortensis), Blueworms (Perionyx Excavatus), and Jumpers (Amynthas Gracilis).

After 3 to 4 months of vermicomposting, we harvest the finished vermicompost and screen it at 1/10"(2.5mm) for water solubility.

Carbon and Soil often test our vermicompost for biological, nutrient content, metal content, and DNA.