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Old 18-02-2012, 11:18 PM posted to rec.gardens.edible
songbird[_2_] songbird[_2_] is offline
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First recorded activity by GardenBanter: Jun 2010
Posts: 3,072
Default a small study of rotting

towards the end of December i had bags of
left over soybean husks to use eventually in
the worm bins. not wanting to pass up a good
chance of comparing processes i took some
worm castings (about a dry quart) and added
them to layers of wetted husks and then kept
the bin moist.

i started one bin and then a few weeks
later started a second bin. both had more
husks added to them as they compacted. two
bins eventually held five bins of husks.
if i'd continued the test i could have added
another today (about two months from the
start date).

as noted in another thread recently the
fungi side of the rotting equation is somewhat
oriented towards acidic and ammonia. i noticed
last week that things were starting to get a
little strong smelling, but was hoping it would
pass. it didn't. the bacteria in the worm
castings alone could not keep up with the fungi
without their worm hosts to keep the bedding
aerated and stirred. today i broke apart the
first bin and added it to the worm bins.

digging into it was like opening a bottle
of ammonia. phew! tomorrow i'll hope to get
to the second bin.

in the end, the compaction and rotting by
fungi, etc of the worm free bins was good for
getting space back, but the smell and having
to then process it anyways in a second stage
didn't save much. for the storage considerations
it was much easier to store dry bean husks than
to have more bins. much lighter.

this next season i hope to not have quite so
much late husking to do and that will keep the
shells outside and in the ground as fast as i
can get them buried. we'll see...


songbird