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To produce compost on a commercial scale one needs land for a compost pad (soil or paved), additional land for receiving and storing raw materials, equipment for moving, mixing and turning the materials, large quantities of compostable material (some high in carbon and the rest high in nitrogen), and trucks for delivering the finished product to customers. Horse bedding (horse manure mixed with wood shavings or sawdust) is the primary source of high carbon material used in the composting process at Bear Path Farm.
All windrows are labeled to keep track of when they were made, their ingredients and their dates of turning. Windrows are turned 8 or more times over the course of a year – every 2 to 3 weeks in the beginning, every month or so thereafter. In the beginning a typical windrow contains about 350 cubic yards of composting materials. At the end of the composting cycle, this volume will be reduced by almost 50% leaving about 175 cubic yards of finished compost. Throughout the composting process, temperatures are periodically checked to assure proper thermophilic (high temperature) microbial activity. High temperatures and timely turning assure the destruction of weed seeds and pathogens. At the end of curing, the last slow stage of decomposition, the compost is considered stable and ready for use by our customers. The end result is a dark, rich, humus-like product with an excellent balance of nutrients, a slightly alkaline pH, and a cornucopia of microorganisms that greatly benefit the soil. | |
bill@bearpathfarm.com • Home phone: 413-665-2894 • Cell Phone: 413-320-1262 |
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Small quantities of leaves and mulch hay are also used as high carbon material when available. Manure (a high nitrogen material) is regularly picked up from a local dairy farm and brought to the compost receiving area. Waste vegetables (another high nitrogen material) are picked up in Whately at Enterprise Farm, where a seasonal indoor farmer’s market is operated. The Western Massachusetts Food Bank also drops off waste vegetables that are too old to be utilized by the food pantries that they service. Many of the large cardboard containers used to transport the Food Bank vegetables are also composted.
A ratio of approximately 30 to 35 parts of carbon to one part nitrogen is required for a good compost mix. Bear Path Farm uses a John Deere articulated front end loader with a 2 cubic yard bucket for most of the mechanical composting activities – moving, mixing, turning and loading. The composting process begins when the loader is used to layer the high carbon and high nitrogen materials in a pile – bedding then manure or food waste etc. for a total of 9 buckets - 4 manure or food waste, 5 horse bedding or some leaves. These materials are thoroughly mixed in place with the loader and then transported one bucket at a time to start or add to a windrow.
