About our compost
For over 15 years we been here to support regenerative agriculture! We have focused on creating a balanced compost with high beneficial bacteria and fungal communities. The goal is to build biodiversity and a nutrient-dense product, which is important for crops and landscapes. Our compost goes through a 6+ month aerobic thermophilic and mesophilic process. We use a diverse range of ingredients to help promote a wide range of beneficial microbes and nutrients.
To produce our compost, we use a turner that helps homogenize and aerate the compost in windrows. Water is sprayed into the windrows while turning using a water wagon. We pay close attention to moisture levels which allows the microbes to go through the full process of breaking down material, and building beneficial microorganism communities.
We turn our compost at least 5 times over a 15-day period with temperatures above 130 degrees for that time period per USDA and NOP Standards. These are the guidelines to kill pathogens and weed seeds. But we go beyond these standards to provide fully finished stable compost.
What makes our compost different?
To produce our compost, we use a turner that helps homogenize and aerate the compost in windrows. Water is sprayed into the windrows while turning using a water wagon. We pay close attention to moisture levels which allows the microbes to go through the full process of breaking down material, and building beneficial microorganism communities.
We turn our compost at least 5 times over a 15-day period with temperatures above 130 degrees for that time period per USDA and NOP Standards. These are the guidelines to kill pathogens and weed seeds. But we go beyond these standards to provide fully finished stable compost.
What makes our compost different?
- Ingredients: We are selective about what we compost to provide a biodiverse nutrient-dense product. Some of this material is free to us, and some has a cost to them. But we do not get paid to take materials. We source non-GMO ingredients, and also use trusted sources of materials so we don't have herbicides/pesticides and heavy metals that can carry over into finished compost. Also with using a wide range ingredients you receive a wide arrange of nutrients and microbes.
- Truly finished compost: We put in the energy to fully compost the material we start with- that means it looks and smells like soil when you receive it.To get it to this point, it needs time, correct moisture, and oxygen. Have you ever received compost that stinks and is black-ish? Your compost should smell like rich earth and be a dark chocolate brown color.
- Time. Time leads to the full cycle of the carbon to nitrogen ratio. The time it takes for material to compost depends on what is being compost. Woody ingredients need longer than vegetable waste.
- Moisture. The correct levels of moisture let material actually break down especially in our dry climate. Beneficial biology is vibrantly alive in 40%-60% moisture levels. Microbes will start to go dormant the drier the material becomes, and it is unknown when/if they will come out of that dormancy.
- Oxygen. The good guys of biology love oxygen, and the bad guys thrive in no oxygen. If compost stinks it could have lacked oxygen through its process, and with time, turns black in color. Also, compost getting too hot can actually burn material leading to a burnt black color.
- Biology: A healthy gut comes from healthy soil. Should we be scared of getting great soil/compost into our mouth? We don't think so at SND, and actually think it's beneficial if it has the good guys in it. Humans have evolved with these beneficial microbes over time, and it's a symbiotic relationship. With that, our finished compost has the dominance of beneficial bacteria, fungi, nematodes, protozoa, and arthropods. And we love watching our kids play in it! This is because of the extra energy of time, moisture, and oxygen that we put forward in composting. ***** Disclaimer: Only eat soil if your specialist recommends it;)
