COMPOSTING
Within our mission of creating a sustainable, closed-loop food system, composting is the missing link that enables us to arc weld what is currently a linear food chain into an interconnected cycle.
We have begun by "growing" our own soil from our community's left-over food scraps, coffee grounds, leaves, and wood chips that we collect in our recycled diesel truck fueled by straight waste vegetable oil. These items are placed in standing piles until they reach 145 degrees to kill off pathogens. Some of the hot compost is then fed to red wiggler worms, in our layered vermicompost system to make worm castings, the best fertilizer on the planet. The compost, mixed with a little coconut coir to retain moisture, and fertilized with worm castings, creates Soil with SOUL, the most nutrient-rich soil possible for organic farming.
We have begun by "growing" our own soil from our community's left-over food scraps, coffee grounds, leaves, and wood chips that we collect in our recycled diesel truck fueled by straight waste vegetable oil. These items are placed in standing piles until they reach 145 degrees to kill off pathogens. Some of the hot compost is then fed to red wiggler worms, in our layered vermicompost system to make worm castings, the best fertilizer on the planet. The compost, mixed with a little coconut coir to retain moisture, and fertilized with worm castings, creates Soil with SOUL, the most nutrient-rich soil possible for organic farming.
GROWING
We will fill our raised beds, vertically stacked containers and multi-tiered aquaponics grow system with this super soil. In our aquaponics system, plants will be fertilized with fish waste using a solar pump. The tank water is pumped to the top of the system where the ammonia from the waste is converted to nitrogen that fertilizes the plants. The water is filtered by microbes as it passes through the potted plants in our gravel-lined grow beds, and it descends back into the fish tanks, purified. This model mimics the nitrogen cycle within a natural river.
CREATING
After we harvest our organic food, we will prepare it using simple techniques. Landfill trips are kept to a minimum in our zero-waste food preparation by using food trimmings to create stocks, soups and stews. Our demonstrations of food preservation methods such as fermenting, freezing and canning for long term storage provide the benefit of having fresh foods to eat or cook with even if they are not in season. Anything leftover will be composted and fed to the worms to make more of our Soil with SOUL.
COMMUNITYWe maintain a Community Compost Center at the Olney Farmers & Artists Market, where the community brings their food scraps to help create compost and worm castings that are available to the community based on volunteer contributions and reciprocity.
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CULINERATIOur multi-generational volunteer group brings together people from all walks of life. We will preserve the culinary traditions of our community by having our youth interview and record their elders. From these recordings, we will create a living video cookbook called The Culinerati Files.
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