**NEW** – Compost Ecosystem

December 10, 2008

Bag of Compost Ecosystem

I wanted to let everyone know that I am offering a new product – what I’m referring to as ‘Compost Ecosystem’. This material offers an inexpensive way for anyone to create their own thriving vermicomposting bin or backyard composter.

When most people think of vermicomposting they think WORMS, and understandably so. But is actually a very complex ecosystem, with countless micro- and macro-organisms working together to break down and stabilize waste materials.

Springtails

Our Compost Ecosystem product is like ‘compost activator’ on steroids. In reality, you don’t even need to buy activator to get your compost bin going (although it certainly can help to get things going right away) since these microbes are everywhere, including the surfaces of the materials you are composting. The larger organisms however – especially composting worms – take longer to arrive in your heap (if EVER), so it really helps to add these early on. Better yet, why not create you own thriving compost system indoors during the winter. This way you will have lots of great material to add to your outdoor composting systems in the spring, assuming you don’t want to use it to create your own permanent indoor worm bin.

Simply mix some moistened shredded cardboard or newspaper with some fruit/veggie scraps in a rubbermaid bin (with drilled ventilation holes for best results), add the bag of Compost Ecosystem, put the lid on then let it sit. Easy peasy.

If you wait a few weeks to open it up again you will be amazed by what you find!

Compost Heap Mite

The Compost Ecosystem is also a fantastic educational tool. Adding 1 or 2 bags to a terrarium, along with some fall leaves and food waste can provide children with a first-hand look at the decomposition process. Great for lessons in ecology and invertebrate biology as well.

In order to eliminate confusion about this product, here is a breakdown of the scenarios in which it can and cannot be used effectively.

Great For:
– Innoculating composting system with beneficial organisms
– Helping worms to settle in to a new worm bin
– Slowly creating your own worm bin
– Science projects involving decomposition (but see “Not Great For” section below for exceptions)
– Teaching children about ecology
– Raising your own live fish food (again, this can take some time)
– Anyone in remote locations having trouble tracking down Red Worms (since can be shipped anywhere)
– Anyone looking for ‘set it and forget it’ approach
– Anyone not wanting to invest a lot of money just yet.

Not Great For:
– Processing all your waste food scraps right away
– People who want to see instant results in general
– Adding directly to your garden (your soil/plants will benefit but the organisms will not thrive)


More Info:

Compost Ecosystem

Compost Ecosystem is a specially mixed blend of partially worm-worked materials. It contains a wide variety of organisms, worm castings, worm cocoons, and other partially degraded organic matter. It smells like a rich garden soil.
Each bag breathable bag contains nearly 3 litres of the mix, which is shipped relatively dry to reduce weight and protect against freezing.

While we can’t guarantee that the contents of each bag will be identical (in fact, we can guarantee that they will NOT be), we can guarantee that you will receive worms and cocoons, along with other compost heap creatures (if there is a specific kind of organism you want other than worms, please feel free to let us know and we may be able to adjust the mix accordingly). That is to say, this is not simply old worm bedding that’s been haphazardly scooped in a bag. Each bag is mixed from a number of sources, and in most cases will be augmented with additional organisms.

Unlike our densely packed worm shipments, a bag of Compost Ecosystem can also be shipped anywhere in Canada all winter long. We will likely be shipping worms less and less in coming (winter) months, thus this allows people to get a jump-start on composting season.

If you would like to learn about pricing for Compost Ecosystem (along with shipping info) be sure to check out the Red Worm page (and scroll down).


[tags]compost, compost activator, inoculum, spawn, microbes, beneficial microorganisms, compost starter, red worms, red wigglers, sow bugs, mites, ecosystem, decomposition, science projects, worm bins, composters, backyard composting, cocoons, vermicomposting, worm composting[/tags]