Turning CO2 emissions into soil carbon is just a matter of composting. Plant matter is 50% carbon and completed humic compost is 58%. But what is composting?
Composting is the natural process of recycling organic matter, such as leaves and food scraps, into a valuable fertilizer that can enrich soil and plants. Anything that grows decomposes eventually; composting simply speeds up the process by providing an ideal environment for bacteria, fungi, and other decomposing organisms to do their work. The resulting decomposed matter, which often ends up looking like fertile garden soil, is called compost. Fondly referred to by farmers as “black gold,” compost is rich in nutrients and can be used for gardening, horticulture, and agriculture.
Our biotechnology converts organic waste to healthy carbon rich soil, turning plant waste, microbes and minerals into rich humus compost, full of nutrients. However, not all compost is equal. Most communal or home composts are organic matter broken down by heat and microbes, often hot and smelly.
However biologically complete compost takes organic matter, polymerised by microbes and creates humus – new stable soil carbon. Composting is a little bit like making a cake, quality ingredients = a quality output. A good compost is only as good as the ingredients and management. Carbon-rich materials like wood chip, straw and hemp residue are mixed with garden waste and grass for nitrogen, and then activators such as manure, food waste and nitrogen fixing plants are added.
Contact us at The Carbon Farm to find out more about our Composting Club, and offset some of your CO2 emissions by sequestering carbon back into your lawn. Soils have the capacity to hold more than three times more carbon than the atmosphere. Every 1% increase in soil organic matter enhances water holding capacity of soil by 50 litres per cubic metre, keeping lawns green and lush. The increased diversity of soil microbes results in improved biosecurity, or disease prevention.
Biologically complete compost is more than a fertiliser. Composting organic waste increases soil carbon rather than atmospheric CO2. Compost enables mineral and nutrient cycling and increases soil water holding capacity. Did you know that there are more microbes in one teaspoon of compost than people on our planet?
Traditionally waste has been a problem. Tomorrow, waste will provide the energy that keeps us fed.