Farm-Generated Fertility: Vermicomposting Horse Manure and Vegetable Wastes

• 2015 annual report
• 2016 annual report

Commodities

• Miscellaneous: earthworms

Practices

• Soil Management: composting, earthworms

We propose to create a vermicomposting system for our vegetable farm. For feedstocks, we will utilize horse
manure, a local waste product from numerous stables, and vegetable residues generated by the farm. We will
build two shelters to trial two unique vermicomposting systems: the wedge method and the bin method.

In Emmet and Charleviox counties alone, there are nearly 10 commercial horse stables. This equates to
thousands of yards of manure in the area. In 2014, Spirit of Walloon collected and composted 150 yards of horse
manure in thermophilic windrows. This was only a fraction of the available manure; the volume of manure that
was offered to us was much greater than the space and time we had to manage it. This led us to believe that we
need to create a replicable, high-efficacy composting system that we and other farmers in the area could use to
bring high-quality nutrients to our farms. To that end, we propose to implement an on-farm vermicomposting
system that can process both manure in quantity and farm-created vegetable matter. We aim to trial two methods
of production: the wedge system and the bin system.

1. Create a replicable, high-efficacy composting system that we and other farmers in the area can use to
   bring high-quality nutrients to our farms. 
2. Implement an on-farm vermicomposting system that can process both manure in quantity and farm-created vegetable matter. 
3. Make use of locally available “waste” materials such as horse manure in an environmentally-sound way.