Project Overview
Commodities
- Agronomic: hops, millet, potatoes, sunflower
- Fruits: melons, berries (other), berries (blueberries), berries (strawberries)
- Nuts: pecans
- Vegetables: sweet potatoes, asparagus, beans, beets, broccoli, cabbages, carrots, cauliflower, celery, cucurbits, eggplant, garlic, greens (leafy), leeks, lentils, onions, peas (culinary), peppers, radishes (culinary), rutabagas, tomatoes, turnips, brussel sprouts
- Additional Plants: herbs, native plants, ornamentals, trees
- Animals: bees, fish
- Miscellaneous: mushrooms
Practices
- Crop Production: conservation tillage
- Education and Training: demonstration, farmer to farmer, networking, on-farm/ranch research, workshop, youth education
- Energy: energy conservation/efficiency
- Farm Business Management: cooperatives, marketing management, agritourism
- Natural Resources/Environment: habitat enhancement, hedgerows
- Pest Management: physical control, mulching - plastic
- Production Systems: organic agriculture, permaculture, transitioning to organic
- Soil Management: earthworms, organic matter, soil analysis, composting
- Sustainable Communities: local and regional food systems, new business opportunities, public participation, urban/rural integration, community services, employment opportunities
Summary:
1. Fish composting using a bio-filter compost bin liner and passive aeration is effective, with reasonable odor control.
2. Both fish and vegetable compost were more effective than no compost.
3. Fish compost was superior to vegetable compost based upon blinded, qualitative observation of plant size and vigor.
4. Late blight killed all the tomato plants in this study. However, plants in the fish compost group developed the disease later than plants in the veggie and no compost groups. We attribute this relative resistance to blight to better host defense, the vigor imparted by fish compost.
Introduction
The Mayflower landed near modern day Plymouth in the spring of 1620. They had an immediate need to plant crops that would supply them through the following winter. The local soil was of poor quality, and fertility had been depleted by excessive farming by the indigenous people. Fortunately for them, the Pilgrims were not perceived as a threat by their new neighbors, who provided them with seed and instruction. The principle method for improving fertility was to plant a fish carcass in a raised hill with corn seed.
Thus, fish waste has long been known to be a useful soil amendment, a natural source of nitrogen. Fish meal is commercially available. And fish is a good source of nitrogen in compost. The problem with composting fish is odor, and the associated attraction of varmints. Developing an effective way to compost fish appeared especially attractive in our coastal community with extensive commercial fishing.
The purpose of the present study was to test a novel method for composting commercial fishing waste that mitigates odor, then to compare fish compost with organic vegetable compost in a garden test plot.
Project objectives:
The purpose of the present study was to test a novel method for composting commercial fishing waste that mitigates odor, then to compare fish compost with organic vegetable compost in a garden test plot.