Our Composting Methods
The best way to increase the nutrient content in your garden or landscape installation is to add our microorganism-rich compost.
To create our compost we use a carbon-rich bulking agent of leaf and wood chips, which we receive from local landscapers and towns. This bulking base is then mixed with clean gurry (fish scraps), shell fish, seaweed, coffee grinds, and a wide variety of food scraps from restaurants and institutions. We also blend in farm animal manures (such as horse, chicken, cow, sheep, goat and rabbit) and Roger Williams Zoo manures combined with whatever bedding material was used (such as sawdust, wood shavings or straw). All ingredients are mixed and turned in an aerobically-managed compost process on our farm. We compost the blended ingredients for approximately 1 year to ensure a well cured and finished product. The final production step is the screening of our finished compost to a particle size of 1/2" or less. The screened compost then cures an additional 6 months, resulting in a final product that is approximately 18 months old.
The mature, finished, black compost bears little resemblance to the ingredients it was made from other than bits of shellfish. These shell remnants provide a continuous source of calcium to plants as they naturally break down over time. Our finished compost test results show a pH of approximately 7 (neutral). If using a high rate of compost application for soil amendment, as we do in our Farm fields, soil test results may show a temporary pH shift upwards as shell remnants break down. In our experience, plant health is not impacted due to the ability of the healthy soil microorganism community to make nutrients available to plant roots.
To create our compost we use a carbon-rich bulking agent of leaf and wood chips, which we receive from local landscapers and towns. This bulking base is then mixed with clean gurry (fish scraps), shell fish, seaweed, coffee grinds, and a wide variety of food scraps from restaurants and institutions. We also blend in farm animal manures (such as horse, chicken, cow, sheep, goat and rabbit) and Roger Williams Zoo manures combined with whatever bedding material was used (such as sawdust, wood shavings or straw). All ingredients are mixed and turned in an aerobically-managed compost process on our farm. We compost the blended ingredients for approximately 1 year to ensure a well cured and finished product. The final production step is the screening of our finished compost to a particle size of 1/2" or less. The screened compost then cures an additional 6 months, resulting in a final product that is approximately 18 months old.
The mature, finished, black compost bears little resemblance to the ingredients it was made from other than bits of shellfish. These shell remnants provide a continuous source of calcium to plants as they naturally break down over time. Our finished compost test results show a pH of approximately 7 (neutral). If using a high rate of compost application for soil amendment, as we do in our Farm fields, soil test results may show a temporary pH shift upwards as shell remnants break down. In our experience, plant health is not impacted due to the ability of the healthy soil microorganism community to make nutrients available to plant roots.