Urban Compost

Getting the Compost

A winogradsky column is a system of pond mud and water combined with a source of cellulose, calcium carbonate, and sulfur. Once incubated, the column will show gradients in oxygen level,as well as  well as a sulfide gradient.The soil we chose is actually composted wastes from an urban farm in Albany, NY.

The compost material is from a cycle that includes aqua-ponic growing tubs, koi, snails, a variety of water rooting micro greens, chickens, and rabbits. Organic waste from the growing space can be fed to the chickens in order to turn waste streams into useful commodity. 

 This is a shot of the urban farm where we acquired our compost. This view shows the greenhouse on the right with the chickens and rabbits to the left. The greenhouse is a structure with an opaque south facing roof that allows light into the space. Even on the cold day of our visit the inside temperature was well above 80 degrees 
Fahrenheit.

One mischievious chicken has escaped the pen and is into the feed bin. You can see in the background the rest of the birds as well as the wired off area where organic waste is supplied to the chickens. The main purpose of chickens on this land is to produce eggs and that means there will be a reliable source of calcium carbonate.