What did you do to prepare today?
Re: What did you do to prepare today?
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Last edited by Andy F on Mon Sep 23, 2019 5:28 am, edited 1 time in total.
Re: What did you do to prepare today?
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Last edited by Andy F on Mon Sep 23, 2019 5:28 am, edited 1 time in total.
Re: What did you do to prepare today?
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Last edited by Andy F on Mon Sep 23, 2019 5:28 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: What did you do to prepare today?
We discussed mealworms and almost went with them but black soldier flies have other benefits. They eat biological wastes so we can feed them poop and roadkill. That means that I can speed up the decomposition of my chicken manure. I took a class by Chris Link who runs the farm at Southern Appalachian Highlands Conservancy where they use black soldier flies. He said that they can process 80 lbs of organic matter a day. He also said that the N in manure is reduced by 62%. That's important because that steep reduction will make it possible to run the manure through my worm bins faster than I would otherwise. Apparently black soldier fly residue isn't safe on its own as a soil amendment, so it's recommended to run it through the vermicomposting process.
That's fine by me because vermicompost is a fully stabilized soil amendment at a near neutral pH. It's microbially active, has a high water holding capacity, and has humic acids. It also has gibberellins, cytokinins, and auxins. Those are plant growth hormones. I've kept worms now for 6 years. I start all of my seeds in it and use it in all of our containers. I also make actively aerated compost tea with it and use it on my garden beds here as well as in other people's gardens.
All of that is a long way of saying that the black soldier flies meet other criteria as well as that of a protein source.
This is the link to the vid demonstrating the build that I plan on doing https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J-XsU19U0kQ
Here is another link that I found interesting. This came from AgWeb and is a vid called "Weathering the Storm" about how farmers are coping with the cold wet year that may not change anytime soon. https://www.agweb.com/article/weatherin ... rm-report/
That's fine by me because vermicompost is a fully stabilized soil amendment at a near neutral pH. It's microbially active, has a high water holding capacity, and has humic acids. It also has gibberellins, cytokinins, and auxins. Those are plant growth hormones. I've kept worms now for 6 years. I start all of my seeds in it and use it in all of our containers. I also make actively aerated compost tea with it and use it on my garden beds here as well as in other people's gardens.
All of that is a long way of saying that the black soldier flies meet other criteria as well as that of a protein source.
This is the link to the vid demonstrating the build that I plan on doing https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J-XsU19U0kQ
Here is another link that I found interesting. This came from AgWeb and is a vid called "Weathering the Storm" about how farmers are coping with the cold wet year that may not change anytime soon. https://www.agweb.com/article/weatherin ... rm-report/
Re: What did you do to prepare today?
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Last edited by Andy F on Mon Sep 23, 2019 5:29 am, edited 1 time in total.
Re: What did you do to prepare today?
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Last edited by Andy F on Mon Sep 23, 2019 5:29 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: What did you do to prepare today?
We've been stocking up on food this week. I haven't seen any food shortages here, and I'm not complaining. Anyhow, I've spent the past two days canning peaches and tomatoes. I hope to finish processing the bushel of tomatoes tomorrow.
I started the black soldier fly digester but got sidetracked. I hope to get on that project again in the next couple of days.
I started the black soldier fly digester but got sidetracked. I hope to get on that project again in the next couple of days.
Re: What did you do to prepare today?
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Last edited by Andy F on Mon Sep 23, 2019 5:29 am, edited 2 times in total.
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Re: What did you do to prepare today?
That's funny
Have you ever been bit by a horsefly? It hurts like a mofo.

Re: What did you do to prepare today?
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Anyhow, carry on!
Anyhow, carry on!
Last edited by Andy F on Mon Sep 23, 2019 5:30 am, edited 1 time in total.