Malibu Compost sells the only bagged BD compost product I know of. It certainly has nice texture, but I was shocked to find out that Malibu actually brags about their long term composting process, which turns out to be 6months. Last time I checked (with Courtney), BD compost typically needed 2 years to finish (David Johnson asks for 1 to 2 years to finish his bioreactor compost, also. ) Am I being too doctrinaire assuming a definition of biodynamic compost making requires a two year period? (And, while I'm at it, please explain 'mineralized compost"' to me again (Not minerals added to compost as it's built but compost that has set too long and become 'mineralized') ) Thank you
Hi Allan, "mineralized" here means "turned to dust" -- no longer colloidal and no longer claylike, but totally disintegrated into a dry, dusty material.
It really depends how long something takes to become colloidal. If the materials are thoroughly chopped up into tiny pieces first, the rate of transformation is much faster. I've seen colloidal humus in 6-8 months but that is IF AND ONLY IF all the materials are first thoroughly shredded AND thoroughly mixed together (in a cement mixer). It's extra work up front, but it's like chewing food: we digest it better!
Malibu Compost sells the only bagged BD compost product I know of. It certainly has nice texture, but I was shocked to find out that Malibu actually brags about their long term composting process, which turns out to be 6months. Last time I checked (with Courtney), BD compost typically needed 2 years to finish (David Johnson asks for 1 to 2 years to finish his bioreactor compost, also. ) Am I being too doctrinaire assuming a definition of biodynamic compost making requires a two year period? (And, while I'm at it, please explain 'mineralized compost"' to me again (Not minerals added to compost as it's built but compost that has set too long and become 'mineralized') ) Thank you
Hi Allan, "mineralized" here means "turned to dust" -- no longer colloidal and no longer claylike, but totally disintegrated into a dry, dusty material.
It really depends how long something takes to become colloidal. If the materials are thoroughly chopped up into tiny pieces first, the rate of transformation is much faster. I've seen colloidal humus in 6-8 months but that is IF AND ONLY IF all the materials are first thoroughly shredded AND thoroughly mixed together (in a cement mixer). It's extra work up front, but it's like chewing food: we digest it better!