A key component to the perpetual cycle at Rahane is composting. The soil on the farm is already rich and alive, and adding compost to the mix creates a super-charged soil the plants love.
What materials are composted?
- food scraps
- egg shells
- weeds
- wood chips
- chicken manure
- leaves
These materials are added in layers to the compost pile. Every 6″, a layer of straw is added. The straw helps keep oxygen in the pile. Because Rahane relies an aerobic organisms to break down the mix, oxygen is essential. To further facilitate the colonization and well-being of these organisms, the pile is shaded and kept moist. These factors ensure constant environmental conditions that allow the compost process to be as efficient as possible.
The entire process takes about 6 months. When the compost is finished, a portion of the completed goodness is added to preexisting piles. Doing so adds colonies of established bacteria, fungi and other organisms to the younger compost. I was lucky to have this job. While going through the finished compost, there was so much life you could actually hear them crawling through the mix. It was kind of like listening to the cereal “Rice Krispies” after adding milk.
Observed organisms:
- pill bugs
- worms
- rubber boa
- alligator lizards
- mycelium
- mold
Rahane Farm 