Some of you responded saying you wanted a tour, and I've saved your info. But I wanted to send Casey's response about gro-co specifically and how it could be used on the farm. It is below. I'm open to your feed back, I should be talking to her soon about more details.
In the mean time. If you have a preferred date and time, please send it to me- it will be for next quarter I imagine- yes yes? I imagine taking her up on a Saturday tour would be the best thing. The more of us there, the more worthwhile to the farm, uw knowledge, and gro-co's effort. Does anyone know Sally Brown? Want to do some quick research (in the middle of finals week and all!)? I've heard she's really open to talking about this.
Thanks!
Lydia
From: "Plank, Casey" <Casey.Plank@kingcounty.gov>
To: Lydia Caudill <isa101799@yahoo.com>
Sent: Sun, March 7, 2010 11:53:31 PM
Subject: RE: Gro-co compost and a tour
I just sent you a super long email...I hoe you got it.
If not, here is the short version:
A time for tours:
let me know what works afternoons and some Saturdays are really easy for me. I see a lot of value to working with your group and will do what it takes to find a time...
No, can't be used on certified organic crops. Yes can be used on all crops. A quick web search for Groco, King County Biosolids and Tagro will provide more info. I will cover a lot of this and encourage these conversations while touring the facility.
I encourage anyone working on sustainable agriculture projects to learn about groco/biosolids as well as tour cedar grove composting if you can male the time. I will talk about the Cedar Grove a bit in context to groco when I meet with you.
Sally Brown at UW has done an amazing amount of research on the benefits of using biosolids (and reclaimed water) in various capacities.
Quantity and cost- I initially am just getting a feel of interest. I can provide a small quantity for demonstration no problem- enough for a 4x8ft plot. More than that needs to be talked about and possibly negotiated straight through Sawdust Supply who processes biosolids into groco.
As for Groco, I think this would be a good proposal for Sawdust Supply. I would be happy to help facilitate this. Transportation of larger quantities would be up to the using group. Small quantities could be discussed.
Think about all of this and call my cell tomorrow before 12 or after 4 to talk about the details and other questions that have come up. I will work to pull together a packet of research papers, articles, education materials to help everyone start understanding pros and cons and other peoples perspectives.
I look forward to talking with you-
Casey
cell 206-607-7717
-----Original Message-----
From: Lydia Caudill [mailto:isa101799@yahoo.com]
Sent: Thu 3/4/2010 1:23 PM
To: Elizabeth Wheat; Plank, Casey
Cc: Brady William Ryan; Nina Arlein
Subject: Gro-co compost and a tour
Hello Casey,
I sent out your proposed waste treatment tour to the farm last night and have already gotten 7 responses of people being interested in a tour of your plant! I think we can begin a conversation of when that could be, which dates and times work best, etc because I think there will be a group interested in going. It will probably be best after April and when our next quarter begins. (The class we were trying to create did not get the feet it needed to so this will be through the UW Urban Farm instead.)
The second part of this is looking at using gro-co on the farm. There has been several really good questions that people have made and requests for more information before we start putting this into our shared space. But we are interested to learn more!
These are from Beth Wheat, the best phrased:
The first question is: can the bio-solids be used on a farm that is going to be certified organic (not that that certifies sustainability, but it will be important for the UW farm to get certified as a first step to marketing our product). (as far as I know, such as with chicken manure, you can put it on the soil but can't sell your produce for 120 days -Lydia)
Second: What do you know about heavy metals & and other drug residues that might be bio-accumulated in bio solids.
Third: are bio-solids really being used in vegetable gardening, or are they mostly being used in the application on fruit orchards, flower gardens etc. --- In Tacoma, what is their compost being used for, for example?
With answers to these questions, we will be in a better place to know if and how we want to use your compost, and also help promote this alternative resource.
Thanks!
Lydia
________________________________
From: Elizabeth Wheat <elizaw@u.washington.edu>
To: Lydia Caudill <isa101799@yahoo.com>
Cc: Brady William Ryan <bradyr@u.washington.edu>; Nina Arlein <ninarlein@gmail.com>
Sent: Thu, March 4, 2010 11:42:53 AM
Subject: Re: [TheUWfarm] Gro-co compost and another tour
Lydia,
I think humanure is a great idea. I have some thoughts though about using it to build our soil reserves on our new acre. The first question is: can the bio-solids be used on a farm that is going to be certified organic (not that that certifies sustainability, but it will be important for the UW farm to get certified as a first step to marketing our product). Second: What do you know about heavy metals & and other drug residues that might be bio-accumulated in bio solids. Third: are bio-solids really being used in vegetable gardening, or are the mostly being used in the application on fruit orchards, flower gardens etc.
If you are willing to look into this it would be great to know some of these answers.
I'm not a bio-solids skeptic 100% - I love composting human waste, but I want the farm to err on the side of over cautious about applying bio-solids product to our vegetable crops. So it will be good to the questions above before buying into the idea.
Cheers,
Beth
Lydia Caudill wrote:
> Hi farmers,
> I've been in contact with a woman named Casey who has some ideas in her head. She works for king county waste water and she is in the position to possibly offer a new compost option. I've told her about the farm and she wants to hear more.
>
> Background: King County waste takes all of the sewer waste that we create, puts it in a year long process of mulching and basically composts the crap out of it with sawdust. Some tests show this to have a lower level of toxins than cedar grove which, while certified organic, receives ALL clippings etc from Seattle and composts for 6 months. Unfortunately, it still gives people the heebie jeebies.
>
> Tacoma already fully utilizes the waste compost they create and sells it to gardens there. It hasn't caught on in Seattle and Casey is trying to get the word out about this great possibility. She is also interested to be in discussion about cost, transportation, etc. This could be really cheap option!!! Especially with an acre on the horizon???
>
> She would really like for us to take a tour there so we can understand the process and not be scared of this HUMAN MANURE!
>
> What do you think? Interested? Get back to me.
> Thanx!
>
> Lydia
>
> ----- Forwarded Message ----
> *From:* "Plank, Casey" <Casey.Plank@kingcounty.gov>
> *To:* Lydia Caudill <isa101799@yahoo.com>
> *Sent:* Wed, March 3, 2010 4:09:14 PM
> *Subject:* RE: Water and gro-co
>
> Lydia-
>
>
> Thanks so much for all of this- apologies for taking so long to get back to you-
>
>
> Amazing info- as a starting spot, it would be great if you could incorporate a tour of the wastewater treatment plant into your curriculum.
>
> That might really help you get a feel for the experience based curriculum options. I would be happy to talk with you about this and see what comes to mind.
>
>
> The tour would also be a good starting spot to understand why I want to push harder to get more people using groco. Would any of the other students that work on the farm be interested in touring one of the treatment plants and possibly checking out the Tagro system in Tacoma ? If I could incorporate a thorough education plan into this I would be willing to work with Sawdust Supply- the company that processes our biosolids into the Groco compost - to see about donation quantities. I know they do this and would likely be willing to do more, I would just need to be able to justify the coordination work on my part to make it happen. We can talk about details of transportation, cost, etc.
>
>
> Let's talk. Let me know what times generally work for you-
>
>
> My office phone is 206-263-6028
>
> My cell is 206-607-7717- feel free to call after work hours and if I don't answer just let me know how late I can call you back, etc.
>
>
> On a personal level I am really interested in your Burst for Prosperity project- Duncan told me a little bit about it.
>
>
> And as far as the 'spring into bed' event- can you give me more details as you have them?
>
>
> Thanks!
>
> Casey
>
>
>
>
>
>
> **Casey Plank**
>
> Education and Public Involvement
>
> Wastewater Treatment Division
>
> King County Department of Natural Resources and Parks
>
> KSC-NR-0505 -201 S. jackson Street - Seattle , WA 98104
>
> 206-263-6028
>
> http://www.kingcounty.gov/environment/wtd/Education.aspx
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> *From:* Lydia Caudill [mailto:isa101799@yahoo.com]
> *Sent:* Wednesday, February 24, 2010 4:16 PM
> *To:* Plank, Casey
> *Cc:* Duncan Clauson
> *Subject:* Water and gro-co
>
>
> Hello Casey,
>
> I received your information from a classmate of mine, Duncan Clausen. As he is aware of several of my interests, he gave me a heads up on how our projects could over lap.
>
> I am actively involved with the urban farm systems and programs, in various ways, and he had mentioned you were interested in looking at new ways to put your compost, gro-co, out into the public.
>
> Several things come immediately to mind:
>
> --- There is a festival being coordinated by Cascade Edible Landscaping, called "Spring Into Bed" where they are trying to modivate the city to make as many vegetables beds as possible.
> ---I also am involved with the UW Urban Farm, and they need compost both currently, and in the future, because they are in the process of expanding their land and acquiring an acre, in which case soil augmentation of all kinds, including compost, would be very helpful.
>
> ---Also, my senior project is working with Burst for Prosperity and their Refugee Farming Project. Groups of Burundi and Somali-Bantu are starting a farm to try to build self-sufficiency, and with limited resources, so any help would be appreciated.
>
>
> These are ideas off the top of my head, but there are many ways for you to introduce your compost to new users in Seattle . With more information, I could more appropriately give you recommendations. Such as, how much will it cost? How much can you provide? Are you providing transportation?
>
> And lastly, my classmates and I are facilitating a Water Seminar for our major, Community, Environment and Planning, and other interested UW students. We are in the process of putting together an experience based curriculum and Duncan said you might have water curriculum material we could use. Also, we want to incorporate three field trips into the quarter, and we are curious what it would look like to visit the Waste Water management center. Is that an option?
>
>
> This is a long email! Thank you for your interest in sharing information and resources with the community. Hopefully this gave you an idea of what I am doing and how we might be able to work together. Please ask any questions you have, and I'll do my best to answer them.
>
>
> Look forward to hearing from you,
>
>
> Lydia Caudill
>
>
> 206.450.3361
>
>
>
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> _______________________________________________
> TheUWfarm mailing list
> TheUWfarm@u.washington.edu
> http://mailman2.u.washington.edu/mailman/listinfo/theuwfarm
>
-- Elizabeth Wheat Ph.D. Candidate
Biology Department University of Washington
e-mail: elizaw@u.washington.edu
web: www.students.washington.edu/elizaw
AND YOU?
There's a child in me
that delights
in butterfly wings,
stained glass windows,
blue-green bottles
and sun - through things. j.r. rhodes
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