24 Aug Farm Week in VT: carbon farming, urine fertilizer, and compost.

I spent the last week exploring Vermont during Dig In Vermont’s Open Farm Week to familiarize myself with the area, but also to connect with people who could potentially be interested in THH’s efforts to compost human waste. It was a great week of camping, learning, and enjoying the countryside.

RICH EARTH INSTITUTE

Hands down the highlight of my week, I got to tag along for Rich Earth Institute’s 2016 Urine Diversion Summit and see the process of human urine being transformed into viable field fertilizer— from collection, to processing, through application. The day was hot, and the odor strong, but their work gives me hope for our drinking water’s future.

Abraham, of Rich Earth Institute, helps in the process of loading the human urine fertilizer into the tractor pulled spreader while summit attendees observe.

Shire Beef

At this lovely family farm, I learned about the symbiotic relationship between cows & grass, and how we can put more carbon into the ground—just from changing how we manage their grazing patterns. I had first heard about carbon farming from this Modern Farmer article, but didn’t quite understand how it worked. Now, I’ve got a much better idea.

Sanberg Farm

Another small operation, but making a big impact, this farm has a large compost operation going strong. Lots of different source material gets combined to create an ideal mixture, and chickens make sure the bugs stay under control.

If you’re interested in Open Farm Week, here’s a map of all the farms that participated in 2016.