Jeffrey Neal of Howard University Community Garden presented this at ILSR's Cultivating Community Composting workshop.

1. Best Management Practices (BMPs)
at
Howard University Urban Garden
Community Compost Cooperative
&
Rhapsody Condo Worm Composting
Jeffrey Neal
ILSR and Loop Closing
USCCC 2017 - Cultivating Community Composting

2. Existential Threat
• Rats are ubiquitous in DC,
especially in areas with
restaurants
• Keeping them at bay
incorporated in every
element
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3. BMPs (and then what really happens)
• Threat Mitigation
• Site specifics
• Feed stocks
• Turning
• Curing
• Sifting
• Data
• Signage
• Help
• Worms
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4. Site Specifics
• DC Department of Parks and Recreation (DPR)
• Urban Farm Plans - Compost Knox 3-bin system
• “Squat” at Howard University’s Urban Garden
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Before After

5. Site Specifics
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Browns staged
3 bins and 2 curing corals

6. Site Specifics
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Curing corrals
Finished compost staged

7. Feedstock
• Browns are gold
• Leaves
• Neighbors bag, collect bags, HU or DC deliver
• Compost Cab
• Parents house in the DC suburb of Reston
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8. Feed stock
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• Rat resistant storage
• Leaves: Whole vs Shredded or decomposing
• Changes volume ratios from 2:1 to 1:1

9. Feed stock
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• Wood chips
• Add 1:4 wood chips to leaves
• Stage and add the overs

10. Feed Stock – Adding Food Scraps
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• All food scraps go straight into bin 1, no staging
• Bin 1 has scale, bucket, and shovel
• Thermometer left in all 5 piles

11. Turning
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• Use mixing bins and tarps

12. Turning
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• Check moisture, hand squeeze test
• Add water
• Tarp, too

13. Curing (oops)
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Rats tracks

14. Curing
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15. Sifting
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Finished
Overs

16. Data
• Google Sheet
• Weights
• Temperatures
• Moisture Content
• Notes, including bad things
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17. Data
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18. Testing
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• Germination test
• Conduct lab test complying with USCC STA

19. Signs and Set Workdays and Hours
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20. Partner or Perish (burnout)
• Co-Managers – Valerie Onifade, clone her!
• ILSR
• Compost Cab, LLC
• Howard University
• Rhapsody Condo Board
• Washington DC, Department of Parks and
Recreation
• Eco-City Farm
• Urban Farm Plans
• Neighbors, Community
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21. Worm Composting in a Building
• Condo of 160 units, pilot project with 10 units
• Residents divert plant-based food scraps from the
landfill or waste water treatment plant
• Residents stage food waste in the trash room
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22. Worm Composting in a Building
• Select individuals transfer food to the worms
• Worms staged in the stairwell bottom landing
• Out of the way; accessible; climate controlled by the earth;
and available in most mid- and hi-rise buildings
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23. Jeffrey Neal, PE
loopclosing@gmail.com
Composting Improves Our Quality of Life
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24. Back-up Slides
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25. Photos- Bin Lid Rat Resistance
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26. Photos- Biolayer built-in
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27. Photos
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28. Capstone Project – Condo Loop Closing
Extended Project – Halo Green Garden
Compost Bins
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29. Photos
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30. Opportunities and Hurdles
– Use the compost for potted plants, a community
garden, or returning to farmers
– Board approval delay of 4 months: Lesson learned is
to state what I’m doing vice ask for approval
– Water access at Halo Green Garden at Howard
– Processes needed: how, inclusion, metrics, growth
– Telling my own story (not what to do)
– We are not alone!
– Lesson I need to learn: Stop going at it alone!
– Return DC compost to farms providing DC’s produce?
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31. Next…
• Greatly increase local composting, excess on hand
• Sandy Lerner, MS '81, Co-Founder of Cisco and Founder of
Ayrshire Farm: “Problem with selling to farmers is that
farmers have no money to buy anything”
• Think local, disposable income of DC residents
• Everfi model: Banks fund web-based instruction
• Umbrella support for diverse network of composters: QC,
testing, marketing, scheduling, etc
• Local laws remove blocks to diversion, limiting food waste
to landfills pending?
• Farmers market farmers, organic markets, grocers, food
distributors?
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32. Condo Back-up Slides
– Start with 7 bins that are 2SF, estimate 7#/week
rotated on a 2 week basis. Needs 30 SF to start.
– Laydown area for bins: 90 SF in 3 stairwells, 100SF
in the parking garage, ???SF in storage rooms
– Can grow to at least 10 fold to 70#/week assuming
worms eat their body weight weekly
– Space to deliver to and from via loading ramp
– Provide extensive signage and email notices
– Start with 10 motivated residents, grow from
there
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