Troemner Farm Ecology
Worms! Worms Everywhere in the Compost Pile
These gorgeous crawlers are a wonderful sign that the pile is balanced. Worms thrive when the conditions are right: steady moisture, a healthy pH, and a good mix of browns, which are carbon-rich materials, and greens, which are nitrogen-rich materials.
They also leave behind one of the best gifts a compost pile can offer: worm castings. Also known as worm poop, castings help create highly bioavailable, nutrient-rich compost that feeds the soil and supports healthy plant growth.
Our Community Compost Process
Our process is simple, low-waste, and beautifully connected:
First, we empty the filled compost buckets from our community compost program. These food scraps and other compostable materials bring in the green matter.
Then, our chickens get to work. They scratch, peck, dig, and stir through the pile, helping aerate the material while enjoying the bits and pieces they find along the way.
Next, we add brown matter on top, such as wood chips, old leaves, or soiled straw bedding from the chicken coop. This helps balance the pile and supports the slow transformation from scraps to soil food.
Then, we let the rain do its part. Moisture helps the composting process move along and keeps the pile hospitable for worms, microbes, and all the tiny organisms doing the unseen work.
Over time, the deepest layer becomes finished compost. We dig that rich, dark material and apply it around trees and shrubs that support pollinators and wildlife, including rowanberry, lilac, chokecherry, pine, solidago, and serviceberry.
The soil beneath our crops is alive. The plants around the edges matter. The insects matter. The trees matter. The wet places matter. The untidy corners matter. When we talk about regenerative farming, this is part of what we mean: not just
From Friends, to Farm, to Forest
The beautiful thing about compost is that nothing works alone. Community members collect scraps. Chickens aerate the pile. Worms transform the material. Finished compost feeds the soil. The soil supports plants. Plants feed pollinators, birds, and wildlife.
All of it is connected.
Community compost program members, and the general public, are welcome to walk Troemner Trail a 0.6 mile nature trail that winds through the forest once it opens in late June! When you first get here, you can watch the chickens in the pasture then enjoy the wildlife on the trail and see how small acts of care become part of a much larger cycle.
From friends, to farm, to forest, it all thrives together: compost collectors, chickens, worms, plants, wildlife, and planet.
Thank you for the part you play in this sustainable solution. Your buckets are doing more than keeping food scraps out of the waste stream. They are helping build soil, feed wildlife habitat, and grow a healthier farm ecosystem.
