University of Maryland Uses DeHydrator Compost as Quality Soil Amendment

University of Maryland CompostUniversity of Maryland BinsWe were told all kinds of horror stories; that if we placed the soil amendment around our grounds rain would rehydrate the product and create an attraction for pests and varmints. I now know, based on our experience, that those warnings were not accurate. The warnings came from the people trying to sell us an alternative food waste solution system that uses water and enzymes to break the food waste down; much, much more water than advertised though. Our tests showed a multiplier was needed to get to the actual number of gallons used from the number of gallons projected. We’re very happy as an institution that we have a pilot program to test all potential environmental system purchases.

OUR DEHYDRATING PROGRAM LOOKS LIKE THIS:

Every day we put in about 400lbs of salad room waste, including a very small amount of scrap meat from the slicers. After the dehydration cycle we’re left with about 50lbs of the richest, most wonderful, soil you could ever want to jump start your garden. We place it directly on top of our existing beds and store the extra in our chiller yard, which is at ground level. The only pests or varmints I have ever seen “We really could not be more pleased with the Somat equipment. We have a range of their products and are planning on purchasing more. In the end we plan to have all three of our campus salad rooms on the ‘program’.”as I’ve turned the dehydrated products are worms, and they show up to help!

I need to also mention that the machine works best if you manage the load. We use a mix of products just like any composting company. We never fill the unit with 400lbs of one thing. We’ve learned through trial and error that creating our mixture works best for perfect soil amendment. It’s no hassle for us to do this…it just took some learning.

It is really so simple to manage.

We would love to show and tell.

We really could not be more pleased with the Somat equipment. We have a range of their products and are planning on purchasing more. In the end we plan to have all three of our campus salad rooms on the ‘program’.

Gregory K Thompson
Asst. Director of Facilities & Maintenance
University of Maryland – College Park