Unfortunately, each time they turned the windrows, odors were released that the neighbors found offensive. Never mind that UVDS had been operating for 20 years and these were new neighbors, a long series of complaints to the California Air Quality Board lead to a neighborhood lawsuit and UVDS was on the verge of being shut down. The owner was given one chance to mitigate the odor problem or close it down for good.

I was called into the project to help design and construct the aeration system. We set up an Extended Aerated Static pile with four aeration zones. The total dimension of the pile was on the order of 80-feet wide, 200-feet long and 12-feet tall, resulting in a pile volume of nearly 5,500 cubic yards. By converting from a turned windrow system to an EASP system, we were able to quadruple the volume of materials to be composted per square foot of available compost pad. In addition, the owners operating expense decreased by 75 percent.

By all accounts, this approach to composting mitigated odor impacts and neighbor complaints, and the law suit was dropped. UVDS is operating to this day, now composting approximately 125,000 cubic yards of grape pumace annually. The success of this project lead to aerated static pile composting being considered a Best Management Practice throughout California.

I built a compost pile and twice a week I’d show up in the early morning and turn the pile and I quickly realized why this approach just doesn’t work very well. First of all, it smelled awful and secondly it took a lot of time. I suggested to Don that we should buy a blower and set up an aerated static pile, which we did the following weekend. Using a simple timer to operate the blower, we produced our first batch of compost – nearly 200 cubic yards – in about 6-weeks time. Everything was going great and one day Don asked the inevitable questions – “Now what do we do with it?”

I knew that his folks were members of the Snohomish Garden Club so I suggested that they should put the word out and give the compost away to their friends and neighbors to test market it in the local community. The compost received rave reviews and Bailey Compost was born.

After completing my aerated 3-bin proto-type, I showed it to several of my composting buddies; and one of them, Jim Jensen – owner of the Yelm Worm Farm in Washington – mentioned it to another worm farmer, Jack Chambers – owner of Sonoma Valley Worm Farm in California.

Jack is an airline pilot and soon after learning about my innovative approach, he flew up to the Northwest to pay me a visit. When he saw the system, he realized that this was the solution to his biggest problem - properly “pre-composting” his dairy manure to destroy pathogens and weed seeds in the initial mix.

Shortly after this, I sketched up a set of plans for an aerated compost system to handle Jack’s projected volume of dairy manure and within two months, he was up and running full speed. His system has been running non-stop since 2001.

At this point, I was confident that I could teach others about composting on any scale if I could work with them directly. What I didn’t know was whether I could train them without meeting them and setting foot on their farms. This to me seemed the ultimate challenge.

In 2003, I began attending horse Expos and advertising in Stable Management Magazine and this lead me to Amy Hazard in Greenville, NC. Since working with Jack Chambers, I had formalized the set of drawings for a 3-bin aerated compost system and Amy became my first official off-site client. With a great deal of help and insight from her builder, Ammon Miller, we constructed and began operating the system shown here.

I met Amy for the first time in March of 2008 and her system hasn’t missed a beat. She had originally planned to sell her compost but after applying it to her pastures, she realized that the higher and better use was on her own farm. The entire southeast has experienced drought conditions over the past few years and Amy’s pasture grass is the strongest in the region.

Don Trueblood attended a workshop that I conducted in Southern California in the summer of 2004, and he purchased our Training Program for a 5 to 10 horse stable. Given that Don and his wife had only two horses in literally a backyard stable, he downsized our system such that each bay measured 4’ x 4’ x 4’, for a total volume of 2 ½ cubic yards per bay. He constructed it using masonry block terraced into a slight incline, with slatted wood fronts and sliding lids.

When he suggested downsizing his system, I was very hesitant because I had never attempted to compost on such a small scale. Don’s compost system is located within 50-feet of his home and is close to neighbors, and therefore flies and odor were a particular concern. Because this system maintains aerobic conditions throughout the composting cycle, odors and flies have been all but eliminated. Don uses much of his compost in his landscaping and gives the remainder to his friends and neighbors, all of whom clamor for it to amend their sandy soil. Little did I know it then, but Don paved the way for the O2Compost Micro-Bin System.

As a general rule of thumb, 1-horse produces 1-cubic yard of manure per month. Add to this the volume of bedding that is used and the resultant total volume becomes the key component for the design of our aerated bay compost system. However, this rule of thumb occasionally doesn’t work out as expected, such as in the case of Farm Hill Stable. Somehow, the total volume was grossly underestimated, resulting in a system that was too small for the total number of horses.

To resolve this problem, we converted to a free standing aerated static pile and used the 3-bay system for curing and compost storage. All of the compost generated at Farm Hill is now sold to and distributed by an independent company owned by another composter in the area.

The lesson that we learned from this project was to clearly quantify the volume of manure that is generated on every farm. To do this, we ask our clients to: 1) measure the volume of the cart or wheel barrow that they use to collect the manure from the stalls (this becomes our unit of measure); and 2) count the number of carts that are collected over a 1 or 2-week period. We then project the volume for a 4-week period operating under peak conditions (typically winter when the horses are home from shows and in their stalls much of the day). We also size the system for future expansion if this is in the owner’s 5-year plan, either by over-sizing the individual bays or installing the underground aeration pipes for a fourth and sometimes a fifth aerated bay.

O2Compost was selected by the City of Redmond in a competitive bid process to design an aerated compost system for the City’s Farrell McWhirter Park. Prior to this, the City had been stockpiling their manure in an area that drained into a sensitive salmon bearing stream, and realizing that they had a responsibility to demonstrate environmental stewardship, they elected to compost the manure from a wide variety of farm animals. The system shown to the right was constructed in 2006 and during the first summer of operation, everything went exceptionally well.

However, during the first winter, the aeration plenum became flooded as the level of ground water rose to ground level. Water flooded the aeration pipes thereby negating their ability to induce airflow and maintain aerobic conditions throughout the compost pile.

To resolve this problem, O2Compost installed a p-trap and drain in each of the four aeration plenums, to drained this excess water into the sanitary sewer. The drains operate perfectly without need for any maintenance. The lesson that we learned with this project is to inquire about the depth to ground water at every site and to incorporate a drainage system where needed. In situations where a sanitary sewer connection is not available, we discharge to a vegetated bioswale for nutrient uptake.

In the summer of 2006, O2Compost began working with Sharon Ahern in northern Vermont, where – as it turns out – it gets quite cold during the winter months. Sharon Ahern had found O2Compost through Karen Hayes' book, "How to be the Perfect Horsekeeper". The old timers in her area thought that she was "nuts" for designing her facility using the Perfect Stall approach, especially when it came to composting the manure.

We started up Sharon’s compost system in the fall and everything went exceptionally well. However, the winter of 2006 was unusually cold (-15 to +15 degrees F) for extended periods and we collectively learned that frozen manure delivered to a frozen compost system stays frozen.

In addition, composted material that had been left in one of the bays had frozen solid and had to be chipped out of the bay with a pick and shovel. Needless to say, this was not a desirable situation and Sharon called on O2Compost to help her find a solution.

The following spring / summer we prepared a modified design that included: 1) removable insulated wall panels; 2) a light weight insulated cover; and 3) a heating cable to be placed in the base of the compost bay. We discovered that filling the bay with frozen manure to the top and then plugging in the heating cable for a day or two resulted in an active compost system within just a few days. As Sharon said, “It acts just like a block heater for your car”.

Now, all of her neighbors with horses want to know how she figured all out and she loves to promote O2Compost and give tours of her farm. Sharon has been instrumental in helping O2Compost design for extreme cold weather conditions and in 2008 will be one of our training facilities in the New England states.

It has been my absolute pleasure to work with Dr. Seraphim Moreira in Scottsdale, Arizona. As a dentist, Seraphim has an eye for detail and is ingenious with his ideas and suggestions. Because his wife didn’t want to see the roof of the compost system from the house, we worked together to design a sliding cover that helps retain water in the compost mix and provide shade when the sun is out – which is nearly everyday. In addition, the cover sheds water during the fall monsoon season when they get torrential downpours.

To further retain moisture in the compost mix, Seraphim places a plastic tarp on top of the pile throughout the active and curing phases of composting. He is also testing his compost as footing in his paddocks and bedding in his stalls. He uses the remaining compost the garden surrounding his home.

Some time ago, one of my clients in California strongly encouraged me to read the book “The Perfect Stall” by Karen Hayes, DVM. I hadn’t heard of it but I promptly visited Karen’s web site and saw that she had included a long list of recommended products and vendors for the various components of what she considers to be the Perfect Stall. As I reviewed this list, I noticed that one thing was conspicuously missing – a manure management system. I sent Karen a brief e-mail introducing myself and O2Compost and by the next morning I had a 3-page response with a discourse on her challenges and travails with composting. She wanted to know more – much more.

That summer, I visited Karen at her farm in Idaho and helped to construct a 3-bay compost system to manage the manure from her 6 Percherons. Our compost system worked beautifully and during the following spring, I unexpectedly received a draft of Chapter 1 of Karen’s next book, “How to Be the Perfect Horsekeeper”.

View a synopsis of “The Perfect Manure Management System”. This one source of information about the importance of properly managing manure and composting has been extraordinary in helping us further our mission to help horse owners and farms of all shapes and sizes located throughout the US and Canada. I will always be indebted to Karen for including us in her book and I feel lucky to have her as my friend. I encourage you to pick up a copy of her books and to visit her web site: www.integralhorse.com.

O2Compost was contracted by the US Army to conduct a two-phase project. The first phase included a “dumpster diving” review of their existing waste stream, or that portion of materials not being recycled. In this phase of the project, it was determined that over 35 percent of the “garbage” was recoverable / recyclable and that 60 percent of this fraction was organic in composition and could be composted.

The second phase of the project was designed as a pilot scale composting project involving a wide variety of feedstock materials, including municipal biosolids, food waste and petroleum contaminated soils. This phase included equipment appropriation and operator training. The results of this project were extremely favorable and formed the basis for other such recycling projects at other US Army military bases located around the world. Letter of Recommendation pertaining to the successful outcome of this project.

Over the years, O2Compost has worked on several grant funded compost system projects, the most recent being in our home town of Snohomish, Washington. This project offered us a unique opportunity to not only design the system but to actually construct it as well. Because of the funding process, monies became available at the last minute and the construction window was only 45 days.

The lessons learned included the following:

1) It is essential that we work directly with the builder of the compost system so that the intent of the design is clearly understood and short cuts are not taken that might otherwise compromise the performance of the system;

2) The Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) has design standards that are more stringent than most local building codes, resulting in additional cost to the owner;

3) Seeking a grant and working with the NRCS and local Conservation District takes a great deal of time and patience (i.e., hurry-up and wait and then scramble to get it done on time).

4) A 50% cost share doesn’t always include all of the materials necessary for complete construction and often results in less than a full 50% rebate.

Clara Kirk, the owner of Ghost Farm, is one of my all-time favorite clients. She, more than most, is eager to learn all about composting and takes full advantage of our perpetual technical support. Her system is an on-grade 3-bay compost system, however, behind each of the three aeration bays we also constructed curing and storage bays. When a batch of compost has completed the active phase, it is lifted over the wall that separates the two bays thereby keeping the compost under roof cover throughout the active and curing phases.

Clara’s compost system is also a grant funded project. Refer to Liberty Bell “lessons learned”, above.

This past year, it was our pleasure to work with Gregg Twehues of the Stone Barns Center for Food & Agriculture, a non-profit farm, educational center and restaurant in Westchester County, New York. It was created on 80 acres formerly belonging to the Rockefeller estate in Pocantico Hills by David Rockefeller and his daughter, Peggy Dulany. It is dedicated to promoting sustainable agriculture, local food, and community-supported agriculture. Gregg’s responsibility is to manage the farm's compost system to process manure, landscaping debris and food waste from the Blue Hill Restaurant. O2Compost provided assistance to Stone Barns Center to develop an aerated compost system to process poultry offal, with an emphasis on efficient operations and odor management.