It’s here, at long last… Bagging Day, the final step in our compost production process. This will be the thirteenth and final installment in our Life of a Batch series.
Previously:
The batch went through the screener, and was setup to cure until today’s last step.
Today is Friday, May 29… 7 days since screening day, and 116 days since we started the batch. Let’s get into it.
It’s been a week since we screened the batch, and it’s been sitting, wrapped in plastic, while it cured. Here’s what we look like when we open it up… a bit dry on the surface from a week in the sun, but pretty much the same as it was when it went in.
On closer inspection, you can see the finer texture of the finished compost. The larger chunks have been removed, and what’s left is light and fluffy, uniformly brown, with barely a hint of any aroma… exactly what you’d hope for in finished compost.
From the beginning, we’ve sold the compost in 30-pound bags. For the first year or so, we used to measure it out… suspend a bucket from a scale and pack the compost in until we reached 30 pounds, then pour the filled bucket into a bag. The process was accurate, but time consuming.
It didn’t take long to realize what 30 pounds looked like – a slightly over-stuffed 5 gallon bucket – so we decided to forego the scale and eyeball it, saving a ton of time in the process.
Above is our measuring system. It’s and old 5-gallon food collection bucket that we removed the bottom from. We then insert this into a bag and fill it until the bucket measure is overfull. Very low-tech, but it gets the job done.
Here’s the bucket measure inserted into a bag, ready to be filled. Now, it’s just shovel work.
Once the bucket gets nearly filled, we press the compost down, making space to fill it more. Since we’re eye-balling it, we make sure we put in at least the visual amount for 30 pounds.
We continue filling until the top of the bucket is well rounded, and compost is falling off the sides into the bag. That’s when we know there’s at least 30 pounds and the bag is full. Once it’s full, we slide the bucket measure out of the bag, the compost falling through the open bottom of the measure into the bag. We then twist up the top of the bag to close it… rinse and repeat until we’ve bagged the whole batch.
The filled bags are then loaded into the back of the truck to be carried back home where our customers can pick them up.
Once our commercial expansion is launched, finished bags will be palletized and brought to local retailers for sale.
As predicted, we ended up with 15 bags of finished compost from this batch. After a total of 116 days, through assembly, nine turns, screening and bagging, our batch has reached its final destination.
Anyone need some compost?