The Compost Initiative.

by Liz1 Comment on The Compost Initiative.
The Compost Initiative.

When I moved to the United States in 2008, it shocked me how much food wastage there was. Where I grew up, left-overs went to those who needed food, and left over left-overs went to the animals and compost. Thus throwing out food was literally foreign, until I moved to the States.

So… Here I am, 11 years later and find myself in a unique position where I can help those who feel the same. I can help move your food waste to create vibrant living soil, to help rejuvenate the lands around us and to bring renewal.

Instead of your ‘garbage’ going to landfills, imagine a world where you single handedly bring what is known as ‘living’ soil to your area. Soil that is alive with real nutrients and not synthetic fertilizers or chemicals. Soil that has an active biome, from worms and bugs to the microscopic. A soil that has a higher Cation exchange capacity (CEC) count because of the organic matter, which yields to a denser, richer soil, able to hold more water and nutrients before run off, which thus allows anything to be grown in an environment that is cheerleading it to be its best.

How can we partner?
1. At Wozani’s front gate we have a wheel barrow that you are welcome to drop off food waste, anytime Tuesdays through Fridays. This is a free service.
2. Door to door pick up. Compost will be picked up Once a week, Twice a month or monthly, depending on your need. This is a feature we are currently in the process of working on, and will be starting soon, based on demand. If this is something you’d like to see, please reply to this blog or reach out to us on instagram or facebook.

What we accept.

YES. Compostable

As our need grows, so will the items we accept.  

  • Fruit and vegetable scraps
  • Pasta, bread, cereal
  • Cooked foods
  • Dairy products, egg shells
  • Coffee grounds, filters, & tea bags
  • Paper towels and paper towel rolls
  • Muffin wrappers
  • Candies, cookies and cake
  • Baking ingredients, herbs, spices
  • Household plants including soil

NOPE.

Not compostable, some items will be removed from this list in the future. 

  • PLASTIC (unless labeled compostable)
  • Styrofoam meat trays
  • Aluminum foil
  • Clams, oysters, mussels (basically rocks)
  • Candles, synthetic corks and gum
  • Artificial flowers and plants
  • Rugs, carpets
  • Cigarette butts, tobacco
  • Dental floss and Q-tips
  • Baby wipes
  • Disposable mop sheets
  • Dryer lint sheets
  • Vacuum cleaner bags
  • Hair, pet fur, pet waste
  • Dead animals
  • Fireplace or BBQ ashes
  • Recyclable materials
  • Paper fast food packaging*
  • Soiled paper food packaging*
  • Flour and sugar bags*
  • Pizza boxes*
  • Meat, bones, fish products*
  • Paper plates*

*These Items may move to the compostable list in the future. 

Lavender

by RainerLeave a Comment on Lavender
Lavender

Things are coming along on Wozani Farm. This past weekend we got our first bed of lavender in the ground 4 rows of 12 to be exact, a solid 48 plants. Since before we moved to the farm, we had plans for lots and lots of lavender. For bees to be buzzing, and scents to be drifting. Besides being pretty to look at and lovely to smell — it has the potential to be a cash crop for the farm. Or so we’ve read.

With this first planting, we decided to go with Hidcote Lavender. Hidcote is a cultivar of English Lavender (Lavandula angustifolia) with deep violet blue blossoms and silvery foliage. This variety does well in Colorado, and winters well. Mature size averages around 2ft wide and 2ft tall.

Since this was an investment, And we’ve read if done well, these plants will last up to 15 years, we wanted to ensure that the soil was properly amended. Fortunately with lavender, they like bad soil. The only amending you typically need is to correct the pH. Lavender does well in soils with a pH between 6.5-7.5. So, Liz picked up a soil test kit and the pH was a perfect 7.0! — no amending was necessary. We used this one, the Luster Leaf 1601 Rapitest Test Kit for Soil pH, Nitrogen, Phosphorous and Potash https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0000DI845/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_9ul7CbA2SB2V7 we got ours from The good ol Home Depot.

The other thing that lavender hates is a wet clay soil. So as ours is sandy, we are hoping for amazingly great things, due to its great drainage potential.

When planting lavender, it is very important to plan for weed suppression. Lavender will grow really well in poor soils, but they don’t tolerate crowding from weeds well. So we laid out commercial grade woven landscape fabric as an initial barrier. A lot of farms burn circles to allow for their plants, however we did not have the tools for that, so we cut “X’s” After this we covered the bed with straw and straw matting as a mulch. We found the straw matting at the Tractor supply store for not much at all.

Hopefully, we will start seeing harvestable flowers from this bed in about 1-2 years! We will keep you updated.

Mother’s Day

by RainerLeave a Comment on Mother’s Day
Mother’s Day

Happy Mother’s Day weekend to all the moms out there! We celebrated the weekend at the farm. While Liz was out getting pampered and having her hair done, I surprised her and converted an old horse shed to a potting shed for her.

Now she finally has the space to lay out all her supplies in one place! She loves it and as already used it to start some seedlings for the Frederick Farmer’s Market.

Project #1 – Fencing 2.0

by RainerLeave a Comment on Project #1 – Fencing 2.0

If you read our earlier post about our first project, you know how much research we did in finding the best materials to keep our goats in their new pasture. We ended up going with the cattle panels — as they were sturdy, tall and essentially goat proof. Since the new fence has been installed, it has worked fantastically! No goats have managed to breach the fence — so they turned around and looked the other way…

For the next several weeks, the goats were content with their new found freedom. Approximately 2 acres of new pasture! All for them! But apparently the grass is always greener on the other side (ok, maybe it was literally greener, but that’s beside the point). Within a matter of two days, the goats escaped 7 times!

Drastic measures needed to be taken! Some quick brainstorming (i.e. Google how do I keep my goats from escaping?) led me to electric fencing. Many articles talked about electric fencing as the only way to deter goats, meaning it worked “most” of the time. So I made up my mind and decided this was what we needed. And as luck would have it, the previous owner must have asked Google the same question, because there was already wire run along the fence line with insulators already installed — all I needed to do was supply a power source.

Apparently, you can’t just hook up a car battery to the line — won’t work. I learned this the hard way, I was desperate. I had just dragged Big Nina, our large Lamancha back over for what seemed like the hundredth time, and she become more stubborn and obstinate with every escape. Let me tell you that trying to move a 200 pound goat that doesn’t want to go is no easy feat. So yes, I tried the car battery — and was quickly disappointed. So, I forked over the money and went to the Tractor Supply Store and bought a Solar-powered Energizer by American Farm Works.

It was so easy to set up! The only catch was that you need to give it enough time to charge the battery via the sun. Big Nina, quickly learned that the grass wasn’t that much greener : )

Saying fare-well

by Liz1 Comment on Saying fare-well
Saying fare-well

We were relieved when we found out our property was not incorporated by the city limits that surrounds it. Instead we are Weld county, unincorporated Frederick CO.

This means that we are zoned agricultural and have a little more wiggle room when it comes to doing things. One of those things are controlled burns 🔥

All we have to do is phone Weld county and let them know our plans. And they responded with an easy simple, “ok, Don’t forget you are responsible for your actions.” Yessir!

So on a windless warm Sunday we took all the debris from around the property and created a spectacular and momentous burn pile. We burned all the clippings from the trees we had pruned, and then anything else organic that could burn, cardboard, paper and broken (untreated) fences.

This was the kids first experience of fire, real big flaming fire! And Rainer learnt that I, his mighty South African wife, knows her stuff when it comes to building and maintaining a fire.

For our first warm sunny windless winter day, we had such a fun time As we cleaned up the farm!! 🔥❤️

More Goats!

by RainerLeave a Comment on More Goats!
More Goats!

It has been awhile since our last post, it’s been pretty crazy around the farm. There has been weddings and family visiting from South Africa. But the work on the farm hasn’t stopped — neither has the acquisition of new goats to the farm : )

If she isn’t careful, my beautiful wife Liz will soon be known as the goat lady. We have unintentionally become a local goat rescue. A lady called Liz about 2 weeks ago and asked her if we would be able to take in some goats that need a good home. This new bunch included two 3 week old “kids” so of course she said yes.

Fortunately I had finished the new fence for the back pasture and had moved the herd back there — much more room and much happier goats! They have settle in nicely and the kids are in love with the “kids”. : )