February 15, 2024
Rice Hulls
Today was an exciting day at CAO. We received a huge truckload of rice hulls! Rice hulls play a big role in CAO’s organic production. They are the bedding for the sheep pens. This is important because sheep are susceptible to diseases in their hooves, which happens when their hooves get too wet. To prevent infections, the rice hulls provide a soft, dry bed for the sheep. Eventually the rice hulls get wet and dirty from the sheep urine and poop and they are then used as a key ingredient for the Bokashi fertilizer and the compost.
To keep costs low, Glen looks for materials that he can acquire locally at a wholesale price. Therefore, they receive the rice hulls in bulk and store them. To avoid high-cost inputs, Glen stays away from organic stores and products marketed as organic. These are usually marked up in price.
The truck of rice hulls was scheduled to arrive today, so the students were ready with their faces and eyes covered with t-shirts to prevent the dust from getting in their eyes. As some students shoveled the materials out of the truck, others began to load it into bags and tie them up. Then Rosi, Ruby (another volunteer), and I were ready to load the bags into wheelbarrows and take them to the sheep pen to store.
Unloading, bagging, and storing the rice hulls
Saw Dust
Another important, locally available, organic material is saw dust! Glen drove us to the sawmill where we bagged up and loaded into the truck a large supply of sawdust. Sawdust serves different purposes on the farm. For example, it is used every day for the composting toilet. Because it is used so often, CAO buys large quantities to get low-cost material. Glen gets the students to think about the economics of farming and how to get low-cost or free material.
Bagging up saw dust with Ismael
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