Feed the soil, feed the world - turn left over food into soil with this revolutionary advance in composting.
There’s a completely new way of turning food waste into soil, and I do it out the front of my house on the road verge with a Subpod. Anyone can now grow soil to grow food.
It’s an in-ground compost device that we may sit on.
No smell, almost no maintenance.
• Two Subpods on concrete. Each of the two women is sitting on a Subpod.
A Subpod can go on concrete, gravel or soil.
Today I have supported the Subpod Kickstarter campaign.
Anyone can.
May I invite you to support it today, too?
To support the campaign click here.
You can see how I use the Subpod myself and in my projects such as the one outside The Shop and Wine Bar café on the road verge at Bondi Beach.
Facts:
• When the Subpod is up and running at full capacity it will process 30 litres/7.9 gallons or 15 kg/34 pounds of food waste per week.
• Each Subpod has the dimensions: 750mm/29.5 inches L x 450mm/17.7 inches W x 430mm/17.7 inches H, including the lid
• You can decide if you want more garden space surrounding your Subpods or more Subpods for processing waste.
• You can have the Subpods joined together or separated by soil depending on your growing space and growing needs.
• Five Subpods at the Habitat residential and commercial estate in Byron Bay, NSW.
Each Subpod can be used by up to 4 people.
The processing capacity of a Subpod once it is up and running is 30 litres/15 kilograms of organic waste per week.
At the start when you are getting your Subpod going, you will not be able to put that much organic waste in your Subpod.
You will need to let your new worms settle into their new home and build up their numbers before they will be able to eat 15 kgs of fruit and veggies a week.
Worms are also adaptable, so if your organic waste is reduced for whatever reasons they will adapt to their environment. They will also not be confined to the Subpod, but will be free to move throughout the garden bed and come back to the Subpod for their dinner :)
If you eat a lot of fruit and vegetables and have more organic waste than 30 litres/15 kilograms per week, then you can purchase 2 or more Subpods. The Subpods can fit together due to their modular system and be used as a bench seat in the garden, or they can be installed into separate garden beds.
Reduced price for Subpods in schools
Subpod says:
“We believe that school gardens are important to support and we are offering interested schools an affiliate partnership. We can offer you a 15% discount to purchase Subpods, compost aerators and Grow Beds for your school garden and also a free Subpod for every 10 Subpod referrals (using your unique referral code) or 10% cashback.”
The school application form is here.
Subpods come with a built-in and functional seat that can hold up to 200 kilograms, so they are perfect to integrate through school grounds wherever seating is needed in gardens. They are also modular so many Subpods can fit together easily.
There are a couple of factors involved when deciding how many Subpods to install in your school.
What is the size of your school's garden bed or space for installing Subpods?
Do you know how much food waste you produce each week?
Would you like to purchase our garden beds, or install Subpods in your own garden bed?
• You can decide if you want more garden space surrounding your Subpods or more Subpods for processing waste.
• You can have the Subpods joined together or separated by soil depending on your growing space and growing needs.
If you don't have a garden bed you can order a Subpod Grow Bundle:
A Subpod Grow Bed frame is the optimal size for small spaces which allows you to compost but also grow some fresh produce in your school. They are 120cm long x 90cm wide x 45cm high.
The Subpod website has a range of resources available for Subpodians, including how-to videos, online courses, events directory, Subpod Grow Hub; an online community forum where members from around the world can connect and discuss all things about composting, worms, gardening, soil regeneration, and Subpods.
Why choose a Subpod? What makes a Subpod special? How does Subpod work?
Subpod is a unique invention which combines worms and composting underground. The Subpod has a series of holes throughout the box which allow the worms to move freely in and out. This means the surrounding soil is aerated and nutrients delivered directly to the roots of the plants where they are needed most.
And it means - no smell.
The Subpod has been rigorously tested over the past 8 years to allow for maximum efficiency of letting worms move freely in and out, while keeping unwanted pests out.
At the top of the Subpod there is a special mesh which allows air to flow in and out while being strong enough to keep out large critters such as rats, possums and anything else living in your garden.
The Subpod Airflow Panel is a key design factor in the Subpod. It means that the compost is aerated easily which means an aerobic/oxygen rich environment. This means no smelly compost heaps!
Worm mobility is key for this product and is actually what makes Subpod more advantageous over conventional systems. If something is added to the Subpod which the worms do not like, e.g. onions or chilies, the worms can move to the other side of the Subpod, or move out into the surrounding soil and move back into the Subpod when they like.
Subpod is also an underground system, which means more stable temperatures all year-round. Most worm farms are exposed to the elements and can easily die with temperature fluctuations.
The Subpod is made from water and food safe plastic which has a minimum life of 10 years in the soil without any leaching or degradation.
Another unique factor that makes the Subpod special is its unique interconnecting design that allows multiple modules to be added to cater for larger volumes of waste. The modular design, along with the bench seating aspect, makes it perfect for cafes and restaurants, as well as incorporating into your own garden. The Subpod can be buried into the ground, or made into an above-ground garden bed which you can sit on and enjoy the fruits of your labour :)
The idea is mimicking nature where worms eat, roam, and spread nutrients. Worms are not confined to the Subpod, but learn to return there for feeding. As for getting full, it does not fill up as quickly as most systems because of the worm mobility, plus the worms and microbes are continuously eating. This keeps the compost levels low inside the Subpod.
You end up only needing to empty the contents about a dozen or so times per year, less or more if you would like to distribute your compost and worm castings throughout your garden.
In most systems, because you are creating worm castings in a confined area, you need to take them out and apply them to your garden. This is a two-step process.
For Subpod, it is just the one step of composting and the soil biology does the rest! Of course, there are times when people will want to use worm castings in other areas of their garden, and with the Subpod lid you have easy access to scoop out your worm castings.
Enjoy your new soil, and pat yourself on the back for ending food waste.
It’s fun.