HL writes:
“David,
Recently I watched a video of yours in which you mentioned not being thrilled with black soldier fly maggots as composters because they flew away with your fertility. I myself are thrilled with them because they quickly dispose of garbage and I can obtain fertilizer easily by pouring water in their bin and letting it drain out the bottom as “maggot juice.” I get at least one bucket per day of stinky maggot fertilizer this way. I think most of the maggots who migrate out of the bin get eaten by small local wildlife.
Maybe you can give BSF another chance!”
Attached was this photo of a nice black soldier fly bin:
It’s rather like my worm bin:
A tub and a drain with a bucket – my kind of simple!
As for not being thrilled with black soldier flies as composters; yes! that dislike is indeed based on how little compost they leave behind. The maggots are voracious, eating everything they can in a furious orgy and then pupating and flying away with MY COMPOST in their bodies! People talk about how BSF are super efficient at disposing of waste. It’s just… I want some of that waste in my garden, not off in nature somewhere where I can’t get it.
That said – I appreciate the email. HL obviously has a good system going and is doing something I have not tried by using the leachate for fertilizer. It may be a good replacement for what we lose.
If the BSF larvae were also going to chickens rather than being eaten by nature, the design would be stacking functions, permaculture-style.
Thank you for making me think, HL. It would be interesting to make a new bin and test out how the leachate works compared to worm bin leachate, which I am using the same way.
There are so many good ideas out there it’s going to be hard to try them all in one life.
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I have some bins that look very similar to the picture. I have little holes drilled in the top of the lid so rainwater will seep in. The lid has about a 1″ lip that holds the water on top until it has a chance to go through the little holes.
I’ve got some stuff that is 3 years old; I keep adding things to it. It’s rank and the liquid is really dark…the plants seem to like it a lot.