Pedal-powered Wood Chipper for Compost Workshops

Aim

Greening up Cornwall with Community led compost workshops. Enhancing nature. Empowering local people. Using waste as a resource.

Working to bring people and nature together.

Having trained with Dr Elaine Ingham's Soil Food Web School, I know how vital soil health is for the existence of mankind and the health of the planet. For too long we have taken Mother Nature for granted and used her as a throwaway resource. It is becoming clearer and clearer with the impact of climate change that we need to shift this paradigm.  With over 50% of all land mass around the world given over to chemical farming, it is little wonder the effect it is having on wildlife, bio-diversity, soil and human health. The planet is in crisis.

Aim of the project

It is commonly known how beneficial it is to spend time in the natural environment, but many people don't have access to this or know how to grow food organically. Green spaces and community gardens are popping up everywhere around Cornwall and the rest of the Country. There is an overwhelming need for people and nature to come together in a holistic way.

Education

The aim of the project is to educate local people about soil and its intrinsic value, through a series of talks already started around Cornwall at various Community Gardens and Gardening clubs, where members of the public are invited to bring in samples of their soil for testing. The aim is to offer workshops to make bio-logically complete compost that can be used as a soil amendment instead of the use of chemical fertilisers in the garden, allotment, or wherever growing takes place. Most shop bought compost is enriched with fertilisers and won't contain any beneficial organisms.

Bringing people and nature together

Human health and the health of the natural environment are intrinsically connected. 

The human microbiome is directly linked to the health of our soil - the more diverse both are, the more both will thrive. The relationship between plants and their microbial partners is vital for the health of soil, and the food that we eat, which ultimately replenishes our microbiome, keeping us healthy. 

The Soil Food Web 

Soil food web research explores the interaction between plants and their soil partners. Restoring the natural biology in soil is possible with the re-introduction of soil microbes that are missing from our soils, which have been destroyed via over-ploughing, chemical fertilisers and pesticides. Fungi and Bacteria build structure in soil, creating micro and macro aggregates with their glues and filaments. Protozoa and nematodes create pore spaces keeping oxygen levels aerobic. A healthy soil can feed your plant, hold onto water, store carbon and protect your plant from pests and diseases.

Teaching

The compost piles that we will be making use about 225 gallons of materials to a specific recipe and will be made in a day, using diverse and sustainable materials found around the home like cardboard, grass, straw, wood chips, hedge trimmings, leaves, wood, animal manure, spent coffee grounds and beer grains to name a few. A lot of the materials need to be chopped up into smaller pieces to help air circulate which helps the materials to decompose quickly.

The pedal powered wood chipper is a mobile unit, It  would make the composting workshops not only viable in a day, but fun, bringing people and nature together in a holistic harmonious way that enhances all life without the damaging effects of chemicals.

Making biologically rich compost is the fastest way to restore soil health and ultimately bring back wildlife.

Pedal-Powered Wood Chipper

Not only will a pedal powered wood chipper have a minimum negative impact on the environment, it will also connect the human body to the natural landscape through the power of movement. Physical movement is scientifically proven to have a positive impact on mental health. Good for the body, good for the mind, good for the environment! 

Everyone who contributes to this project is investing in the their own future health and the health of the planet. Depending on the level of contribution, as a a huge thank you, you will receive one of our fabulous gifts. Please visit our rewards page. 

Rewards

£5 and over your name will be inscribed on the wood chipper

£20 and over you will receive a tote bag with soil microbes printed on

£50 and over you will receive one of our soil microbe T-shirts 

£100 and over you will have a place on a composting workshop

Testimonials

"I am really grateful for Lorraine's hands on enthusiastic approach to composting. The explanation of microbiology and why it matters, the heat cycles, and the importance of diversity in the pile, has helped me to understand where I was going wrong with my own compost..

Working with Lorraine is really fun and engaging and her passion for her work is infectious."

Justine

"I learnt so much about thermophilic composting with Lorraine. She is a great teacher and her place is the perfect learning environment. We had inspiring conversations about soil health, the importance of micro-organisms in the soil and the role compost plays in regenerating soil health." 

Aurora

S J Turner MRCVS
Old Burford Farm, Pilton, Shepton Mallet, Somerset BA4 4PA                       [email protected]       07715 284666

The Perridge Farm Partnership owns and manages an organic dairy farm in Somerset, producing and retailing BrownCow yoghurt made with the milk from our 170 Guernsey and Jersey cows. We have been organic since 1996, and since 2017 have been replacing our ryegrass clover leys using diverse herbal seed mixtures for our entirely grass-fed herd.

A series of summer droughts and very wet winters since 2019 have significantly affected our forage production, particularly recently, from soils that have slumped in winter, dried excessively in summer droughts, and become compacted and increasingly anaerobic, in spite of having relatively high organic matter levels .

Over the last twelve months Lorriane has been advising us, providing practical help on site, checked the biology in our soils and composts with microscopic analysis, providing ‘thermophilic composting recipes’ to increase their biology and demonstrated the process of preparing compost extracts and ‘teas’. She has been a constantly helpful and encouraging source of advice, responds to our queries with alacrity, and is a superb source of information and references in assisting us to regenerate our soils using biological techniques.

Last August and September 2024 we coated all our diverse ley seeds mixtures with compost ‘tea’ immediately pre-planting and achieved the best germination and establishment that we have ever had, in spite of seeding them into some of the most difficult and heavy clay soils on our farm.

This spring we injected the ‘teas’ into our grazing pastures via a modified pasture slit aerator, leaving untreated control plots, hoping to assess any differences in yield and growth rates using a plate meter for weekly measurements.

Unfortunately, nature has not been kind in 2025, and after an extraordinarily wet winter, we have had only 41 mm of rain here since the beginning of March 2025, and have experienced drying winds on almost every day. Growth rates have slumped accordingly, and we are unable to make any judgment yet on the effect of this biological pasture aeration.

However, there is sufficient evidence worldwide that such techniques are highly beneficial to soils and crop yields. We monitor grass growth rates weekly using a platemeter, so when it does start raining with some consistency we have the tool to compare the treated with untreated control areas.

We will continue to continue to use Lorraine’ crucial advice going forward                       

Stephen Turner 6th July 2025

Funding method

Keep what you raise – this project will receive all pledges made