One year ago, Congress defunded public media. Now that we're 100% community funded, please become a sustaining member or increase your existing membership today.
How to turn food waste into fertilizer in record time — with maggots
Black soldier fly larvae eating a pomegranate.
(
Laura Ingwell
/
Purdue University
)
Listen
0:48
How's the fly larvae experiment going?
So far, it's been an impressive -- and gross -- alternative to traditional composting.
Topline:
For several weeks now, I’ve been using black soldier fly larvae to process my family’s food waste into fertilizer for my garden at a substantially faster clip than traditional composting might. So far, these maggots are both gross and impressive.
They’ll eat anything: Fruits, vegetables, compostable plastic bags and a rotisserie chicken carcass — which they destroyed in two days — are all fair game for the enthusiastic little larvae.
They’re changing: Now that it’s been about three weeks, they’re going from white and juicy to grey and stiff, as they start to pupate. Soon flies should emerge, mate and (hopefully) lay their eggs in a new container I’ve placed inside their screened-in enclosure. Then the goal is to harvest the fertilizer for my garden. That fertilizer’s made up of insect bodies and poop, and should have a nutrient profile similar to chicken manure.
Go deeper: Learn how to build your own black soldier fly food-waste-processing system, or read more about how it works.
One year ago, Congress voted to defund public media, eliminating a critical $1.7 million from our budget every year going forward. But they couldn’t silence us, and we’re not going anywhere. LAist is now 100% community funded and that means we’re taking our future into our own hands and turning to you to keep local reporting strong.
You come to LAist because you want independent reporting and trustworthy local information. Our nonprofit newsroom doesn’t answer to shareholders looking to turn a profit. Instead, we answer to you and our communities. We are free to follow facts wherever they lead and to hold power to account without fear or favor. Our only loyalty is to our readers and listeners and our mission: to inform, engage, and strengthen Southern California’s communities.
If this story helped you, please become a monthly member today to help sustain this mission. It just takes 1 minute to donate below.
You come to LAist because you want independent reporting and trustworthy local information. Our nonprofit newsroom doesn’t answer to shareholders looking to turn a profit. Instead, we answer to you and our communities. We are free to follow facts wherever they lead and to hold power to account without fear or favor. Our only loyalty is to our readers and listeners and our mission: to inform, engage, and strengthen Southern California’s communities.
If this story helped you, please become a monthly member today to help sustain this mission. It just takes 1 minute to donate below.
Senior Vice President News, Editor in Chief
