Repurposing Debris Left by Tropical Storm Isaias

August 12, 2020

Repurposing Debris Left by Tropical Storm Isaias

Debris leftover from Tropical Storm Isaias is being put to good use at the farm.

Over the last week, my outdoor grounds crew has cleaned up most of the fallen trees, branches, and other debris left by the storm, but what really happens to it all? A lot of it is gathered and chipped and blown directly back into the woodland. The rest of the organic material, such as stumps, logs, and brush, is all collected and brought to a corner of the farm where it is either repurposed as milled lumber, firewood, or made into mulch or compost - none of the material goes to waste.

Here are some photos, enjoy.

: While Tropical Storm Isaias didn’t cause any major structural damage around the farm, it did leave lots of debris strewn across the fields, carriage roads, and woodlands – fallen branches are still being cleaned up.

: Any manageable limbs are carried out of the woods by hand. Here is Domi carrying a sizable fallen branch out of the woodland.

: Larger trees and branches are cut up into smaller sections. Pasang uses our STIHL gas-powered chainsaw to cut up this fallen tree near my pond.

: Many of the logs and stumps are taken to the carriage road and neatly piled for pick up later. The crew follows an efficient process for clearing all the debris.

: Other pieces are placed into our wood chipper – a machine with sharp moveable blades that can cut wood up into small pieces. Branches, as well as underbrush, can all run through the chipper – everything is returned to the earth, organically and efficiently.

: Whenever possible, the wood chips are blown directly into the woodland.

: These wood chips will degrade over time adding nutrients to the soil. It is almost hard to imagine these chips were once part of a big tree branch.

: When chipping in an area where the wood chips cannot be distributed right away, they are collected into the back of the dump truck. Here’s Dawa adjusting the direction of the chipper’s discharge chute. The rope points the chute inside the covered truck.

: At the end of the day when the truck is full, it is brought to a back section of my farm designated as my compost yard.

: This area is one of the most important areas on the property. The piles are divided into types of debris – some in various stages of decay.

: The crew unloads the wood chips into its own pile – the first pile as one enters the compost yard.

: The crew has chipped a lot of wood after this storm, but during the course of the year, we also chip wood after every large pruning project or when we do any maintenance in the woodlands.

: Here’s a pile of mulch – a layer of material aged and ready to apply to the surface of the soil. Mulch is used for the conservation of soil moisture, improving fertility and health of the soil, reducing weed growth, and enhancing the visual appeal of a bed. I am so pleased we can use our organic debris in so many different ways.

: We also store piles of leaves. Called leaf mold after cold composting, it is produced by the fungal breakdown of shrub and tree leaves. Leaves are collected and left to age for a couple of years before it is reused.

: This organic matter is made up of manure and biodegradable materials. It will be ready to use as compost after it is turned, “cooked,” in the sun, and sieved.

: Grass clippings are placed into another pile.

: And further down the row is a pile of soil.

: In another part of the yard is where we also store bigger trunks and logs from felled trees, most of which were lost in storms or taken down purposely because of poor growth. A lot of these are leftover from Isaias.

: This photo was taken last summer. Every couple of years, I have a tub grinder at the farm for a week or so to grind up all the unusable wood. A tub grinder is able to grind logs and stumps to produce finer mulching material.

: Straight logs are in another pile. These logs can be milled for use as lumber in various building projects.

: All around the farm, the crew is collecting debris and sorting it in our piles. The crew is also back to mowing – clippings are collected in my Multi-Purpose Reusable Heavy Duty Tote Bags available on Amazon. I love these bags. They’re made from rugged, rip-resistant woven polypropylene fabric – perfect for holding anything and everything. Each bag measures approximately 20-inches wide by 20-inches long by 24-inches tall.

: Here’s Fernando unloading a bag of grass clippings into the bucket of our Kubota M7060HD12 tractor. This tractor is used around the farm every single day.