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I took some woodchips that had been used as bedding in a chicken coup (so it had feathers and poop in it), put down a layer about four inches thick, then covered it in a rich mulch that had lots of mycelium in it already[1], and left it alone for about six weeks. The mycelium went all through there and converted the woodchips to a chalky almost asbestos-like form.
I had another experience with this same mycelium mulch[1] where it literally sealed off an area of sandy soil and routed water somewhere: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=15059654
[1] Kellogg's GROMULCH 2-in-1, it's my secret weapon.
The difference is huge, for starters this method uses a slow, cold, and mostly anaerobic environment, the conditions mycelium enjoy.
Trying to use a hot compost methods would require epic amounts of nitrogen feedstock for the bacteria to run the process.
This is also faster and requires less human input, no need to turn or aerate the pile, no need to carefully monitor the balance the nitrogen to carbon ratios throughout the process.
The change in chips I show in the video was 8 months. Leaving the chips for longer in the ditch/trench will yeild better results, I plan to leave this latest batch for a couple years to really let the mycelium break down the materials.
A portion of aged fungi composted material can be added to a hot compost pile to let the bacteria take over.
Fungi dominant soils are better for food forests and more stable than bacteria dominate soils.
I typically use bacteria dominated soils for kitchen gardens.
It's all inputs and outputs at the end of the day and simply dropping material into specific conditions can yeild different material outputs. It so much fun to think in terms of systems. I fell in love with computers and networks for this reason. Natural systems are even more impressive to me.
Gardening, food production, and nature is all about inputs and outputs over the course of days, months, and years. It's a much slower feedback loop to programming, but a feedback loop nonetheless.
Thank you for the question.
I am sure you have watched Paul Stamets EVERYTHING - and if you havent, watch his Joe Rogan Podcasts and his Ted Talks...
Also start taking Lions Mane pills
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Is your Mycillium natrual - or are you seeding it some how?
That said leaf blowers are so loud (make sure everyone around has hearing protection)
Have you considered using a rake to make piles on a tarp?
The tarp is then dragged to your desired composting location and emptied.
I learned this method from my elderly Korean neighbor when I was young and have used it over leaf blowing for the last 20 years.
Keep ethanol fuel out of the equipment to keep the carbs in good shape.
My cost on batteries/electricity is probably less than I would have spent on fuel. The noise/size/maintenance-free advantages of electric are huge too.
How compost leaves? Just put in a pile?
How add mycillium/fungi to said pile?
I just put a bunch of leaves out to green pickup - but I would rather learn how to compost them... off to google - but would love your input
For anaerobic (no oxygen) composting you just leave the pile alone and let nature do it’s work. The spores are already there they just need the right conditions. It will take months to year(s) if you just let it sit.
For aerobic composting you should layer leaves and grass clippings. One brown layer, one green layer and so on. It’s best done in a sunny area and you’ll need to turn the compost weekly. It should only take a few months or more and it will be hot. Ever driven by a steaming pile of wood chips or some other steaming earthy pile? Organisms are making heat while they feed on organic matter.
Just remember the fungus and organisms are already there they just needs the right conditions to flourish.
For hot compost you will need a feedstock of nitrogen for the bacteria. Grass clippings, coffee grounds, liquid nitrogen (urine). This is bacteria dominant composting (hot composting is fast).
On the other hand if you want to do less work just make them in a pile and allow for fungi to process the leaves over a longer period of time. This is fungi dominant composting (cold composting is slower).
The soil life is already present on the leaves. Just keep the pile consistently moist but not soaking wet.
I have hot composting videos documented on YouTune, although they are from before I upgraded my camera so the quality isn't as good as my newer videos, hopefully still informational.
SO FUNNY.
Just wanted to comment that mushrooms naturally erode wood and decomposing biomass (I used to study environmental science). That's sort of just what they do. Keep em damp and away from sunlight and they should do an even better job!
Yup damp and dark, so with the trench method the top is sunny but most of the growing medium (in this case chips) are in the dark since it's underground.
Hope things are going well with you!