Nick,
It's cool you're using this system and emailing with Dr. Johnson. I would be keen to read any updates or assessments whenever you have them. NMSU has some interesting extension events nearby that he is sometimes a part of and although I haven't been able to attend any of them, I hope to go to one this year. I still haven't bought a microscope yet due to it being lower priority tool than others needed for other more pressing projects. Soon. It's awesome you've incorporated it into your work.
Spring is underway here. I opened our reactor a few days ago after several months of fall and winter, turned the contents, and then replaced them again for finishing. I have it set up in the shade of an old pinon pine and for most of the time I have had it, it's been cold and frozen. Due to the frozen state, the reactor hasn't yet gone through the thermophile stages. There are only about 14 cubic feet of compost in the container. I was half hoping to be greeted with extensive mycellial caking, but I don't know if this is a realistic expectation. There was some white hyphal activity, some fuzzy white IMO, and no odor of putrescine or cadaverine despite there being a dense viscous decomposed state. The smell was subtly sweet and fresh smelling, no ammonia, nothing off.. Although I can't assess the bacteria / fungi ratios, I really love the design of an aeration core in the center of the pile. This is a great idea in my opinion, especially for those living in arid environments in which organic matter tends to dry out and not break down very quickly. Everything has seemed to sustain an aerobic environment, and the torus core makes it easier to keep the pile hydrated.
I think the design could be simplified: I used canvas I attached to woven wire fencing, it seems you have a similar refinement with your newspaper end rolls. I used a single aeration core in a bin similar in size to the ones Elaine Ingham is using; but if I were to scale up, I think it would be worth exploring the use of large diameter cardboard tubes used for concrete forming. A single core which you would initially tie off with rope while filling rather than numerous smaller 3-4" tubes held in place by a cumbersome jig.
With regard to manure: we don't have livestock and although we could get mountains of it from our neighbors, I am less interested in using it at this juncture. We do however have two dogs which have produced an abundance of poop that I am going to ferment with bokashi and then run through another bioreactor. I don't fully understand the process but it seems that the Johnson Su method removes salinity from the manure compost via fungal molecular decomposition? I think there is a similar effect in Bokashi (via actinomycetes?), Would a fermentation precursor stage allow the time consuming shredding phase you described to be avoided?
I know that the primary bacteria in "EMs" are facultative, but I wonder if one had a huge volume of manure to ferment would it be possible to do so in a partially or non anaerobic environment? Does Bokashi have to be entirely anaerobic to decompose?
Good luck and a happy spring to you.
_K
Karn Piana
Zone 7 Semi-Arid Steppe
Northern New Mexico