Advanced composting process – The Johnson-Su Bioreactor

In our endeavor to produce a highly diverse and rich compost for regenerating our soils, we have included an advanced technique called “Johnson-Su Bioreactor”. This composting method has been developed by molecular microbiologist David C. Johnson and his wife Hui-Chun-Su. They were looking for a composting system low in salts, presenting a high fungal bacteria ratio, low maintenance, and able to boost crop growth. That’s how the Johson-Su Bioreactor was born.

Some of the main advantages of the Bioreactor are that it’s made with easy-to-find materials, it’s cheap and doesn’t require maintenance once built and filled. In fact, we don’t disturb the composting process, allowing fungi to spread and colonize the pile. The Bioreactor is made of metallic mesh, used in the construction industry or for fencing, landscape cloth, a pallet, and perforated plastic pipes (10cm diameter), though they are only used for one day.

Volunteers Roberta and Christian, helping us with the levelling of a wooden base for two bioreactors.

Picture at the left: Chris is setting the plastic pipes for aeration. These pipes keep the Bioreactor with oxygen at the beginning of the process.

After the first day, fungal hyphae (the filamentous structure of a fungus) are already set in the pile so much that you can pull the pipes out. The six vents will stay open and allow air to flow up from under the pallet, which is slightly elevated, keeping an aerobic environment.

We gather material some days before the construction of the Bioreactor.


Picture at the right gives an overview of the working station where we soak the carbon material (woodchips) and the nitrogen-rich material (cow manure).

The materials should be completely wet before starting to fill the Bioreactor.
Starting to fill the pile
View of materials and tools
Bioreactor half filled

The most important thing is allowing it to mature long enough — for a year. Yes, one long year! but the final material obtained through this process is really worth it.

Picture at the left: view of the Bioreactor once filled and with the plastic pipes.

As we add the carbon and nitrogen-rich materials, the pile starts heating up for a couple of days.

Microorganisms start reproducing and generating heat quickly.

Also, moisture is a very important aspect of keeping the pile under ideal conditions for the microorganisms to thrive. The pile should keep a moisture level around 70% so the installation of an irrigation system is recommended.

You can find all the instructions from New Mexico State University here.

As we are curious people, 4 months after building the bioreactor we took a look at the partially composted material under the microscope and the results were outstanding. The diversity and richness in microbiology were amazing (some pictures below).

We will use the final compost, after a year, as an inoculant for compost extracts, compost teas, and as mulch around the trees. We also see this material as a perfect complement to one of the most useful techniques in regenerative agriculture: cover crops!
Cover crops will feed the microbiology coming from the Bioreactor with sugars produced during photosynthesis (root exudates), and all together will regenerate the soils and the health of plants and trees.

Why do we love to see fungi in our land?

Our biggest interest in this Bioreactor is the fact of avoiding any disturbance, being high in carbon materials, and therefore, creating a perfect environment for fungi to thrive and grow.

Yes, we love to see fungi in our land!

Unfortunately, since the beginning of conventional agriculture in the early 20th century, agricultural practices have been extremely detrimental to fungal communities.

These fungal communities are essential to get healthy soil as they support the nutrient cycle of plants, making nutrients available (through powerful enzymes), establishing synergies between fungi and plants (exchange of sugars produced through the plant photosynthesis, called exudates, and water and nutrients provided by the fungi) and, last but not least, sequestering carbon by the formation of complex humic chain molecules in the soil.

Most of our soils are bacterial-dominated with almost no presence of fungi, meaning that the fungal-bacteria ratio is very low. This implies that in some cases, even more than 95% of the carbon (sugars) captured by the plant through photosynthesis goes to the soil to feed the microbial communities. However, in healthy soil, where fungi are present and therefore the fungal-bacterial ratio is higher, the plant only needs to send around 40-50% of the carbon to the soil keeping the rest of it for its own growth and development.

No wonder it makes us very happy when we see fungal hyphae in our soils with the help of our microscope.

And just a final note…

Science is unable to understand all the processes happening in the soil through the interactions between different microbial groups and quite often it uses a linear way of thinking, unfortunately. However, what seems more and more clear is that an increase in the diversity and presence of these groups can be translated into a higher resilience and strength. That’s why it’s so important to use tools like the Bioreactor to add that diversity.
In the same way, human health is dependent on the diversity and health of our microbial gut communities. Interesting, isn’t it?

Could the understanding of how the soil works help us to understand how the microbes in our guts interact and work for us, or vice-versa?

While we try to answer this question, we will continue taking care of our soils with the help of powerful microscopic armies produced in bioreactors and other composting processes, as we will continue taking care of ourselves by eating quality food produced in healthy soils.


My extra virgin olive oil has lees, should I be worried?

No 🙂

Our extra virgin olive oil is not filtered

This is the reason why there may be sediment or even a gelatinous substance at the bottom of the bottle or canister.

Our olive oil is produced without additional filtration processes, so it retains all its natural characteristics and has a more intense and pure flavor and aroma.
This can be reminiscent of the aroma and taste of fresh green olives.

Our olive oil cannot be found in any supermarket. You can check by yourself by buying a commercial one and comparing it with ours.

Our oil is packaged very fresh (usually the same day the olives have been harvested) to avoid the loss of its numerous medicinal properties and to avoid the oxidation process.
However, this can lead to the appearance of bodies or mucilages with a gummy appearance in the lower third of the bottle or canister. These are actually bonds of waxes, gums, and phospholipids naturally present in olive oil.

Like some solids in suspension (pulp or pieces of olive skin) that tend to accumulate at the bottom of the bottle but this is not indicative of a bad state of the oil and can be easily separated by filtering. 

Our aim is to offer the highest quality olive oil with a high content of polyphenols together with other medicinal components, and with a flavor and aroma as natural as possible. That is why we advise you to consume it raw to be able to take advantage of its great properties and to store it in a cool, dark place

Another type of deposit that can form in the bottle or canister is that caused by low temperatures. When the temperature drops, the fatty acids will become solids and the oil will become more opaque, even creating whitish lumps. As the temperature rises, this effect will disappear. Again, this does not affect the oil, which keeps all its properties intact.

The advantage of extra virgin olive oil is that you can easily detect when it starts to go bad by changing its taste to a more rancid tone

Unfiltered oil does have a slightly shorter shelf life than filtered oil, which is why choosing a cool and dark storage place is highly recommended.

Enjoy 🙂

What is a guild?

In permaculture, a guild refers to a carefully designed and interconnected group of plants, animals, fungi, and other elements that work together synergistically in a sustainable and productive ecosystem. The main principle behind guild design is creating a diverse and resilient system, where each element performs multiple functions and supports the overall productivity of the ecosystem.

A permaculture guild typically consists of several key components:

Central Species: At the core of a guild, there is usually a main plant or tree species that serves as the focal point or primary provider of resources. This central species is often a long-lived perennial (for example a tree) that forms the backbone of the guild.

Companion Plants: Surrounding the central species are a variety of complementary plants, known as companion plants. These plants are carefully selected to fulfill specific functions that support the overall health and productivity of the guild. They may provide additional resources such as nitrogen fixation, pest control, pollination, nutrient accumulation, or shade regulation.

Beneficial insects and animals: Guilds incorporate beneficial insects and animals that play important roles in pest management, pollination, soil aeration, or nutrient cycling. For example, certain plants may attract predatory insects that control pest populations, while flowers can attract pollinators like bees and butterflies.

Soil Enhancers: Guilds often include plants or organisms that contribute to soil fertility and health. Nitrogen-fixing plants, such as legumes, convert atmospheric nitrogen into a form that other plants can utilize. Dynamic accumulators, like comfrey or yarrow, draw nutrients from deeper soil layers and make them available to shallower-rooted plants when their leaves decompose.

Mulch and / or Ground Covers: Ground covers and mulch plants are employed to protect the soil from erosion, conserve moisture, suppress weeds, and provide organic matter as they decompose. These plants, such as low-growing herbs or spreading perennials, also serve as living mulch, creating microclimates and optimizing resource utilization within the guild.

By carefully selecting and arranging plant species and other components based on their functional relationships, we aim to create self-sustaining and low-maintenance systems that mimic the balance and efficiency of natural ecosystems. The exact composition of a guild will depend on the specific goals, climate, and local conditions of a particular site.

Guild around a young olive tree with various perennial herbs and some annual fruit and vegetable plants

When it comes to guilds with olive trees, there are several companion plants that can be beneficial in enhancing the overall health and productivity of the olive tree ecosystem.

Here are the companion plants we chose for our olive tree:

Other good companion plants for an olive tree guild could be: Borage (Borago officinalis), Fennel (Foeniculum vulgare), Marigold (Tagetes spp.), Nasturtium (Tropaeolum spp.).


I. Comfrey (Symphytum spp.):

Comfrey is an accumulator plant and known for its deep taproots that can mine nutrients from deep in the soil. It accumulates minerals and makes them available to other plants, making it an excellent choice for almost any type of guild. Its huge leaves create lots of shade and help suppress unwanted weeds.

Note: We have placed the comfrey in the shade of the olive tree (north side) as it still is difficult to grow comfrey in our climate. Comfrey generally prefers half-shade and cooler temperatures. With a thick woodchip mulch layer, which is reducing surface temperature considerably, we hope that the comfrey will thrive here.


II. Lavender (Lavandula spp.):

Lavender attracts pollinators and beneficial insects while repelling pests. Its aromatic foliage can also help deter pests from olive trees.


III. Thyme (Thymus spp.):

Thyme is a low-growing herb that can act as a living mulch around the base of olive trees, suppressing weeds and conserving moisture. It also attracts pollinators and repels certain pests.

IV. Rosemary (Rosmarinus officinalis):

Rosemary is a hardy herb that can thrive in the same conditions as olive trees. It attracts bees and other beneficial insects while providing some shade to the soil around the tree.

V. Ballota (Ballota acetabulosa):

The flowers of this herbaceous plant are attractive for bees and when big enough, the leaves will work as a ground cover.

VI. Incense (Plectranthus madagascariensis):

Incense attracts insects, pollinators and butterflies and therefore also birds to the garden.
The leaves and branches of this species give off a strong scent and are sometimes used to ward off flies. We’re hoping to keep away the nasty flies that puncture the olives!

VII. Sugar melon (Cucumis melo):

This melon is an experiment – we are very curious as to how well annual vegetables can do around an olive tree. So far, the plant looks quite happy, growing a first little melon.

With its beautiful flowers, this melon will attract pollinators and create shade / ground cover with its big leaves


Remember to consider the specific growing conditions, climate, and region when selecting companion plants for your guild. It’s also beneficial to choose plants that have similar water and sunlight requirements to ensure they thrive together.

More fruit trees – Starting a food forest!

New trees for the future food forest

This amazing piece of land has provided us with medicinal herbs, fruits, and all sorts of edible plants. Most of them have been planted a long time ago by the previous owner; Teresa Fiorenza, a gentle old lady that probably has lived through hard times during and after World War II. Thank you for that, Teresa!

We are blessed with a variety of perennial plants and trees such as loquat, artichokes, mulberries, dates, peaches, plums, apricots, almonds, figs, pears, apples, kakhi, jujube, pomegranates, walnuts, hazelnuts, lemons, oranges, mandarins, cedro and bergamot. What a treat to eat fresh produce directly from a tree or pick from the land…!

But it doesn’t stop there.

Continuing Teresa’s legacy and following our own path towards being self-sufficient, we started planting a selection of new trees around the house (such as the sub-tropical Moringa Oleifera and Ceratonia siliqua / Carob, some fig and oak).

Young carob sapling

“The best time to plant a tree was 20 years ago. The second best time is now.”

― Chinese Proverb

In the previous orchard, we added two varieties of apricot, two varieties of apple, quince, flat peach (Prunus platycarpa), regular peach, mulberry and plum.

Alongside a cliff in a more shaded spot, we have planted white/red/black currant, red gooseberry, blueberry and raspberry.

In the flatter part of our future food forest, we utilize swales, a landform in the shape of a trench and berm running along contour (points of the same altitude) to catch as much rainwater for the trees and plants as possible. In our case we probably should call them semi-swales, as they’re interrupted and not perfectly along the contour line.

Aerial view of food forest area, showing potential water collection in swales (in blue)

Tree planting

View of the future food forest with freshly dug swales

We dug holes in the “hill” side of the swale, about 40-50cm deep / wide. A large enough hole for the roots to grow bigger before they’ll eventually hit native soil (which is usually more compacted). Each tree will receive more rainwater, as the ditch of the swale will help infiltrate all the surface water into the root zone.

Planting hole

To help these young trees, we added several layers of seasoned compost in between the native soil. The goal with adding our own compost is to inoculate native soils with a most diverse microbiology (beneficial microorganisms and beneficial fungi).

This is the main reason why we have established our Soil Lab. With the help of a microscope we’re able to assess the quality of our own compost and soils, mostly to identify all beneficial or non-beneficial microorganisms that are part of the Soil Food Web.

This way, we’ll simply make better decisions. In the case of planting trees we have utilized a seasoned compost with more fungi than bacteria biomass because trees are lifeforms of a later stage in evolutionary succession. Therefore, trees need nitrogen in the form of ammonium NH4. Fungi are responsible for converting nitrogen into ammonium – that’s why trees prefer fungi dominated soils over bacteria dominated soils.

Adding a rich mix to the planting hole (seasoned compost and topsoil)

Before setting the saplings into their holes, we carefully decompacted the root balls once they were out of their pots to prevent girdling.

Loosening the root ball is important for the development of the roots

What is “girdling”:


When plants grow in nursery containers, their roots hit the wall and begin to grow in a circle. By loosening the root ball and therefore breaking the circling pattern of the roots, the plant will most likely not keep growing circular. We also dug square holes in the hopes that some roots will eventually hit a „corner“ to easier break the threshold between hole and native soil.

Finally, we’ve hammered three fence posts into the ground around each sapling, (making sure not to sever the root ball). Once the summer drought hits this land and the drip irrigation system is on, wild pigs will smell the water immediately (as there is not much water around in summer). They’ll confuse any wet swale for a conveniently prepared pig bath tub and by happily rolling themselves around in it, they might eventually damage or even uproot small trees. Let’s hope this safety measure will protect the saplings from any boar activity!

Creating a “food forest
or “edible landscape

What is a food forest?

A food forest, also called a forest garden, is a diverse planting of edible plants that attempts to mimic the ecosystems and patterns found in nature. Food forests are three dimensional designs, with life extending in all directions – up, down, and out. A food forest does not have to be re-planted year after year. Once it is established, it is generally very resilient.

Source: Resurgent Circles – Seeding Eden (modified by us)


Generally, we recognize seven layers of a forest garden – the overstory (canopy layer), the understory (smaller trees), the shrub layer (bushes), the herbaceous layer (grasses, medicinal plants, etc.), the ground cover layer (perennials like clover, etc.), the root layer (root vegetables) and the vine layer (climbers). Some people also like to recognize an eighth layer, the mycelial layer (mushrooms). Using these layers, we can fit more plants in an area without causing failure due to competition.

The food forest area is marked with a red dotted line

A food forest must be organic. Forest gardens depend heavily on a healthy ecosystem and cannot be sprayed with herbicides or pesticides or have non-organic fertilizers applied. A healthy ecosystem will take several years to establish itself, especially in a city or open farm area. We have to be patient and let nature take care of itself (while providing the necessary food, water, and habitat for all the components of the ecosystem, otherwise they won’t come).

Food forests are a new farming concept in our area, but they have been used for thousands of years in other parts of the world.

Adding some seasoned high-fungal compost to an orange tree

A well-designed forest garden has many benefits:

  • Planting densely and using ground covers to shade soil and suppress weeds is returning more yield on a given surface area.
  • Utilizing nitrogen-fixing (i.e. leguminosae, etc.) and nutrient-accumulating plants (i.e. comfrey, etc.), “chop-and-drop” techniques, and returning wastes to the land will create healthy soils instead of having to buy and add commercial fertilizers.
  • Planting a diverse array of plants will attract beneficial insects to pollinate the fruit crops and keep pest populations from exploding and causing damage.
  • By utilizing several ground-shaping techniques we are able to keep rain water on the site.
  • Depending on the topography, designing for specific placement of plants helps create windbreaks and micro-climates.
  • Placing emphasis on trees, shrubs, perennials, and self-seeding annuals, the overall amount of work is greatly reduced.

In his book “Gaia’s Garden”, Toby Hemenway recommends some of the following soil-building plants for orchards/food forests: 

FunctionSoil building plants
Nitrogen fixersAlder, autumn olive, bayberry, black locust, broom, butterfly pea, cattail, chamomile, chives, collards, common milkweed, false indigo, goumi, licorice, sea buckthorn, wild lilac, wisteria, wild lupine, sweet pea, bladder senna
Annual nitrogen-fixing cover cropsAustrian winter pea, bell bean, crimson clover, Fava bean, Fenugreek, Garbanzo bean, vetch, black-eyed peas, cowpeas, lablab, pinto beans, soybeans, Sunn Hemp
Nutrient accumulatorsAlfalfa, lamb’s quarters, primrose, purslane, stinging nettle, yarrow, sunflower, dogwoods, horsetail
Soil buildersRapeseed, Sudan grass, and crotalaria
Resources: “Gaia’s Garden” by Toby Hemenway

The vegetable garden – our first big project

Our first big project was the construction of a big veggie garden. With the uncertainties of this new pandemic situation, we figured that it won’t be a mistake to create a slightly bigger garden, just in case we would have to become self-sufficient earlier than we had thought… The capacity of it should be able to feed at least six people or more.

We chose a sunny 500m2 patch that stretches along the steep, forested valley-side down to the river which runs 150 m below. There were just four small olive trees on this terrasse, so we wanted to include them in our garden design as a shade instead of eliminating them. First of all, we had to create a durable fence to keep out the many wild boars that roam these lands. Many people had warned us from these animals that seem to be quite a plague here.

Protection against wild boars

The main reason is that there are no more predators (i.e. wolves) around to keep their numbers at bay. Some locals have another explanation for this phenomenon: The legend goes that some farmer once bound a domestic sow (female pig) and had her impregnated by a wild boar. Later on, part of the offspring apparently managed to escape and therefore combined the original genes with properties from the domesticated mother. While wild boars usually only give birth once a year, these new wild boars (with partly domesticated genes) could now reproduce up to three times a year and get up to twelve young ones at a time!
Whatever the case might be, we soon discovered holes in pre-existing fences in other parts of our land. Following the trails that started at these holes we regularly discovered patches that had been upturned by a troop of wild pigs. So far, the damage luckily has been moderate since they didn’t reach the roots of the olive trees. Let’s hope it’ll stay that way!
Nevertheless, we were warned..

So we dug a trench, 50 cm deep and 30 cm wide and inserted more than 100 hard-wood poles (chestnut), each of them 1 m apart. The poles were secured by hammering granite stones into the soil around them

We continued by filling the rest of the trench with more granite stones and some rubble that the previous owners had dumped somewhere on the land.
After the main fence (150 cm high) was set, we reinforced it with a 1 m high heavy-duty steel-mesh which was buried around 30 cm into the ground.

Our volunteers Angi and Joel completed the job with two nicely crafted gates that would supposedly withstand any attempt by wild boars of ramming it.
After some weeks of hard labor we finally could start with the initial task of creating a veggie garden!

Preparing the beds and soil

The existing soil seemed to be pretty compacted, so we decided to loosen it with digging forks. The first layer was dry leaves and/or cardboard to reduce the weed pressure from below as there was nothing more than thick grass and weeds present.

Luckily, we got a few cubic meters of old soil (supposedly fertile) out of a ruin in town, where a huge fig tree has been growing for decades. The beds were then topped off with a 10 cm thick layer of soil mix (we added old chicken manure that we’ve found in a barrel – unfortunately, it was almost decomposed to soil). After putting the soil mix on the beds, we watered them down to moisten the soil and also the cardboard underneath.

The fun begins

Finally, the fun part could start: Planting the beds! Shortly after our arrival to the land, we had eagerly germinated a big variety of seeds, no matter if they were in season or not. We brought a bunch of seeds with us and we didn’t even know if these varieties would tolerate the much hotter climate here in the south.

We planted tomatoes, basil, peppers, pumpkins, zucchini, cucumbers, strawberries, leeks, salads, onions, carrots, broccoli (which was apparently not the right season – they grew like crazy but went straight to seeding stage), beans, beetroots, chard, corn and many other things would follow as soon as we got more beds prepared. Our volunteer Diego built us a nice broad fork to loosen the soil much easier as you operate it with your whole body, not just with your hands.
We eagerly mulched all the beds around the seedlings to avoid evaporation and to slow down weed growth. Since May was no season to find fresh straw, we had to take what was left over from the previous year (most of it got rained on), so we must have used some moldy bits in our mulch because some plants really didn’t seem to grow for weeks. Only after we had taken it off or have replaced the straw with other mulch (wood chips that we made with our shredder) the beds suddenly showed some increased activity.

Planting carrot seeds between rows of onion seedlings
hĂĽgelbed hĂĽgelkultur wood

Later on, we added more organically shaped beds, like a spiral with a Fibonacci ratio :), two keyhole beds and a „hügelbed“ or „hügelkultur“ in the shape of a gecko. Most of the beds produced a good yield regarding the little input we gave them and for the first season (spring / summer) we are quite happy how everything developed.

healthy food from healthy garden

Thanks to the amazing cooking skills of Yvonne, we enjoyed countless incredibly yummy vegan meals and dishes.
Besides the luxury of having a passionate cook who always fed us well (and therefore kept us happy), the rest of the gang could concentrate on the other tasks at hand.
Thanks again, Yvonne, for the love and passion you’ve brought to this place!

We also won’t forget Markus’s skills to create incredibly delicious raw food cakes for us (which would easily match those of a 5-star restaurant!) Thank you, too, Markus. You’re a gifted cake-maker (and also maker of useful things like vermicompost bins and much more)

The small house garden

We also created a small house garden which is running along and underneath a pergola-like structure that is overgrown with wine. We also included the pre-existing lemon tree, a loquat tree, a plum tree and a fig tree inside the fence.

These trees will most likely produce much more fruit in the long run, thanks to the irrigation in the surrounding garden. In return, they will help shade the plants from too much sun. The little wooden bench that Mario and Markus have built invites everyone to enjoy little breaks in the midst of a beautiful variety of plants and flowers.

This little bench invites everyone to enjoy little breaks in the midst of a beautiful variety of plants and flowers. If you want to know more about our adventures you can join our community and receive our regular newsletter.

Processing…
Success! You're on the list.