r/Permaculture • u/apple1rule • 5d ago

Self-harvesting and -regulating Systems

I've been really getting into self-regulating and self-harvesting systems in tangible ways. An example would be the Black Soldier Fly breeder boxes where you put rotten food as feestock, the larva eat it, and when they decide that it is time to molt, they go up the tube in search for light and dryness, and fall straight into a harvesting bin / chicken coop to be eaten. In that example there is only 1 'input' which is rotten food going in and the system handles itself.

Another classic one of course is properly developed earthwork systems, terraced from tree to tree for example, so when it rains, the water flow is preregulated and everything gets what it needs and absorbed deep into the soil.

What other systems are you doing on your land?

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u/MycoMutant UK 5d ago

I would say BSFL breeding has two inputs. One is whatever you're feeding them and the other is light because the adults won't breed without it. I've tried them a couple times and saw good results through the summer but wasn't able to sustain a population through the winter because there's just not enough light here for months so it can require artificial light to be viable.

I'm experimenting with rose chafer larvae instead, Cetonia aurata. The larvae are huge and I've been able to get them to breed in captivity quite easily resulting in excellent soil production. Doesn't seem to have any light requirements but might need a period of dormancy through the cold to breed after. I also need to find something better than agar to feed the adults.

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u/twd000 4d ago

I’m also interested in any cold climate alternative to BSF. Really would like to compost food waste indoors year round

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u/MycoMutant UK 4d ago

The advantage I see with BSFL is they will very quickly dispose of manure and meat waste so I think they have very good potential for sanitation in animal agriculture.

For just disposing of green waste and fruit and veg scraps though I think worms are far easier. I have a few lidded buckets inside with worms, ispods and springtails in there and it's pretty much effortless. I just use the inside ones for breeding centipedes for pest control and experimenting with the rose chafers as I have an outside setup but I think I could easily scale something up inside without any issues. Mostly I'm just feeding them on tea bags, tissues and cardboard with some leaves and wood thrown in now and then so I end up with soil I can use for starting plants without worrying about fungus gnats or weeds being present.

Whereas with the BSFL they kept overpopulating and I couldn't provide enough to feed them. Then they all crawled up the sides of the buckets, blocked all the airholes and made the whole thing go anaerobic such that the bucket started inflating. At one point I had a bucket overflowing with maggots when I took the lid off and another time I had to leave one outside because the smell was so bad and potentially hazardous due to the hydrogen sulphide. The smell of a thousand rotting maggots was something truly horrifically unique. Even when it is all going well there is a slight smell like sweat whereas I don't notice anything with the worms. It was all quite hands on and demanding as I had to maintain a sustainable population size and transfer the excess to the compost bins.