When Jocelyn Molyneux was in Grade 5, her parents dressed her up as a recycling bin for Halloween.
“It was a huge hit,” she said with a laugh, remembering the big blue box costume she wore. “I was the star of the Halloween parade that year.”
Looking back, that costume struck a chord, sparking a lifelong interest in waste, recycling, compost and environmentalism.
“I did always consider myself a garbage geek,” said Molyneux, sitting inside the office of Wastenot Farms just north of Orangeville.
Molyneux is the producer of high-quality soil additives made from compost, farm manure and other organic waste.
In short—Molyneux is a worm farmer.
In 2013, she launched Wastenot Farms as a boutique composting service for office spaces looking for environmentally-minded waste management. She would collect the compost from offices to feed her farm of red wiggler worms, who break down the material, creating a dense nutrient rich, clay-like manure.
“Worms are very efficient,” she said, explaining that for every 10 pounds of food waste, worms produce one pound of castings.
Then on March 13, 2020, everything changed.
With the onslaught of the COVID-19 pandemic, offices across Ontario closed, meaning that composting services weren’t needed.
“Over the course of the day, I pretty much lost my entire business,” she said.
Molyneux lost critical revenue, and her worms needed to eat.
“The pandemic introduced gardening to a whole new demographic,” said Molyneux.
The silver-lining in the situation was that the pandemic stirred a new interest in home horticulture, from growing tropical houseplants to backyard vegetable gardens.
Wastenot Farms had to pivot quickly, from being a service-based operation to now selling a unique product, worm castings.
Jocelyn’s Soil Booster offers a full line of soil additives, including probiotics for plants, peat-free potting soil and even bio-char.
Molyneux found new sources of food for her worms and now has partnerships with local farms to supply manure, restaurants like Mrs. Mitchell’s restaurant in Rosemont and Goodlot Farm and Farmstead Brewing in Caledon for compost scraps and even breweries to provide a new use for spent grains.
Quality of material is key.
“Because our worms are eating Mrs. Mitchell’s… the quality of the castings is significantly better,” said Molyneux.
This smorgasbord of delights helps the worms produce nutrient-rich waste, which acts as an incredible supplement for plants.
Molyneux keeps her worms inside an insulated straw bale barn at Wastenot Farms, in large square containers filled with the variety of goodies she collects. Red Wigglers need comfortable temperatures to perform their important task, between 20 to 25 degrees Celsius. If the temperature drops lower than 10 degrees they stop eating, and if it rises over 25 degrees, they will try to flee.
Worm waste contains beneficial microbes that help energize the soil’s ecosystem.
This helps deliver nutrients to plants and in gardens, it helps grow even more nutritious herbs, fruits and vegetables.
The process even sequesters carbon, helping the climate.
Molyneux’s peat-free potting soil offers a nutrient dense and more environmentally friendly option for growers opposed to traditional potting soils.
“This is unlike anything else on the Canadian market,” she said, explaining that most other potting soils are peat-based.
According to the Wildlife Conservation Society of Canada, peatlands hold the world’s largest amount of carbon on land. One quarter of the world’s peatlands are in Canada and are the foundation for many critical boreal habitats.
“There’s so much biodiversity that can’t exist elsewhere,” said Molyneux. “It’s really critical that we leave our peatlands.”
Jocelyn’s Soil Booster Potting Soil is Canada’s first raw and regenerative, living soil, meaning that it not only offers the drainage that is needed for potted plants, but also delivers nutrients year-round.
The mix uses partially decomposed woodchips, oyster shells and cricket frass (manure and shed exoskeletons from the bugs) in addition to pearlite and vermiculite to offer rich, well-draining material to sustain plants.
“It all has microbial life,” she said, explaining that traditional potting soils are often sanitized, losing good bacteria and fungi.
Molyneux also produces a bio-char product, which is a nutrient and microbe-rich soil additive made from heating organic material in a low oxygen setting. This carbon-rich matter helps retain water and nutrients, while also reducing greenhouse gases.
The staple item, “Probiotics for Plants” worm manure is a gardener’s best friend.
“You’re inoculating the soil,” said Molyneux, adding it increases the biodiversity in the soil fueling plant growth and blooms. “In two weeks, I can essentially guarantee you’ll see results.”
Where to find it:
Jocelyn’s Soil Booster is available at Hockley General Store, Orangeville Flowers, Rock Garden Farms
and select Healthy Planet locations. It is also available on Amazon and online at: soilbooster.ca