Green beans, lettuce, leeks, peas, radishes, tomatoes.

• The soil has settled down an inch below box surface, so thinking of adding a bit more of soil mix.
• As the boxes are above ground, they seem to need more watering.

A 2 X2 square foot  of  Green beans.

On May 31st 20101 added  some tomato plants costing 25 cents each into the straw bales that had not been treated with any fertilizer at all. However, they had bee regularly watered over a period of 2 weeks, so some decomposition should have taken place.

This was done to see if there was any difference between the growth and viability plants growing in  the bales pre-soaked in “digestate” from the biodigester and those with nothing added at all.

Hoping to add some more straw bales this week that have been pre-soaked in “digestate”.

Below is a photo of some peppers planted on May 31st in the straw bales without “digestate”.

photo above of  green bean sprouting in straw bale.

Just a light coating of soil on the top.

27th May;  straw bales soaked with digestate

Germination

• Beans and Tomatoes have germinated.
• No sign of peppers but looks like peas may come through tomorrow.

5 green beans sprouting in the top of straw bale

27th May : Square foot Garden

Composition 1/3 sheep 1/3 peat moss 1/3 vermiculite

Germination

• Everything has germinated helped by day temperatures of 30 -32 degrees Celsius ( 90 degrees F)
• Also have been able to keep the mixture moist just with night watering — holds it well

• top left – Green Beans
• bottom right – Radishes
• diagonals – Beets

21st May : Square foot Garden

Composition 1/3 sheep 1/3 peat moss 1/3 vermiculite

Planted:

• Yellow Beans, 2 x 1 x 2 foot square, 9 per square = 36 seeds
• Tomatoes, 2 foot square , 1 per square = 4 seeds
• Lettuce, 2 foot square, 2 per square = 16 seeds
• Spinach, 2 X 2 foot square, 9 per square = 36 seeds

Germination

Radishes germinated in 5 days

6 straws bales soaked with digestate.

As these were planted from soil mix on top of straw bale
Do not need this if planting from seedlings.

Watering but no germination as yet

Have grass growing vigorously though out of straw.

Setting up Straw Bale and Square foot garden at Mini Lakes Community near Aberfoyle, Guelph.

18th May : Square foot Garden

Composition 1/3 sheep 1/3 peat moss 1/3 vermiculite

Planted:

• Green Beans,  2 foot square, 8 per square = 32 seeds
• Beets, 2 x 2 foot square, 16 per  square = 64 seeds
• Radishes, 2 foot square, 16 per square = 64 seeds
• Tomatoes, 2 foot square , 1 per square = 4 seeds
• Cucumbers, 2 foot square,  2 per square  = 8 seeds
• Spinach, 2 X 2 foot square, 9 per square = 36 seeds

18th May: Straw Bale Garden

6 straws bales soaked with digestate.

As these were planted from soil mix on top of straw bale
Do not need this if planting from seedlings.

planted:

• green beans, 2 bales, row of 6 seeds
• yellow beans, 2 bales, row of  6 seeds
• tomatoes, 1 bale,  row of  5  seeds
• peppers, 1bale, row of 5 seeds

3 straw bales soaked with water

These are being used as a control to assess growth of bales soaked with digestate and those with nothing except water
not planted yet:

Toronto, ON, February 18, 2010

During the term of the agreement, ORMI will deliver a minimum of 5,000 cubic metres of organic residuals per year and ORMI will pay a processing cost (“Tip Fee”) that will be adjusted downward based on the actual performance of biogas renewable energy produced from the ORMI feedstock. The resulting net Tip Fee is expected to be significantly more competitive than other organic residual recycling options currently available.

The AD is scheduled to begin producing renewable biogas energy in the summer of 2010. Once fully functional, the AD is expected to generate approximately 500 kW, 24 hours per day, 7 days per week – enough energy to supply roughly 400 households. Delft Blue will be energy self-sufficient and sell electricity to the Cambridge and North Dumfries Hydro Inc. (“CNDH”) distribution grid under the Ontario Green Energy Act Feed-In Tariff program. The Delft Blue AD will be integrated into its veal farm operation. ORMI’s high-energy-potential organic residual feedstock will generate in excess of 75% of the energy produced.

Jerry Bartelse, President of Grober Group Inc., stated, “Through our partnership with ORMI, we can now profitably reuse all the organic waste products we generate to produce electricity, help protect the environment and demonstrate responsible business practices.”

“We are excited by the opportunity to partner with Grober Group and to embark on another Ontario farm-based AD project,” said Charles Buehler, Chairman & CEO of ORMI. “We believe that this new agreement is testament to the quality of our AD feedstock and the value of our partnership.”

“We are in substantive discussions with a number of other ADs to reach additional exclusive feedstock supply agreements in calendar 2010,” added Mr. Buehler. “Widespread use of ADs could eventually lead to a new era in organic waste recycling and open substantial new markets for organic waste diversion.”

“As a local distribution company, Cambridge and North Dumfries Hydro Inc. has been entrusted with an important role of fully supporting the Green Energy and Green Economy Act, 2009. One feature is the need to encourage and promote the build of renewable generation.” CNDH President and CEO, John Grotheer confirmed, “with the need for renewables, we support and applaud Delft Blue’s commitment to the production of renewable electricity through biogas. Innovative generation projects of this type are for the betterment of the community and align with the long term goals for our province. The team dedicated to this project, stayed the course and designed an environmentally superior means of generating renewable energy. Well done!”

About Organic Resource Management Inc.

Organic Resource Management is Canada’s largest provider of vacuum truck services for the collection, processing and recycling of food-related organic residuals. ORMI services in excess of 6,000 regular scheduled commercial, industrial, institutional and residential customers in Ontario, Quebec and British Columbia. Further information about ORMI may be obtained at the Company’s web site at www.ormi.com.

About Grober Group Inc.

The Grober Group is a vertically integrated group of three companies dedicated to veal production and processing for North American markets. Grober Inc. (Grober) controls the animal feed production division. Delft Blue / Ecolait Farms are the divisions devoted to raising veal calves; and Delft Blue / Ecolait is the Group’s meat processing division.

The Grober Group began business in Ontario in 1974. Since that time it has become one of North America’s foremost producers of veal and the Delft Blue brand has earned a significant reputation in the North American market.

For further information about the Grober Group, please visit the company’s website at www.grober.com

Note: Certain information contained in this press release may be forward-looking and therefore subject to unknown risks or uncertainties. The actual results, performance or achievements of Organic Resource Management Inc. may differ materially from the results, performance or achievements of the Company expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements.

Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

For further information, contact:
Organic Resource Management Inc.
Charles Buehler
Chairman and CEO
Tel: 416-580-8574
Email: cbuehler@ormi.com
Website: www.ormi.com

The Grober Group
Heather Copland
Marketing and Communications Manager
Tel: 519 622 2500 ext. 240
Email: hcopland@grober.com

The Equicom Group
Glen Williams
Investor Relations
Tel: 416-815-0700 ext. 272
Email: gwilliams@equicomgroup.com

BY ERIC McGUINNESS – PHOTOS BY KAZ NOVAK, THE HAMILTON SPECTATOR

FLAMBOROUGH ✦ Manure from 3,000 veal calves on a Valens-area farm will start producing enough power to supply 500 homes next month.

Industry officials say Delft Blue Veal will be one of only a half dozen Ontario farms — and the first in this area — with an on-site biogas plant turning manure into electricity for sale to the provincial grid.

Farm manager Piet Zeeman likes the idea of raising calves for food, “while you can make hydro with what comes out of the back end.”

Delft Blue, a division of the Grober Group of Cambridge, is building a huge, circular digester tank that will create methane gas to run an engine generating almost 500 kilowatt hours of electricity.

The system will also heat the digester and replace propane now used to heat barns and liquid animal feed.

With a total of 3,000 animals, there is a lot of potential in the waste for methane and nutrient development.

The addition of fat, oil, grease and other liquid food waste from off-farm sources will provide a high-octane boost, maximizing output of green energy while solving a disposal problem.

Nicole Foss, executive co-ordinator of the Agri-Energy Producers’ Association of Ontario, says the biogas process cuts greenhouse gas emissions, removes manure odour, kills most pathogens and prevents Walkerton-like contamination of drinking water. Plant nutrients in the manure — phosphorus, nitrogen and potassium — are preserved in the leftover liquid, or digestate, used as an organic fertilizer.

John Giles, Delft Blue bioenergy project manager, who says he first explored anaerobic digestion in Germany a decade ago, is excited about the prospect of producing power by mid-March.

“You’re not losing your nutrients, but you’re picking up all this carbon in the form of methane.”

The Grober Group processes veal in a federally inspected Cambridge plant for sale to grocers and the food-service industry. It also produces milk-based animal feed and components such as whey protein used in fitness drinks.

The Flamborough farm now has an aerobic digester, one that uses electricity to pump in air to support bacteria that do nothing but remove odour.

In an airless, anaerobic digester, microbes feeding on the waste release methane in a process similar to that in Hamilton’s Woodward Avenue sewage treatment plant, which burns biogas from its sludge digesters to generate electricity.

Foss, whose organization receives provincial aid to encourage biogas production, says: “Anaerobic digestion allows you to reclaim energy and nutrients the way natural systems do. If we promoted it, we could create a huge number of jobs building and servicing biodigesters. Germany built 4,000 plants in 10 years, employing tens of thousands.”

Considering the German experience, it’s not surprising that Plan-ET Biogas Solutions Inc. of St. Catharines, which is installing the Delft Blue system, uses technology from a German partner.

Application manager Matt Lensink says PlanET built digesters for two Niagara greenhouse flower growers in the past two years. They heat the greenhouses and produce power, but unlike Delft Blue rely entirely on off-farm waste, including grape pomace — skins and seeds left over from making wine — and waste from a Toronto dog food factory.

Project manager John Giles inspects equipment at the Delft Blue Veal Farm.

Noting that Ontario’s new Green Energy Act offers premium prices for on-farm biogas power, Lensink says: “The next step is to make people aware of it. Our hope is that it will go, but I don’t know if it will ever be as big here as in Germany, where (power) rates are almost double.”

Foss says current prices are only high enough if the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs continues to offer construction grants.

Ross Blaine, Delft Blue director of innovation, says OMAFRA offers a 40 per cent subsidy up to a maximum of $400,000 — or about 20 per cent for the Flamborough facility in which close to $2 million has been invested.

In keeping with his innovation role, Blaine hopes to do more than generate power. Among other things, he wants to try what he calls nutri-gation, adding digestate to golf-course irrigation systems in place of chemical fertilizer.

used by permisson form Hamilton Spectator emcguinness@thespec.com  905-526-4650

This project is the first biogas plant that I have been deeply involved with and I am learning something new every day. There are many new concepts and technologies to learn as well as the new things to learn about the biogas market both in Ontario and around the world.

Although this will be my first blog post, I am hoping to continue to blog as the project nears completion! 

• The most recent development in the building of the biogas plant has been the installation of the biogas piping.
• The biogas is produced in the digester and is burned in a reciprocating, gas engine.
• To transport the gas from the top of the digester to the gas engine, the gas is moved through 6” PVC pipes underground. The gas is piped underground to cool the gas and remove any moisture that is contained in the gas.
• Because of the amount of gas produced in the digester at Delft Blue Veal, 2 gas lines have been used to transfer the gas.
• A spare gas line has also been put in place for future use. Please see pictures for a more detailed view of the biogas lines.

Matt Lensink – Application Manager -  PlanET Biogas Solutions Inc.

The first presentation from O.M.A.F.R.A. is an introduction to biogas. It states some of the reasons for wanting to put up a biogas facility. They include: odour reduction, pathogen reduction, reduce Green House Gas (GHG) emissions, produce renewable energy, manage society’s waste, utilize food byproducts, improve fertilizer value of manure and new revenue on farm.

They also explain the new Green Energy and Green Economy Act, which was set in place to streamline approvals for renewable energy projects among other things. The reason behind this being, the easier and faster it is to gain approval for a renewable energy project, the more likely you are to boost the economy through the number new jobs created in building and maintaining these facilities. The new Feed-In Tariff (FIT) contract that the Ontario Energy Board (OEB) and Ontario Power Authority (OPA) created to replace the old Renewable Energy Standard Offer Program (RESOP) was explained. More info:

http://fit.powerauthority.on.ca/

They also gave a brief history on biogas generation in Ontario and North America. Information was given on a program set in place by OMAFRA called Ontario Biogas Financial Assistance Program. The purpose of this program was to grant money in 2 phases to the people building biogas facilities, because biogas facilities are costly to build, people were not pursuing the idea. Conducting a costly yet necessary feasibility study is the first phase in building a biogas plant. This Program offered to pay 70% of the cost with a maximum of $35,000.00. If you project was `feasible` you move on to phase 2: Biogas System Construction and Implementation. Phase 2 offered to pay 40% of construction costs to maximum of $400,000.00. All these funds have been spent but we were lucky enough to take part in this government funded assistance program. More info:

http://www.omafra.gov.on.ca/english/engineer/biogas/proj_list.htm

Micheal Kottner gave a presentation of the technology behind biogas. He explains there are 2 main types of digester systems: wet fermentation (max 13% VS) and dry fermentation (max 50% VS) VS= volatile solids (biodegradable material). There are many different ways to build wet fermenters or `liquid digesters`, and they`re still coming up with new better designs. We discussed the advantages and disadvantages of the 10 most popular styles. As for Dry fermenters, there are 2 main types: horizontal digester and garage style digesters.

Horizontal Digesters

Garage Style Digesters

Liquid Digesters

The participants from O.M.A.F.R.A are: Andrew Barrie, Don Hilborn, Jake Debruyn, Ben Hawkins and Terrence Sauve.  The guest speakers include: Micheal Kottner from IBBK (International Biogas and Bioenergy Center of Competence),  Erwin Koberle of  BIOGASKONTOR koberle, and Birgit Pfeifer of Novatech.

This is a four day course that covers just about everything you need to know before you start to build or operate a biogas facility. It covers topics such as: Safety Rules and Regulations, Principles of Biogas, Monitoring and Record Keeping, Operation, Selling your Electricity and Digestate Management to name a few.  The course wraps up with a tour of a working biogas facility.

I would recommend this course to any farmers (not just livestock) or anyone who produces organic waste. If you wish  to release, capture and consume the hidden energy locked in your organic waste, anaerobic digestion is the key.  I would also recommend this course to any retailers of waste and waste water treatment equipment.  Biogas technology is very new to Canada, and as far as i know there aren’t really any retailers of this type of equipment advertising their products to this new growing market. As in our project, the majority of equipment was shipped in from overseas, equipment that can probably also be obtained here in North America. In taking this course you could better understand how to market your products to this new biogas facility construction trend. You could take the lead!  Just a thought.

Next Ontario Biogas Operators`Course in Belleville January 26, 2010.

Here`s the link:

http://www.omafra.gov.on.ca/english/engineer/biogas/prod_course.htm