heaps happy

I've been a compost champion for a long time. Where ever I've flatted, I've strived to save food scraps from landfill and encourage others to do the same. In Teva's apartment years ago we would save bucketloads of scraps to compost elsewhere. But in all of those years of throwing scraps on the heap and hoping for the best, I never actually made use of it. It was stuck, with no destination, and so my summer veggie patch never knew the true beauty of real compost. 

Here we started with buying organic compost in plastic sacks. Most recently it's been delivered by the cubic meter which seems to suit our needs for the time being. But lately my awareness has been shifting and I'm starting to see that we have the power to be creating more of what our garden needs ourselves. I'm feeling determined to master the magic of soil making and become a more resilient gardener.

Months ago I bought and read Kay Baxter's The Art of Composting. Most of the content went right over my head but my main takeaway was growing carbon crops in order to improve the structure of our compost. Plenty of long stalks that have been in the soil for quite a while and are carbon rich as a result. This summer I'm planning to grow oats, barley, sorgum, lambs quarters, sunflowers and corn. All in the hopes of improving our compost. I'd had an eye on Koanga's Growing Great Compost (an online workshop in 7 episodes) which could be an excellent resource for the future too. 

Signing up with Sharewaste has also been a delight. This year we've met people from the area who are happy and willing to contribute their kitchen scraps and coffee grinds. And every bit helps! I absolutely love opening our space up to anyone who wants to engage with it. One day I'd like to host all my Sharewaste contributors for a dinner that they've had a hand in growing.

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Several weeks ago I drove out to Titirangi to buy some coconut coir and seed raising mix made by Katina from Blue Borage. I had been dreaming of using Katrina's composting expertise for some time so I jumped at the chance when she said she could come and visit our place the following weekend. Following her on-site troubleshooting I decided to redo everything so that the layers could break down faster. It was interesting shovelling through our recent past and recalling what we'd put in weeks and months ago. It took me right back to an Autumn morning when Teva and I biked with Zeus to one of our local parks. We raked up big sacks of dried leaves while the dog sniffed every inch of the place. It was the beginning of that compost pile. Trimmings from the grape vine, dried leaves, food scraps and sawdust. 

The original heap with thick layers of cardboard, seaweed, ash, leaves & more

Now that I've redone the heap and modified some of my habits we're expecting to use our first lot of compost much sooner. I've been able to use a lot of our prolific weeds too; buttercup, plantain, dock and nasturtuim. It's incredible to feel the warmth produced when I peel back the top layer of cardboard!

And ok, I'll admit to being steamed off that Teva's compost pile that seems to get nothing but weeds yet it's looking very nice. It has a lighter feel compared to what's at the bottom of my food scrap heavy heap. It is certainly interesting to observe the results of differing matter processed in the same way. 

Teva's weedy compost looking on point

Worms for days. How did he do it?

Right now I'm looking into making signage for our fence so that people know what we're up to with Sharewaste and MakeSoil. Katrina has also suggested offering to collect our neighbours' greenwaste which would mean that they'd save money and we'd have more organic matter to work with. I think that could be a winning idea. I'm really looking forward to growing our very own local living compost hub.  

Katrina's imprint on our garden has left us feeling the very real potential we have to be growing food and community at our place. She has gifted us much more than we expected at the beginning of this coaching journey. 

For the first time I'm beginning to realise that I will have some gorgeous compost in my hands very soon. 

The heap is happier and is now working just as it was meant to.

Charlotte-Rose

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