Wednesday, October 12, 2011

Six Rules of Composting

“Dang hippies” I muttered as I desperately navigated through a slow-moving sea of people who were exactly like me. The ‘Innovative Composting’ lecture would start at 3:00 pm. It was 2:57. Of all the lectures I highlighted in my Mother Earth News Fair Program, I wanted to see this one the most.

Why do I find myself 300 miles from home with a 20 pound infant on my hip walking miles through beekeeping workshops and solar water heater displays?

Because I love learning (I know, you may as well grab a marker and write “dork” on my forehead). The prospect of discovering a better method of composting, organic gardening, or other “earthy” goodies led me to the Mother Earth News Fair last month. And it was as wonderfully hippytastic as the name promised.

I eventually did find the ‘Innovative Composting” talk. The speaker, author and garden expert Barbara Pleasant, offered advice useful for any level composter. She came up with 6 Rules of Composting:

1. Choose labor-saving sites

2. Work with what you have

3. Help decomposers do their job

4. Reuse and recycle

5. Remember the magic is in the mix

6. Customize composting to suit your garden needs

Read the expanded version on her website: www.compostgardening.com/basicsfromthebook/sixbasicrules.html.

One of my favorite points Ms. Pleasant made is to be patient, “compost time is slow time.” Any task that allows me to just sit back and wait for the results is good with me.

By the end of her talk I had enough compost blog fodder to last a few months. Then I was off to learn how to spin my own alpaca yarn. Hmm…I wonder what my husband would think of a pet alpaca?