Field compost (2010) by Mary
Some things just make you feel good.
One weekend, we cleaned up an area where a dead tree had fallen years before. Removing all the brush makes it easier to mow and expands the area of our lower field. In doing so, Larry not only got to use his chain saw, but his newly acquired tractor to haul bucket after bucket of firewood up to the house. This particular tree had been dead for ages and much of the wood was rotten and full of insects. It seemed a shame, but not knowing what else to do, we dumped it in the burn pile.
Soon after, Todd suggested that instead of burning the unusable wood, we start a field compost. The men found an ideal place under some trees by the creek where it could be spread out. We've used it for our cleanup ever since, and someday there will be a rich source of decomposed matter to be used as needed.
 | Compost, nature's elixir of the soil. Black gold. Of the many things we've learned recently, compost is the most fascinating. All that kitchen waste, yard waste; things smelly, gross, and ugly, turns right back into beautiful black soil. Tidbit: A typical household throws away around 474 pounds of food waste each year. Tidbit: In 2009, San Francisco, CA, became the first US city to pass a bill requiring mandatory composting of food scraps. San Francisco has the highest waste diversion rate of any US city - 75%. |
Field Compost The tree
