"You know you are a real gardener when you think compost is a fascinating subject."
Earth knows no desolation.
She smells regeneration in the moist breath of decay.
My whole life has been spent waiting for an epiphany, a manifestation of God's presence, the kind of transcendent, magical experience that let's you see your place in the big picture. And that is what I had with my first compost heap.
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If your company or organization has the desire and space to grow some organic food or native flowers, then they are demonstrating a willingness to act with environmental stewardship. Composting creates a positive cycle, which binds folks to their environment through a routine that is by its very nature respectful. Turing food waste to soil, and soil to food is a noble cause, and we at Giving Tree Gardens salute anyone who gets their hands dirty doing the magic work of turning garbage into gold.
Compost bins are easy to make from scrap materials. I learned from Will Allen of Growing Power how to make a compost bin from pallets. Pallets are abundant, strong, and often free. Many organizations end up with excess pallets that they have to pay to remove, check with your local food retailers to rustle up donations.
What You’ll Need:
6 pallets
Electric drill or screw gun
Hammer
Utility scissors
50 feet of 1/4 inch hardware cloth
Box of 3” coated deck screws
Box of fence staples
2 or 3 helpers (more if you can find them)
What to do:
1. Find six pallets of the same make, or six that are roughly the same size.
2. Line five of the pallets up in a cube shape making a bottom and four sides, setting aside the top pallet, which will become the lid.
3. Attach the pallets to one another with three inch coated deck screws. Make solid attachments in the corners of your compost bin, and don’t hesitate to use plenty of screws. We put at least three screws in each seam of the bin and we run them in at a few different angles.
4. Line the inside of your compost bin with hardware cloth for rodent proofing. Use the utility scissors to cut the cloth, and use the fence staples and hammer to tack it down. Don’t worry about tacking it down too thoroughly, the cloth will also be held down under the weight of the compost.
5. Decorate your compost bin. The more fun the compost bin looks, the more folks will want to use it. Get the kids and grown-ups alike to decorate their new bin and you’ll help facilitate a sense of ownership and pride. We should all feel proud when we compost!
6. Now that you’ve assembled your bin go ahead and tack some hardware cloth down to the last pallet that you’ve set aside as your lid. The lid can be loosely placed over the bin and easily lifted up whenever compostables are thrown in.
Now that you’ve made your compost bin find an accessible spot for it and get to the work of educating your friends and co-workers on the easy craft of compost collection. For a step-by-step guide to maintaining and managing either a single compost bin or a multi-bin system read The Seed Volume 32
Organizations and business have the power to teach, and the responsibility to provide a good example. Composting our food waste is one of the first steps we can take toward acting responsibly within our environment and creating a sustainable future. If you’d like help figuring out an eco-friendly way of dealing with your organizations food scraps, we’ll be happy to help. Giving Tree Gardens offers on-site consultation, composting classes, and compost bin building sessions that are fun and informative. Click here for more information.
Happy Composting!
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The Seed Vol. 34 January 20, 2010 A Giving Tree Gardens Newsletter
Photos by Russ Henry and Shaunna McBride ©2009 ,Text by Russ Henry
©2009 by Giving Tree Gardens, all rights reserved.
In today’s economic conditions, businesses, non-profit organizations, and government departments across America are turning to “green”, eco-friendly solutions for long-term cost savings. Sustainability is more then just a buzzword for the employees and activists who attempt to direct their organizations toward an environmentally and economically healthier tomorrow. Folks everywhere are waking up to the realization that the only way to create a sustainable future is to start living in a sustainable way today. We’re all now learning the hard lesson that the long-term economic viability of our nation hangs in balance with our nation’s environmental stability. The more we preserve and honor the environment that we rely on, the more resources we have to share. When we recognize that our food is a product of our environment we can easily see how even the waste portions of our food are honorable and important.
In recent month’s we at Giving Tree Gardens have witnessed and helped facilitate an environmentally sound change in the way a few Minneapolis organizations view the waste they create. Almost every group or organization of folks has the potential to also begin producing compost for use in urban farms as well as home and community gardens. Wherever people gather, they eat, and wherever people eat, they produce food scraps. While some organizations can put their food scraps to use on-site in their own compost bins, others turn their compostables over to local urban farms that are actively seeking food scrap donations for mass compost production.
This month’s volume of The Seed is dedicated to giving organizations on the verge of change a how-to guide for dealing with their food waste in an environmentally wise way. Read below for a list of green resources for employees and volunteers looking to guide their organization toward a healthier tomorrow, as well as step-by-step guide to building a low-budget, community enhancing compost bin.
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For the greater Minneapolis area!
Snow slow you down last winter?
Sure we all know that compost builds soil, but the act of composting also builds community! These compost bins were built with the labor and coordination of a team of community organizations, neighborhood residents, and local businesses.
Get those corners and seams well secured! After you've built the frame, rodent proof it by lining it with hardware cloth!
At Giving Tree Gardens we need the toughest wheel barrows around, and there's none we've seen tougher then the Brentwood Industries, Pro-Boss. This barrow is a real mover and shaker with it's structural steel chassis and hardwood handles.
Thinking of Going Green? Start by Growing Green!
These organizations can help residents, neighborhoods, and organizations in Minneapolis and St. Paul learn to eat and grow sustainably!
Sister's Camelot provides free organic food to folks in need throughout the Twin Cities!
Midtown Farmers Market: Shop for locally grown organic foods, and meet your farmers and neighbors!
Youth Farm and Market Project: Kids learn to grow, cook, and sell food. Sharing skills that will sustain for a lifetime!
Seward Redesign has been working to improve their neighborhood's environmental impact, now they're building an organic urban farm!
The community at Little Earth of United Tribes in Minneapolis is making an organic urban farm, click here to learn how you can get involved!
Homegrown Minneapolis: Working to improve access to organic and locally grown fresh foods throughout the city!
Giving Tree Gardens is happy to now offer organic and eco-friendly landscape consultation for businesses, non-profits, and government organizaitons!
If your home, company, or organization would like to donate food scraps or other compostables to help build organic urban farms in Minneapolis, CLICK HERE!
Folks all around Minneapolis recognize this colorful bus. Sister's Camelot has been a leader in the food justice movement in the Twin Cities. Recently they hosted a compost bin building session in their warehouse.
Pallets are an abundant and free resource for building compost bins. The hardware cloth below can be purchased in bulk at some local retailers such as Welna Hardware on Bloomington Ave.
Always work with friends! This event taught folks from 5 non-profit organizations how to build a compost bin. Thanks to Brody, Colin, Dave, Andy, James, and Shaunna for learning a skill to share with the community!
Decorate your bins! When we express our creative side in our work, we can take pride in what we make. Sister's Camelot donated the bin we made in this workshop to the Little Earth of United Tribes in good will toward their urban farming project.
Compost Grows Community!
