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Category: Composting

Subsidized Composters for Community Groups

October 30, 2014


Continue reading “Subsidized Composters for Community Groups”

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Compost Ed goes to Mayne Island

June 21, 2014


This past week the Compost Ed Centre took a little day trip to Mayne Island to teach the folks there all about some advanced composting methods.  We gathered in the old Ag Hall and had a wondrous two hours of composting queries, information exchange, homemade lemon cake and strong cups of tea!  Vicki of the Mayne Island Recycling Society showed me the Mayne Island community garden, and I thought we could all take a page or two from their book.  Scroll on down to learn more (click on the pictures to enlarge)!

poster
Awesome poster!
Garden Goddess
The guardian at the gate of the Mayne Island Community Gardens
Mayne CG
Beautiful plots!
3-bin labels
Their passively managed 3-bin composting system. After attending the workshop, Vicki was inspired to try building a hot compost in the fall!
3-bin rules
Golden Rules
Vicki in garden
What that compost helps to grow!
strawbs
Garden candy
maze
To make the gardeners’ experience even more meditative…
water
Amazing rainwater catchment system! 10 cisterns, all fundraised for, capture water off the metal roof of the nearby community centre.
water rules
Rainwater use is volunteer-managed. The cisterns’ water level is monitored and a weekly “fair water distribution” amount is determined, measured in easily-counted watering cans.
boat garden
Creative container
Vicki board
We couldn’t agree more with what the sign says!

A huge thanks to Mayne Island for hosting and inspiring us, we look forward to more trips around the southern Gulf Islands, spreading the compost word!

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Thoughts on classroom worm bins

April 3, 2014


DSCN0007

The list to the left has been living on my bulletin board for a few months and seeing it makes me smile every day.  It’s from a student in a grade 3 class at St Patrick’s Elementary who was excited to help harvest his classroom worm compost bin but who wasn’t completely enthusiastic about touching the worms and finished compost.  He put himself in charge of documenting all the organisms found in the worm bin and thoughtfully made me a copy of his list to take with me.

There are lots of reasons I get nerdily excited about worm composting (such as the beautiful finished product and how little time it takes for the worms to make it), but the most compelling one has to be what a great experience a classroom worm bin is for kids.  It is a little ecosystem tucked away in the class, it lets kids see and participate in the entire compost cycle, and it gets them into the habit of integrating positive environmental change into their daily routine.  Plus, it gives them an excuse to dig around in the dirt!

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