Compost Heaven

I found these lemon leaves in my compost bin quite a few years back, but they still resonate with the integrity of decay. The October 5 issue of The New Yorker (with the cat walking "on the Edge," by Gurbuz) has a letter to the editor by me. The gist of the letter is compost compost compost (in response to a piece by Elizabeth Kolbert). If there is something I feel as strongly about as the beach and the fate of our oceans, well, its composting. Somehow the frenzy of media attention on eating fresh fruits and vegetables and buying locally, hitting farmers markets or ordering a "box" is not accompanied by the requisite flip side: how to dispose of the tremendous amounts of resulting organic waste. Bulky carrot tops, chard stems, melon seeds, orange rinds, banana peels, coffee grinds and filters (I throw these in because we drink a lot of coffee and nothing helps the compost more), grape stems, less-than-perfect lettuce leaves...should not go in the regular garbage.

Unless you have a bunny (yes, we have one of these too) composting is the obvious answer and I am always surprised at meeting folks who can easily walk out their back door to their yard, and do not have a compost bin back there. This blog will address issues like keeping pests out and I can list favorite items that help, like my stainless countertop compost bucket (best gift ever!), where to find bins and findings from my favorite newsletters that come from the SF PUC (sfwater.org) and Sunset Scavenger (sfrecycling.com). Please add resources you like and comments and stories of your own.

Our first big storm yesterday has left everything wonderfully wet and the warm still air today smells of earth. With damp dead leaves from the plum tree added to the mix, the compost, being both moist and warm, is in heaven i.e. being super productive. Should go fishing with some of the worms.