ORGANIC: Composting suburbia

We drove past a gypsy encampment in the south of England when I was about four years old – I don't remember it, but I do remember vividly what my father told me about the gypsies' tradition as we drove on down the road. He said when gypsies camp on your land, they help themselves to vegetables from your fields – whatever they need to eat, no more – and then (and this made a deep impression on me), before they leave, they bury their waste in between the rows, in the fields where they took the vegetables.

Since then I have always loved that idea – returning our leftovers to the earth to nourish the soil and to express appreciation… So ever since February 2006 when I moved into a house with its own garden space, I've been turning all our leftover organic matter into compost for the soil. (Do you know that city landfills and dump sites are overflowing? And that 75% of city waste is organic matter?)

Food maths
In organic gardening they always say "Healthy soil, healthy plants." Here's some easy math: How many years have you been eating food? How much organic matter have you recycled? I don't mean all the mixed garbage and plastic bags people send to the landfill each week; I mean how often have you nourished the soil by putting your fruit-and-vegetable leftovers into the ground?

But you live in a city! How can you recycle your waste in suburbia? If you live in a flat, condo or apartment with shared yard space, see if you can interest some neighbours in having a community organic garden. Or make inquiries (the internet, the mayor’s office, the school system, the park system) to see if there is an organic community garden in your area.

If not, then save your leftovers and give them to a friend like me who has a yard they are converting to an organic garden – or persuade them to do so and maybe even go help them on weekends! It will make you feel great every time you throw leftovers into the compost bin to know it's all going to help create healthy soil.

If you have some space around your house, you're lucky – you've got several possibilities for recycling your leftovers in a healthy way that meets the most stringent city regulations: get a how-to compost book and follow the simple directions. Once you know how to turn organic waste into compost, you can consider various options for containing your compost-in-the-making – a compost bin; a compost hole; a raised bed containing compost topped by straw and soil; a simple wormery.

Or you can do as the gypsies do: quietly bury your waste between the rows.

Happy composting – healthy soil!



ACTION Nicky Scott, Composting: An Easy Household Guide – a small pocket book that covers all the basics. Browse Urban Enclave for photos & text on an organic attempt.

Article originally published in L'INCONNU magazine, Winter 08-09