Compost

It all begins with the soil. Our entire civilization depends on our ability to produce more food than what we can consume. Without healthy soil, we have nothing. Healthy soil is really a living ecosystem and your organic waste is what that ecosystem's inhabitants eat while leaving behind rich humus that our food crops can use to produce the food that nourishes all of us.

Composting is also on of the easiest ways that the urban homesteader can locally deal with the organic waste that our small parcels of land (a.k.a our yards) will produce year round.

This article will be an ongoing and evolving guide for the backyard composter and hopefully will help inspire many folks to begin seeing fallen leaves, plant trimmings and kitchen food scraps as valuable resources to be used to feed the soil.

One great resource for Composting on Vancouver Island is the Greater Victoria Compost Education Centre. They have an excellent On-Line Composting Basics Tutorial, its free and a great place to start your composting efforts.

I will include more resources as this article evolves. If you have other resources in your local area, please let us know by dropping a comment.

2010.04.18
TNT