Cycle of Weeds, Permaculture Opportunities, UVIC Environmental Restoration, Wwoof and Soil Apprenticeships, UVIC Food Courses, Gaia College and SOUL

March 27, 2011
I spent most of yesterday pulling weeds out two flower beds around the house. It was an activity not directly related to food production, but related to yard maintenance (by way of showing that neglecting the yard for a year does not yield good results). The soil was disturbed and bare, allowing early successional, colonizing plants (weeds) to take over. Pulling them up, further disturbs the soil and the seed bank, which leads to further weeds and more pulling...it is an endless cycle.

Compost Posts--The Final Chapter

I finally received my bin from Community Compost; it is not as big as I thought. I also received a list of items that are to be included/excluded from my compost bin. I am supposed to fill my compost with raw fruit and vegetable scraps, tea bags, coffee grounds, and yard trimmings. I was surprised to find out that I am not to put cooked food scraps in my compost, nor I am I to put bones in there. When I found out that cooked food is not allowed in my compost I was a little bit disappointed. I do not understand the science of compost, but I will defer to the experts at Community Compost. The news is not all bad; I was able to convince my landlord to split the cost of the 6-month subscription to the service. This was in part because he was interested in composting his yard trimmings, but also in part because we will share the garden in which the organic topsoil will be utilized. My landlord has told me that in the next week or two we will begin preparing the backyard garden. I possibly forgot to mention that the home in which I live is new, and has never had a garden. Therefore, we need to do some foundational work. My landlord and I will cooperate on this aspect of the garden. Then at some point in the near future we will put down the composted topsoil and begin to garden. I am ready.

-Mario

Compost Posts--Community Composting

Community Composting is the option I am going with. They are more expensive, but they give you soil back. Since I am planning to garden, this is for me. They provide me with a bin. It is supposedly very durable; I have yet to receive it. I am then supposed to fill it with compost for four weeks. In four weeks they will send a truck by my home to pick up the compost in my bin. At the same time they pick up my bin, they drop me off a twenty-liter bag of nutrient rich composted soil. This service is $154.51 for six months. I am unaware as to the current market price of composted soil, but I imagine that the $151.54 is a fair price to pay for six or seven bags of soil and the pick up/ drop off service. I am supposed to receive my bin and bag of soil this week. I am excited, and looking forward to my future involvement in the composting and gardening lifestyle. 
-Mario

Compost Posts--Pedal to Petal

Pedal to Petal is by far the most affordable option. I think this is for people that are interested in reducing the amount of waste they put in the landfill. They will provide you with a bin for three dollars. You fill up this bin. When your bin is full sign up for one of their weekly pick-ups. These pick-ups cost five dollars. They then take the compost (on their bicycles) to a site where the compost is processed into a nutrient rich soil. This soil is then given away to groups involved in raising awareness about community gardening and groups that grow in public places. I think that this is a great option for people that want to limit their production of landfill waste. Also, I think it is good to support the groups that receive the soil, as they are involved in initiatives that benefit the movement towards local food security and sustainability.

-Mario

Compost Posts--The CRD

On a side note: 30% of waste that ends up in the landfill is compostable material. The CRD (Capital Regional District) has launched a pilot program aimed at reducing this number in the greater Victoria region. It is a program that will pick up compostable materials curbside for individual residences. They hope to have this program running by 2013. However, they do not plan to implement this program for businesses or multi unit dwellings. This may be an area where some action can be taken to pressure the CRD to extend the program to businesses and multi unit dwellings. They suggest that businesses are responsible for their own waste removal, and that they are not prepared to extend the program to multi unit dwellings. Although the program planned for 2013 is a good step in the right direction, I am sure that including businesses and multi unit dwellings can only be beneficial for the environment.

     -Mario

Compost Posts--Scoping It Out

   

     In roaming around the websites of these various organizations I realized that there was two types of composting websites. There was some that sold home composting bins for backyards with all kinds of different designs. There was also websites of organizations that collect compost and then produce soil. Since I have no plan to convince my landlord to purchase and install a compost bin in the backyard, I thought that the latter set of websites would be a more practical way to go. Also, I think that as a beginner, it would not be prudent to pretend that I would know what to do with a compost bin in the backyard other than to just put compost in it. I found two organizations that fit the criteria of what I was looking to do. They were Pedal to Petal, and Community Composting. Although both groups are non-profit, I immediately found that these services were for different people. Pedal to Petal is not for somebody that wants to garden; they don’t give you any soil. Community Composting gives you some soil back.

      -Mario

Compost Posts-The Beginning

I decided to investigate composting in the Victoria area as part of our team’s umbrella term of local food security and sustainability. Reducing unnecessary waste in our landfills and improved crops (for those using composted soil) are two benefits of composting. I have an interest in reducing the amount of waste I produce and am considering gardening for the first time. Gardening was not at all a part of my childhood or adolescence, and previous to moving to the Victoria area I lived in an apartment building. This means I have no idea what I am doing when it comes to gardening, and even less when it comes to compost. However, I think that it is an important thing to learn as part of my own participation in the local food security and sustainability movement.  As I know next to nothing about compost or gardening, I thought it would be an interesting adventure to share with others. I decided to start with just a good old-fashioned Google search. This led me to a whole bunch of organizations within the greater Victoria area that are heavily involved in compost at some level or another. The following entries in this blog will be a documentation of my attempts to get involved with composting and gardening.
-Mario

Weeding Back Garden, Planting Seeds, Transition Town, Springridge Commons

March 7, 2011

Ate a date square at UVIC, and myroommate's leftover eggplant curry. For the last few days I have been spending at least an hour in the big back garden trying to rescue it by digging out the weeds: grass, dandelion, pop weeds and creeping buttercup. It is enjoyable to get out and take some ownership of this garden, but the weeds are going to be an ongoing project.

I wanted to get seeds from Seeds of Victoria or Two Wings Farm as local is awesome, but I can't get out to them, and I have no credit card to order online (http://www.earthfuture.com/gardenpath/Seeds_Catalogue.htm and http://www.twowingsfarm.com/ ). I went to the Big Barn by the Root Cellar today to buy gardening supplies at it turned out to be $40: a bag of potting soil ($5), 6 trays ($12), and 8 bags of various open-pollinated, organic seeds ($18). It was more expensive than I thought it would be, but I didn't dare try to germinate the seeds straight into heavy clay soil here, particularly not with the hard frost we had this morning.