If you’ve read the “About Us” page (or if you know us in real life) you know that Mike was born and raised in Montreal. We lived there together for eight years.
In 2006, when we moved to Nova Scotia, we were decidedly overwhelmed by the intricacies of the Nova Scotia waste removal program. Seriously: garbage every two weeks in clear bags, container recyclables in blue bags, paper recyclables in blue bags. Bag limit of 8 total, blah blah blah. That part was reasonably easy to follow. Nonetheless, the first few weeks when the garbage truck stopped in front of our home, I held my breath as my heart raced: would we pass muster? Would we be fined? Would the garbage man shake his head sadly and look askance at our pathetic waste sorting skills? Would our neighbours point and laugh??? What a joy, each time, when our garbage was deemed satisfactory. I eventually stopped phoning Mike, at work, to chortle with glee (this may have had something to do with him telling me to stop calling him. Now.)
We had conquered, it seemed, the complexities of sorting garbage from recyclables. Compost, on the other hand, presented an entirely different order of challenge. Compostables were anything but easy. Are pizza boxes okay? (yes) Used kleenexes? (depends where you live) Soiled paper? (yes) Pet poop (from some pets: including our darling Binky) And so it goes. It seemed overwhelmingly complicated and terribly tiresome. If I remember correctly, it was at least a month before we summoned the courage to wheel that enormous green bin to the curb. There was much rejoicing (albeit sans telephone call) when that, too, was received without comment.
Apologies to VWRM from whom I snagged this pic.
Three years down the road, I cringe in horror when I think back to our wanton disregard for the treasure that our leftover food waste could be. To think that for years we’d been tossing such valuable stuff into our GARBAGE. The horror! We never stopped to ponder the wonder that is compost. Compost is like caviar for plants. The more sources your compost is composed of, the richer it is. It has everything EVERYTHING plants need to grow like…well…weeds! Compost is the bomb. Compost even has its own (Canadian) website. Read how these folk rhapsodize about the wonders of fully rotted food!
Feast your eyes the truckload of delightful compost we received today:
Black Gold with Shovel
Can you believe this used to be eggs, cheese, salad, pizza,rice, cereal, popcorn, bread, tomatoes, burritos, cake, chilli dogs, souvlaki, Moo Goo Gai Pan, Pot Tarts, yoghurt, potato salad, zucchini, Guinea Pig poop, leaves, lawn clippings, Baklava, steak, paper towel, Tim Horton Doughnuts, Kraft Dinner, carrots, oatmeal, coffee grounds, flour bags, dryer lint, spaghetti…you name it! If you couldn’t stuff it in your mouth the first go around, it’s giving you a second chance: shove some seeds in and it’ll grow your plants for you!!! Seriously. This is some astounding alchemy.
Mike was so thrilled to have received this bounty, he immediately unloaded the entire supply. He received some invaluable assistance in his endeavor:
- Yellow Shovel, Black Gold
Compost beside its new home.
BY THE WAY: if you are a valleyite (valley-er? valley-onian? valley-valet?) you may be interested to know that on Sunday, May 10th Valley Waste Resource is GIVING THIS STUFF AWAY!! I know, right? They’re nuts! You can snag up to 5 bags of this black gold for ZERO DOLLARS. Who said altruism was dead?
I think there is ONE county in Georgia that collects and gives out compost. One. This is why Canada is a great land, indeed.
Canada rules. :o)
Hey there! I just had to comment b/c my Aunt and her family live in NS as well. I live in the states, and it is defiantly an adjustment whenever I visit them….I always have to ask which bin to use! LOL Your beds look GREAT so far!
I <3 compost!!! I am envious of your large truckful, and even more envious of your VWR giving it away free! The whole Seattle region has a great waste management system and the place where all the yard waste and other compostables are made into black gold is two miles from my home, and when the wind is right you can catch a whiff of it steaming away.
Hi there…it’s Cheri’s sister Nancy. I must say…I’m impressed at your efforts, and perhaps a little shamed. I do all the proper recycling and so on that Nova Scotia requires, but I have yet to delve into the world of compost usage. Currently, our large green bin is an all-you-can-eat buffet for our resident squirrel. I have to say that I am somewhat hesitant to remove this treasure trove from him, for fear of reprisal, but I may attempt this “next step” in the near future. The thought has crossed my mind more than once lately…especially since the deplorably paltry results of my gardening efforts last summer.
You should check your facts, vermiculite is almost always contaminated with asbestos, the same geologic process that produces one also produces the other and it is almost impossible to find them existing independent of one another in nature. I would never use vermiculite, especially around children. The EPA said the air was safe in Lower Manhattan after 9/11 too, so think twice about it. Just because it doesn’t have a warning label doesn’t mean it isn’t extremely toxic.
Just thought you should know.
Thank you for your comments, Concerned. I invite everyone to do their own research and draw their own conclusions. I am fully satisfied that I did so myself.