2023 in review
ALMONTE LEAVES THEIR LEAVES
We have filled 25 compost bioreactors for the 2023 season and it’s time to say a big thank you to all who contributed. We hoped for 2,200 bags and you left off 2,700 at 4925 March Road.
Was it our new sign at the gate?
We are so grateful for your work filling and delivering the bags. And Larry gets the prize again this year for most trailer loads.
This year’s enlarged bioreactors each receive 1.2 cubic metres of chopped and wetted leaves and garden greens. Mixed into each bioreactor is 40 litres of spent coffee grounds given to us by Equator Coffee ... and some of last year’s compost. In a little over a year, each will produce 0.5 cubic metres of rich fungal dominant compost! Our 25 bioreactors for 2023 will provide 11 cu. metres of fully cured compost.
An amazing team of volunteers did the hard work (serious fun) of processing the leaves ... Big shout out to Pam, Georgina, Gord, Leah, Jim, Peter, Mike and Scott for your energy and good will. We gratefully acknowledge Millstone News for providing just the right channel for us to get the word out. If you could volunteer next season, drop us an email at compostcomposers@gmail.com We work a retired person schedule of good-weather-mornings only.
Community Compost Composers at Almonte Farmers Market!
This spring and fall we had a stand at the Almonte Farmers Market. We had a great time talking with the many market goers, sharing information on the benefits of fungal dominant compost, how it’s made, and got a feel from Almonte “yardeners” of their efforts, both successful and not, in creating their own compost. We displayed our “Estate” and “Residential” versions of our hybrid bioreactors and, of course, our compost. Both bioreactors and compost were available for those who wanted to purchase.
Projects we undertook this year with your leaves:
Almonte Alameda
We donated our Fungal Dominant Compost to the Almonte Alameda Project. A compost extract (1 L compost to 15 L water) was applied in June to each Alameda tree and in September each tree got 10 litres of compost in the redeveloped tree wells.
Local farms
- In collaboration with local farmers Chris and Kim in Clayton, we undertook a field experiment to rejuvenate pasture land by liquid applying fungal dominant compost extract and broadcast seeding a grass mixture tumbled in FDC.
- We provided our fungal dominant compost and excess leaves to Alberto at Nature’s Apprentice Farm in Pakenham.
Community Gardens - Hunger Stop, Lanark County Food Bank, Blakeney Garden Project, 60 litres through Gerda for the tomatoes
- In the spring of 2023 Community Compost Composers supplied compost to the Almonte Seed Library project for testing effectiveness of Almonte leaf mould for seedling germination.
- Seven Spirits landscaping September. Tumbled 1 part grass and clover seeds with 3 parts compost before broadcasting.
Just Good Compost
In November, we gave a large portion of our excess leaves to the Just Good Compost project to use as a carbon source to mix with the (high nitrogen) food scraps in the coming year.
Climate Network Lanark
We gave 1⁄2 of the proceed$ of any compost sold at the Farmers Market to CNL.
... your leaves are making a difference. Thank you.