I like your story Adam but I guess I am fortunate because the women
(maybe they are grown differently here) at our garden don't have a problem with
turning the piles. Maybe because we chop, chop, chop all of the material into
3-inch pieces before we place them in the bin.
I even have much success at my Hort therapy garden at the Women?s center
where we have a three-bin system. But I do have to say, the woman that loves to
turn it the most is from New Jersey so I don?t think it has anything to do with
the women in California.
=)
Deborah
----- Original Message -----
From:
A*@aol.com
To: L*@dmgov.org ; community_garden@mallorn.com
Sent: Friday, February 06, 2004 1:06
PM
Subject: [cg] Men & Compost vs. Women
& Compost in Community Gardens
Friends,
I'm stepping into it here, but
what the hell...
Men and women are different. Get used to it,
and work with it!
Compost depends of regular maintenance, sifting,
using, routine and responsibility for the mess. Some great guys like the
Seattle, WA community garden compost Gods and Godesses do an amazing job with
a quite extensive composting system. I am in awe of what guys like
Jon Rowley and others have done. The compost made from the millions
of flowers left over from 9/11 Memorial Services in
Seattle (i.e., the "Million Flower Compost") was the absolute sweetest organic
compost I have ever touched, smelled, used and almost ate. It is
primo and is the triumph of large piles and constant care and tending. What
works here is the same idea that makes bourgeois cru Bordeaux taste so much
better in magnums and jeraboams - more volume area cooking away. But
careful attention must be paid, something that guys and gals who work like Jon
Rowley have done.
However:
Most large three pile
systems in community gardens depend on male upper body strength to make them
happen. And guys, when they are involved in volunteer activities are
socialized for great massive, sporadic he-man type efforts, but sometimes the
concept of the daily "stirring of the pot" eludes them.
Women, who generally work men under the table in our gardens, and are
really good at the daily detail that it takes to keep the world going, i.e.,
the "stirring of the pot", are NOT endowed with great upper body
strength. So while they would ordinarily be making sure that the
composting is kept up, they can be daunted by the huge mass of material that
is left for the "mighty men" to handle with when they deign to deal with
it....after a few beers.
So, at the Clinton Community
Garden, Clinton
Community Garden having done the "mighty man" type of composting, and
found it didn't work, even when fueled by several six packs of beer, decided
to have a whole bunch of those cheapie, black plastic bins in both the front
and back sections of our garden. Being one of those "mighty men" types, I
pooh-poohed it, but found that lo and behold, we got more compost and less
back strain.
When I led Jon Rowley through the CCG, he
looked pained, because compared to his magnificent Seattle composting chateau,
ours were really small beer and quite frankly, would never produce a product
as superior as his.
I agree with Jon -his way is better, all around,
but hard to do with a bunch of volunteers without a master composter or a
regular supply of "mighty men" who have the attention to detail that
he does.
However, all of our little compost bins are "adopted" by
volunteers, and we even have their names on them, honoring their contribution
of time and effort. And because they are often managed by women, and
of a size where it is stirring, sifting and not herculean in terms of upper
body strength, these compost bins are actually maintained, managed and
used. The quality, granted, is not primo, but instead of huge masses
of uncomposted greenery in huge piles, this "small batch compost works for us.
Best wishes,
Adam Honigman
Volunteer,
Clinton Community Garden
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