WEBVTT - Summer Bonus Episode: Composting with Tera Lewandowski and Cary Oshins 0:00:04.760 --> 0:00:07.320 Hey there, I'm Mugisha together, a co host of Part 0:00:07.320 --> 0:00:09.680 Time Genius, one of the founders of Mental Laws, and 0:00:09.880 --> 0:00:13.480 this is Humans Growing Stuff, a collaboration from My Heart 0:00:13.560 --> 0:00:17.119 Radio and your friends at Miracle Grow. Our goal is 0:00:17.160 --> 0:00:20.440 to make this the most human show about plants you'll 0:00:20.480 --> 0:00:24.480 ever listen to, and along the way, we'll share inspiring stories, 0:00:24.560 --> 0:00:27.360 tips and tricks to nurture your plant addiction, and just 0:00:27.640 --> 0:00:30.600 enough science to make you sound like an expert. So 0:00:30.720 --> 0:00:32.920 we are on summer break right now, but the truth 0:00:33.040 --> 0:00:36.920 is Molly and I can't stop our plant addiction, so 0:00:37.159 --> 0:00:40.560 we're bringing you some sunny mini episodes to enjoy before 0:00:40.600 --> 0:00:43.920 we return with a brand new season. Throughout this summer, 0:00:44.000 --> 0:00:47.960 we'll be dropping incredible stories from growers, fun advice we 0:00:48.000 --> 0:00:50.640 get from experts, and we'll even be bringing you along 0:00:50.680 --> 0:00:53.559 on our field trips as we hunt all over Brooklyn 0:00:53.640 --> 0:00:56.800 for a Polka Dot plant and learn about growing lavender 0:00:56.800 --> 0:01:01.639 on Governor's Island. It is super fun. In today's bonus episode, 0:01:01.800 --> 0:01:04.880 we're getting to the bottom of compost, from how to 0:01:05.040 --> 0:01:07.560 do it, when to start, why it's so important to 0:01:07.640 --> 0:01:11.000 soil health, and how it can help combat climate change. 0:01:11.520 --> 0:01:15.280 So quick backstory when my family and I lived in Atlanta. 0:01:15.400 --> 0:01:17.679 We would take our food scraps to a local farmers 0:01:17.680 --> 0:01:21.360 market for collection to be turned into compost. But that's 0:01:21.480 --> 0:01:24.720 kind of where my compost story begins and ends. But 0:01:24.840 --> 0:01:27.600 after listening to our many guests and friends on the 0:01:27.640 --> 0:01:31.800 show just talk at length about the benefits and meditative 0:01:31.880 --> 0:01:35.119 nature of composting, I wanted to figure out what exactly 0:01:35.160 --> 0:01:38.119 I needed to get started at home. So I called 0:01:38.200 --> 0:01:42.319 up Tara Lewandowski and Carry Oceans. Tera is a senior 0:01:42.360 --> 0:01:45.880 scientist with Scott's Miracle Grow, and Carry is an associate 0:01:45.920 --> 0:01:50.960 director for the US Composting Council, and both are compost experts. 0:01:51.000 --> 0:01:54.080 So if anyone could get me started, it's definitely these two. 0:02:02.440 --> 0:02:04.960 Hey Tera, Hey Carry, are you there? Yeah, I'm here. 0:02:06.120 --> 0:02:08.799 So I've always liked the idea of composting, and I 0:02:08.880 --> 0:02:11.080 even used to drop off my food scraps at a 0:02:11.080 --> 0:02:14.720 farmer's market in Atlanta. But um, during COVID that stopped 0:02:15.160 --> 0:02:17.760 and I realized how much garbage I was generating. It's 0:02:17.760 --> 0:02:21.079 it's really crazy, but you know, to be honest, I'm 0:02:21.120 --> 0:02:24.520 still not that familiar with what composting actually is and 0:02:24.680 --> 0:02:26.760 how it all works, and I'm a little hesitant to 0:02:26.800 --> 0:02:29.760 just start, so I I'd love if you could explain, 0:02:30.360 --> 0:02:32.880 you know, what compost is and the act of composting 0:02:32.919 --> 0:02:35.960 to a newbie like me. Alright, So, at its core, 0:02:36.520 --> 0:02:42.240 composting is taking the natural process of decomposition, which happens 0:02:42.280 --> 0:02:45.040 when leaves fall to the ground and the forest or whatever, 0:02:45.520 --> 0:02:49.239 and putting that into a concentrated location and managing managing 0:02:49.280 --> 0:02:51.680 that to accelerate it. So we can put stuff into 0:02:51.760 --> 0:02:54.800 a into a pile at home that could be you know, 0:02:54.880 --> 0:02:58.240 instead of just a narrow layer, it's now in a pile. 0:02:58.760 --> 0:03:01.079 And by putting in a pile you accelerate all those 0:03:01.080 --> 0:03:05.400 processes and so things will decompose faster, and then in 0:03:05.440 --> 0:03:08.240 the end you can end up with material that's kind 0:03:08.280 --> 0:03:10.360 of like a soil. We call it a soil amendment, 0:03:10.760 --> 0:03:13.240 something you would add to your soil to help improve 0:03:13.280 --> 0:03:16.120 the soil's health. And then there's just a few basic principles. 0:03:16.400 --> 0:03:19.280 So the work of the composting is being done by 0:03:19.360 --> 0:03:23.160 millions and millions of micros, bacteria, fungi and other things. 0:03:23.280 --> 0:03:27.200 And just like any animal husbandry, if you maintain a 0:03:27.240 --> 0:03:28.959 herd of cows, you have to make sure that they're 0:03:28.960 --> 0:03:32.000 all fed and housed, and keeping the micro hurt happy 0:03:32.040 --> 0:03:33.880 and making sure they have the right amount of moisture, 0:03:33.919 --> 0:03:37.080 which is just just a moist environment and making sure 0:03:37.120 --> 0:03:39.840 it is enough for them they kind of build some 0:03:39.920 --> 0:03:42.240 heat up and things don't get too dry, and they 0:03:42.280 --> 0:03:45.520 have the right balance of nutrients, which is really just 0:03:46.240 --> 0:03:49.800 we call them browns and greens, they're really represent carbon 0:03:49.880 --> 0:03:52.720 and nitrogen. It's pretty simple at a at a small 0:03:52.800 --> 0:03:55.480 level and at a home level, you can't get into 0:03:55.480 --> 0:03:58.280 too much trouble. So that's the process of composting, and 0:03:58.400 --> 0:04:01.200 encompost is just the end result to that process, and 0:04:01.240 --> 0:04:05.560 it's something that is good for the soil. Helps helps 0:04:05.760 --> 0:04:09.400 feed the soil, and feeding the soil you'll be feeding 0:04:09.400 --> 0:04:11.960 your plants, so it's not really a direct fertilizer, but 0:04:12.080 --> 0:04:15.160 it's something that helps your plants grow indirectly by helping 0:04:15.160 --> 0:04:19.200 your soil grow. Can I ask why is composting so 0:04:19.320 --> 0:04:23.800 essential to growing and gardening? So compostings away for us 0:04:23.800 --> 0:04:27.680 to recycle carbon, nitrogen um and the micronutrients to get 0:04:27.680 --> 0:04:29.440 them back to a form that the plants can use. 0:04:30.160 --> 0:04:32.400 It is really important for us to make sure we're 0:04:32.400 --> 0:04:35.960 reusing these organic inputs. People often think of a big 0:04:35.960 --> 0:04:39.919 egg and how inputs are off taken from the field, 0:04:40.000 --> 0:04:42.719 but not many are put back. And that's a great example, 0:04:43.080 --> 0:04:44.880 but the same thing can happen at home. We want 0:04:44.880 --> 0:04:47.960 to make sure that when you're gardening and you're taking 0:04:47.960 --> 0:04:51.240 those organic inputs off, you're also putting something back. When 0:04:51.240 --> 0:04:53.440 you add organic matter to the soil in these forms, 0:04:53.440 --> 0:04:57.000 you end up with greater nutrient retention in the soil. 0:04:57.600 --> 0:05:01.320 It's often known as canon exchange capacity. Sees you also 0:05:01.360 --> 0:05:04.679 have carbon in the soil, and carbon is really important 0:05:04.839 --> 0:05:07.040 not for the plants, but for the microbes in the soil. 0:05:07.080 --> 0:05:10.360 The microbes are going to need that carbon for their processes, 0:05:10.360 --> 0:05:13.040 but in breaking down the carbon, they're also breaking down 0:05:13.440 --> 0:05:15.839 and p K and making it more available for the plant. 0:05:15.920 --> 0:05:19.600 So very important for a couple of different reasons. I 0:05:19.640 --> 0:05:23.080 had this incredible writer and thinker, Barton day Thurston on 0:05:23.480 --> 0:05:27.080 and he was talking about his practice of composting, which 0:05:27.080 --> 0:05:29.160 just sounded so romantic to me. He'd like go out 0:05:29.160 --> 0:05:32.880 in the mornings after meditating and he'd take a cup 0:05:32.920 --> 0:05:35.960 of coffee and he'd sort of spin the compost and 0:05:36.040 --> 0:05:39.599 check the temperature, and and I had this very quiet 0:05:39.720 --> 0:05:43.440 morning that was kind of based around his compost But 0:05:43.440 --> 0:05:46.680 but I was curious, if I was just gonna start composting, 0:05:47.360 --> 0:05:49.680 how would I do it. The best time to start 0:05:49.760 --> 0:05:54.040 composting is in the fall, because there's usually fall leaves around, 0:05:54.320 --> 0:05:55.960 and that's a good way to start. You we're going 0:05:56.040 --> 0:05:58.440 to start other times a year. You need to kind 0:05:58.440 --> 0:06:01.919 of you need to have those brown uh that high 0:06:02.080 --> 0:06:06.039 carbon dry stuff that you're gonna add your food waste into, 0:06:06.200 --> 0:06:08.240 so you you need you need to have that first. 0:06:08.760 --> 0:06:11.039 You can just do it in a pile, and the 0:06:11.040 --> 0:06:12.480 only problem with the pile is that takes up a 0:06:12.520 --> 0:06:15.520 lot of space, So you contain a pile inside a 0:06:15.560 --> 0:06:18.880 couple of palettes or a wire ring or something that 0:06:18.960 --> 0:06:21.359 contains the space and makes it easier to build a pile. 0:06:21.839 --> 0:06:25.240 Or you can get these commercial either bins or or 0:06:25.279 --> 0:06:28.800 the fancier turners like you said you the bins that 0:06:28.880 --> 0:06:35.320 are mounted and so can spin. Every state cooperative extension 0:06:36.200 --> 0:06:40.000 office in the country has pretty good instructions on home 0:06:40.040 --> 0:06:43.839 composting and they're all pretty reliable. So get a pamphlet 0:06:43.880 --> 0:06:46.240 ahead will have the basic dues and don'ts and how 0:06:46.279 --> 0:06:48.880 to start and what your options are, but there are 0:06:48.880 --> 0:06:52.480 other variations. There's worm composting for people in apartments that 0:06:52.760 --> 0:06:55.640 just really just have the food waste. They just want 0:06:55.640 --> 0:06:57.640 to be or do the right thing and not send 0:06:57.680 --> 0:07:00.520 their food waste to a landfill. Composting of the worms 0:07:00.560 --> 0:07:03.919 called verma composting is an option. In the end, you 0:07:03.960 --> 0:07:05.960 have to do something with this stuff that you've collected 0:07:06.000 --> 0:07:08.320 and made in the compost. So if you don't have 0:07:08.400 --> 0:07:11.240 a garden, you know you're gonna find a friend to 0:07:11.640 --> 0:07:16.440 use it with. Uh, you know, you have to. Ultimately, 0:07:16.960 --> 0:07:19.040 there's a lot of value in composting in terms of, 0:07:19.120 --> 0:07:21.320 you know, for the for the planet, because we're keeping 0:07:21.320 --> 0:07:23.680 the food waste out of landfills, and that causes methane, 0:07:23.680 --> 0:07:26.600 which is a powerful greenhouse gas, depending on how you 0:07:26.640 --> 0:07:29.160 measure it, either twenty five or a hundred times worse 0:07:29.160 --> 0:07:32.280 than carbon dioxide. You might wonder why, well, why doesn't 0:07:32.320 --> 0:07:35.040 that happen in a compost pile. Well, in our compost piles, 0:07:35.120 --> 0:07:37.600 we work to keep it aerobic. We we work to 0:07:37.720 --> 0:07:42.440 keep oxygen flowing to the microbes in the pile, and 0:07:42.560 --> 0:07:46.960 methane only happens under strict anaerobic conditions. So if there's 0:07:47.240 --> 0:07:51.360 air getting in, won't be creating methane. Landfills are designed 0:07:51.360 --> 0:07:54.120 to keep air out. But in the end, as the 0:07:54.120 --> 0:07:56.280 point is to make compost and to use the compost, 0:07:56.360 --> 0:07:58.640 and so one way or another, you have to think 0:07:58.680 --> 0:08:00.520 about what am I going to do of this stuff 0:08:00.520 --> 0:08:03.120 once I have it. I love the idea of having 0:08:03.240 --> 0:08:08.200 garden parties and giving out gift boxes to everyone who comes. 0:08:08.400 --> 0:08:11.800 But um, so tell me a little bit more about 0:08:11.800 --> 0:08:15.000 the worms, because I'm fascinated about by them. And we 0:08:15.080 --> 0:08:18.880 talked to this wonderful person, Jamie Brennan from Gold Feather Gardens, 0:08:18.880 --> 0:08:21.239 and she was talking about how worms can be essential 0:08:21.320 --> 0:08:24.120 to the part of composting. So, okay, can you tell 0:08:24.160 --> 0:08:27.240 me about how they contribute to the process. Yeah, so 0:08:27.520 --> 0:08:31.480 you can do a dedicated box container that you get 0:08:31.520 --> 0:08:34.120 the right kind of worms are called red wigglers. Once 0:08:34.160 --> 0:08:38.120 they're active, they will eat half their weight every day 0:08:38.160 --> 0:08:40.280 in food waste. So if you have a pound of worms, 0:08:40.520 --> 0:08:43.559 which might be a thousand or two thousand worms, they 0:08:43.600 --> 0:08:46.840 will eat half a pound of food every day. It 0:08:46.960 --> 0:08:49.559 is somewhat miraculous, Like where did it go? Depending on 0:08:49.679 --> 0:08:52.360 of your single person or family four, depending how much 0:08:52.360 --> 0:08:55.959 you're feeding them. Eventually it kind of gets all composed 0:08:56.000 --> 0:08:57.600 and then you have to do something with it. That's 0:08:57.640 --> 0:09:00.240 a that's another story. But if you're comp us is 0:09:00.240 --> 0:09:02.640 on the ground, which most people, unless it's in a 0:09:02.679 --> 0:09:05.560 tumbler off the ground, you will get worms working their 0:09:05.559 --> 0:09:08.240 way into their compost pile. You'll get sal bugs and 0:09:08.280 --> 0:09:11.160 other things. At a commercial facility, we don't get any 0:09:11.200 --> 0:09:13.240 of those because it's too hot. But at a home 0:09:13.280 --> 0:09:16.080 compost pile, yeah, you get. You get a whole food web. 0:09:16.120 --> 0:09:19.000 You get you get little mites, you hat sal bugs, 0:09:19.000 --> 0:09:21.240 you get all kinds of things that will be living 0:09:21.240 --> 0:09:23.280 in your compost pile. Then they're all good. They're all 0:09:23.320 --> 0:09:25.880 helping part of the food web of the compost pile. 0:09:26.320 --> 0:09:28.920 There's a great book called Worms Eat My Garbage by 0:09:28.960 --> 0:09:32.960 Marry apple Hof, and that is like the worm composters Bible. 0:09:34.600 --> 0:09:36.200 Tell everything you need to know about how to do it, 0:09:36.400 --> 0:09:38.240 what to do with it when you're done, what are problems. 0:09:38.800 --> 0:09:42.800 It's a great it's a great resource. So you mentioned critters, 0:09:42.880 --> 0:09:47.400 and I'm curious, how involved should possum or raccoons be 0:09:47.440 --> 0:09:51.800 in my compost pile. They shouldn't be. We try to 0:09:51.800 --> 0:09:55.600 get them out and that's why if you're in an 0:09:55.640 --> 0:09:58.160 area that has those things, putting your compost in a 0:09:58.200 --> 0:10:01.720 bin in an enclosure, well we'll keep them out. In 0:10:01.760 --> 0:10:05.760 an urban city, you want to rat proof beIN right, 0:10:06.040 --> 0:10:08.319 and rats can get through a hole like the size 0:10:08.320 --> 0:10:11.520 of a of a quarter. What are some things we 0:10:11.640 --> 0:10:17.120 can compost and what surprising that we can't. Anything that 0:10:17.240 --> 0:10:20.719 was once alive or produced by living things can be composted. 0:10:20.920 --> 0:10:23.240 And you may have heard in some of the states 0:10:23.240 --> 0:10:27.000 in the Northwest now they allow composting of human bodies 0:10:27.040 --> 0:10:30.439 instead of funerals, so you can compost anything that was 0:10:30.480 --> 0:10:34.079 once alive. Now at the home scale, that's a different 0:10:34.080 --> 0:10:36.840 story because you're not getting the heat, you're you're not 0:10:36.880 --> 0:10:39.800 getting the controls that you have at a big scale. 0:10:39.840 --> 0:10:43.360 And so generally we say to keep to things that 0:10:43.400 --> 0:10:47.800 we're growing like leaves, brush, grass, weeds, and from the 0:10:47.880 --> 0:10:53.600 kitchen anything that was vegetative in nature, and try to 0:10:53.679 --> 0:10:59.000 avoid too much dairy or meat or oils. Some people 0:10:59.000 --> 0:11:02.079 will be very persticaty about this, and you know, really 0:11:02.640 --> 0:11:05.959 only do like coffee grounds and tea and and the 0:11:06.080 --> 0:11:08.920 carrot tops and things like that. Others of us are 0:11:08.960 --> 0:11:11.720 not so worried about it. And so a little bit 0:11:11.760 --> 0:11:14.000 of cheese or a little bit of meat or a 0:11:14.080 --> 0:11:17.280 little bit of oil from a salad dressing really is 0:11:17.320 --> 0:11:20.480 fine as long as especially as long as you're burying 0:11:20.520 --> 0:11:24.560 it into your pile and not having it exposed. And 0:11:24.600 --> 0:11:26.640 I'm sure you're going to get some questions about that, 0:11:26.679 --> 0:11:30.320 because some people will really disagree with me. I am 0:11:30.360 --> 0:11:33.040 a fairly lazy composter or I mean, you can really 0:11:33.080 --> 0:11:35.760 be aggressive in your composting and turn it frequently and 0:11:35.800 --> 0:11:38.440 mix it up and make composts fast, or you could 0:11:38.440 --> 0:11:41.200 be a lazy compostor like me. I might turn my 0:11:41.240 --> 0:11:44.040 compost pile once a year, just when it gets so 0:11:44.160 --> 0:11:47.080 full I can't add anymore in. That's when I have 0:11:47.120 --> 0:11:48.640 to start a new bin. And that's one thing that 0:11:48.679 --> 0:11:50.559 people have to figure it out, is if they have 0:11:50.600 --> 0:11:54.520 a single bin and they're adding food every every couple 0:11:54.559 --> 0:11:57.240 of days or once a week, when do they stop? 0:11:57.240 --> 0:12:00.000 How do they get their compost out? And so ultimately 0:12:00.040 --> 0:12:01.880 that you have to kind of start a second bin 0:12:02.280 --> 0:12:05.680 so you can let the first bin finish. I guess 0:12:05.679 --> 0:12:07.880 that's that's one of my That's one of my questions too, 0:12:07.880 --> 0:12:10.480 is like how do you know when it's ready. It's 0:12:10.520 --> 0:12:14.120 it's tricky because the outside doesn't finish. I mean, the 0:12:14.200 --> 0:12:17.840 stuff on the very outside always looks like it's not decomposed. 0:12:18.040 --> 0:12:20.319 You have to you have to look inside to find it. 0:12:20.480 --> 0:12:24.760 Stuff breaks down. Compost happens after a few months and 0:12:24.800 --> 0:12:26.400 a pile. The stuff at the botto of your pile 0:12:26.480 --> 0:12:29.040 that you can't see will be compost. Take the raw 0:12:29.080 --> 0:12:31.760 stuff off the edges and off the top, and then 0:12:31.840 --> 0:12:35.160 you'll have your finished compost. So the add to this 0:12:35.400 --> 0:12:37.319 um it goes back to your question on cadence of 0:12:37.400 --> 0:12:40.760 when to start composting. So most people are going to 0:12:40.840 --> 0:12:43.040 be wanting to add compost to their garden in the spring, 0:12:43.160 --> 0:12:46.200 right like when they're starting their garden. If you back 0:12:46.240 --> 0:12:50.040 out from that, you're gonna want at minimum I would 0:12:50.040 --> 0:12:52.160 guess six months and some of these piles, I mean 0:12:52.160 --> 0:12:56.480 that's a minimum. So when Carrie's saying, like when you 0:12:56.520 --> 0:12:59.800 should stop adding to a pile, fall might be a 0:12:59.800 --> 0:13:01.679 good time to consider doing that. For what you want 0:13:01.679 --> 0:13:03.959 to use in the spring to start a new pile 0:13:04.200 --> 0:13:07.719 to then add to a different cadence could be every year. 0:13:07.800 --> 0:13:09.440 Maybe you run a pile for a year and then 0:13:09.440 --> 0:13:11.160 you let it sit for a year. It kind of 0:13:11.200 --> 0:13:13.720 depends how much you're putting in, how big your storage 0:13:13.880 --> 0:13:16.800 area is, and when you want to use it. I 0:13:16.840 --> 0:13:19.360 think everyone's going to be a little different there. And 0:13:19.400 --> 0:13:21.000 the other thing I'd like to add is when you're 0:13:21.000 --> 0:13:25.080 talking about inputs with the compostable products that are, we're 0:13:25.080 --> 0:13:28.600 all very excited to be seeing them reducing waste to landfill. 0:13:29.520 --> 0:13:31.760 For the home compost or, it's a bit tricky. I 0:13:31.800 --> 0:13:35.200 can't say that you can't compost them, but it's going 0:13:35.280 --> 0:13:37.800 to depend on how you're composting, how active you are 0:13:37.840 --> 0:13:40.400 with that pile, with turning it and wetting it, how 0:13:40.440 --> 0:13:42.760 long it's sitting there. And if you don't like seeing 0:13:42.960 --> 0:13:46.880 pieces of cardboard or cup or some of that compost 0:13:46.920 --> 0:13:50.199 full stuff in your finished compost, you may not want 0:13:50.360 --> 0:13:55.920 to use them. They're primarily formulated for municipal or large 0:13:55.920 --> 0:13:59.679 scale composting facilities that do have the time and temperature 0:13:59.760 --> 0:14:03.320 to really break them down. Well, I love that you've 0:14:03.360 --> 0:14:07.319 advocated and made space for the lazy composter because that 0:14:07.360 --> 0:14:10.080 feels very much my lane, even though I love the 0:14:10.160 --> 0:14:13.679 romance of like composting daily uh and the way Barryton 0:14:13.760 --> 0:14:15.840 Day does it. I probably feel the same way about 0:14:15.880 --> 0:14:18.720 the gym where I shouldn't be going every day but 0:14:18.720 --> 0:14:21.720 but don't. But so if someone was on the fence 0:14:21.760 --> 0:14:24.800 about composting, what is your quick pitch for why they 0:14:24.840 --> 0:14:28.040 should get into it. That's a great question. So we 0:14:28.120 --> 0:14:31.400 all have organic waste that we're producing, and you're sending 0:14:31.400 --> 0:14:35.040 a high volume of materials, of possibly stinky material that 0:14:35.120 --> 0:14:38.040 sitting in your trash. You're sending it to landfill, and 0:14:38.200 --> 0:14:39.920 often you're putting it in a plastic bag, and at 0:14:39.920 --> 0:14:44.760 that point decomposition is slow to stop, especially when it 0:14:44.800 --> 0:14:47.360 gets into the ante over part of the landfill. We're 0:14:47.400 --> 0:14:50.880 just losing nutrients. That way, you could take that material 0:14:51.320 --> 0:14:54.040 compost it at home. For one, you're going to significantly 0:14:54.080 --> 0:14:58.960 reduce the weight, the smell, the mass of product you're 0:14:58.960 --> 0:15:01.160 saying to the landfill. So you're paying for trash. That 0:15:01.400 --> 0:15:03.920 right there is a win. But secondly, it can be 0:15:03.960 --> 0:15:07.680 as involved or as uninvolved, as lazy as you say, 0:15:08.000 --> 0:15:10.960 magna as you want it to be. It does not 0:15:11.120 --> 0:15:13.680 have to be a big deal. You can easily start 0:15:13.680 --> 0:15:16.560 a static pile and just add to it for a year, 0:15:16.680 --> 0:15:19.080 and then you can add with very minimal effort and 0:15:19.160 --> 0:15:21.720 still have a successful pile. Of just making a hole 0:15:21.720 --> 0:15:23.840 in that pile and put your food waste in and 0:15:23.920 --> 0:15:26.680 covering it up, maybe adding some water once a week, 0:15:26.720 --> 0:15:28.640 that could go a long way, and you could be 0:15:29.080 --> 0:15:32.080 all the way from that to a very involved composter. 0:15:32.240 --> 0:15:35.440 But it doesn't need to be a big production in 0:15:35.440 --> 0:15:37.920 your life in order to have a really positive effect 0:15:37.920 --> 0:15:41.480 on the environment. There is a lot of things that 0:15:41.520 --> 0:15:45.160 are readily accessible to every person to do to address 0:15:45.280 --> 0:15:49.160 climate change. Keeping food out of landfills is one of them. 0:15:49.520 --> 0:15:53.040 On that is really accessible to a lot of people. 0:15:53.160 --> 0:15:55.760 And unlike other kinds of recycling, where if you put 0:15:55.800 --> 0:15:58.280 a bottle in your recycling bind, it's going to go 0:15:58.440 --> 0:16:01.960 thousands of thousands of miles to a processor, to a 0:16:01.960 --> 0:16:05.560 converter eventually end up as other product, compost stays local. 0:16:06.040 --> 0:16:08.120 Keeping it at home is the most local you can be. 0:16:08.200 --> 0:16:10.400 But even sending it to our commercial facility, it's going 0:16:10.480 --> 0:16:12.920 to be within fifty or a hundred miles of you. 0:16:13.160 --> 0:16:14.880 And then less it ends up in a bag of 0:16:14.880 --> 0:16:18.360 scots and might go five thousand miles, it's probably gonna 0:16:18.440 --> 0:16:20.600 end up within fifty or a hundred miles from where 0:16:20.640 --> 0:16:24.080 it started. And so that's a real advantage just on 0:16:24.160 --> 0:16:26.280 the process side, and then you've got all the benefits 0:16:26.280 --> 0:16:29.440 of the product itself. Tara talked about the nutrients, but 0:16:29.480 --> 0:16:31.960 there's other things that does for the soil. Soil that 0:16:32.040 --> 0:16:34.720 has a lot of organic matter, and it can absorb 0:16:34.840 --> 0:16:38.520 rain easier, it holds onto the rain longer, it's easier 0:16:38.560 --> 0:16:41.400 to work, it's easier to garden. So there's all kinds 0:16:41.400 --> 0:16:44.120 of benefits that come both with the process and with 0:16:44.200 --> 0:16:47.600 the product. Thank you both for hanging out with me 0:16:47.640 --> 0:16:50.160 and talking compost today. Happy to do it at a 0:16:50.160 --> 0:16:59.080 great time. Thanks sank. I want to thank Tara Lewandowski 0:16:59.160 --> 0:17:02.240 and Karay Oceans again for sharing all their incredible knowledge 0:17:02.240 --> 0:17:06.040 about compost. You can learn even more about composting at 0:17:06.080 --> 0:17:10.920 the US Composting Council's website at Composting Council dot org. 0:17:11.720 --> 0:17:14.520 That's it for today's bonus episode, but check back here 0:17:14.560 --> 0:17:18.080 again soon for more bonus episodes this summer. And don't 0:17:18.119 --> 0:17:21.120 forget no matter what season it is or where you're 0:17:21.160 --> 0:17:24.920 at in your gardening journey, there's some incredible resources waiting 0:17:24.920 --> 0:17:28.840 for you on the Miracle Grow website. Humans Growing Stuff 0:17:28.920 --> 0:17:31.840 is a collaboration from I Heart Radio and your friends 0:17:31.840 --> 0:17:34.520 at Miracle Grow. Our show is written and produced by 0:17:34.560 --> 0:17:38.840 Molly Sosha and Ni Mongayatigler. Our editor and engineer on 0:17:38.880 --> 0:17:42.400 this episode was Matt Stillo. Thank you so much for listening.