A note on compost insecurity, yours and also others

The best thing about this newsletter is how often I hear from strangers about what their composts look like. No two are ever the same. Everybody’s pile is shaped by their own circumstances and aesthetic preferences, physical ability and degree of interest. Whether they have land or not is a big factor. Whether or not they’re an artist, or a mother, or both, or have pets, or cold winters, or bears, or eight hours a day of unrelenting and precious sunshine. Some people don’t really care and can’t believe when their compost works anyway, some people are meticulous with measurements and take temperatures daily, and some—like me—are emotional and overly poetic, attaching entire personalities to their pile and writing books about it. Everybody is doing it right because they are, simply put, doing it at all, but what the messages I get often have in common is each person’s insecurity about their own particular practice. I’m not sure what standard we’re all holding ourselves to, but let me be the first to say: you, right now, reading this, you… you’re doing great.

Sam Cutler, who’s compost I want to introduce you to today, is also doing great. She lives in Virginia with her husband and many pets, and we originally met over Notes on Substack. As you can see from our initial exchange, she was one of those infamous self-doubters—even though her compost is actually pretty cool. What I like about Sam’s story and set up is that she figured it out on her own, from whatever she had lying around, and her version of maintenance is pretty much just “paying attention.” Attention is a great and vital teacher.

In general, my favorite piles are almost never professional. Instead, they’re made by artists or writers who have inherited the family farm; they’re messy and imprecise, but full of life and, most importantly, they’re being changed by and also changing the person who cultivates them. Compost is a relationship.

Xo.

Compost Case Study: Sam Cutler, Virginia

I live in Midlothian, Virginia with my amazing hubby and two 60+ lbs fur babies. A somewhat quiet suburban neighborhood backed by a highway. The home faces north-east, the yard has a variety of lovely tall oak and beech trees (currently occupied by bird and squirrel nests), and I have lived in this home for over 11 years now. 

My composting journey began May 2020.

* I was inspired to begin composting while on my personal journey to reduce my carbon footprint. Through my research I discovered composting in every single article, newsletter, Google search, etc. It seemed incredibly daunting to me at first. Do I need to buy a commercial product? Should I build it instead to save money? Will it attract deer...or bears? One day in May while raking leaves I made the decision to save money and build my pile out of whatever was already around the house. Plus there are plenty of leaves to use as brown waste. Win-win. :)

* The materials I used to build my first pile were several paver stones (~20), a 3' H x 2' W light-weight circular plastic container, and a large plywood board. 

The second pile was made using a 2' H x 2' W rectangular shaped blue plastic tub and a metal fire pit bowl as the cover on top. This pile was not aerated well at first which resulted in an excess of moisture and a gross smell. Thankfully I found your newsletter shortly after this happened. You reminded me that this is a compost - it will get messy, and it can be adjusted. I did just that by tweaking the brown to green waste ratio and rotating less frequently. 

* Maintaining the first pile was easy compared to the second. I used an old paint roller pole to stir the pile every other week. Sometimes I left the pile for a month without a stir to gauge decomposition rate. Everything was going smoothly until that crazy winter freeze. The second pile required more patience and love as noted above, but I'm happy to say that maintaining the piles has changed over time for the better. No longer am I finding myself sad over my compost pile when something isn't "perfect" with the compost. Also, I use a shovel to stir the compost now instead of that pole.

One of my neighbors recently cut down several trees in her backyard over the past year which has allowed consecutive hours of direct sunlight to heat my compost. This year maintaining my piles requires me to stir as need be, add green waste, add brown waste, and go about my day. :) 

PS. If you want me to feature your compost heap, just reply here and let me know. I’d love to do it. You can also reply with compost questions, book recommendations, pictures of your dog, or just to say hello. I’m game for anything.