I met Ahram Park where I meet a lot of great soil friends: on the internet. He DMed me about compost one day, a few years back, around what I now realize was the very beginning of composting for him. He was so knowledgable about soil at the time that I just assumed he was a seasoned steward of decomposition, at the time. He would ask me tons of great questions about how dirt works, and once shared the results of some nifty soil tests he got done in his yard. It’s always fun to nerd out with someone. Last week he took me on an impromptu tour of his backyard, where he keeps a constellation of miniature compost piles, all in different states and styles. I might be biased, but I thought they were gorgeous and asked him if I could share. He said yes.

My favorite thing about Ahram’s composts is that they’re all experiments. None are perfect and none are particularly “on purpose.” They’re just places where he happens to toss stuff, little intersections between himself and the earth. They’re also his future legacy. Long after he moves from his apartment, years into the future, the work of tending—the vitality of the soil—will endure, returning life cyclically to the land’s future inhabitants. Isn’t that so beautiful?

Ahram’s backyard piles are also a first class example of learning-by-doing, allowing oneself to be guided by intuition and a sense of relationship to a place versus prescriptively following instructions from a book. (No knock to books, though, please - in fact - read my next one, which comes out next year from Timber Press.)

Ahram’s Interview

Ahram! Can you tell us a little about your practice?

Sure. Since the pandemic - I’ve been growing plants and studying the methodology in my backyard. It sounds simple, but it occupies much of my mind/time. At any given moment, there are several pursuits; growing food, therapeutic plants, genetic preservation, creating new hybrids. This work is only possible by the help of others. Many anonymous, but just as passionate and deeply committed.

How many diff composts do you have going at once?

4 or 5?

How come so many at once? What makes you start new ones vs make one big one

They’re all made of different stuff for the most part. But I get a lot of biomass from plant stems. If that pile gets too big, it becomes one big skeleton unless I put manual labor into breaking it down. I compost now with two mindsets, the conglomerate physical breakdown aspects and the green-brown decision.

[Editor’s Note: I love that he calls it the “green-brown” decision. What he’s referring to is the balance of high-nitrogen to high-carbon materials that is required of any compost pile.]

Also, when parts of the “yard” are unhealthy, compacted soil, I remediate these areas by starting a large pile of carbon right on top of it. It’s honestly one of the easiest and most labor free way of remediating a piece of yard that’s gone dry and compact. I first cover it with a carpet, cardboard, kill the dominant weeds, then pile stuff on top, then cover crop it once it gets big enough.

Doing this eliminates huge green bins to haul away. I’m all about working less right now. Less touches on everything but at the same time, making more thoughtful moves to eliminate more driving, energy both human or machine.

[Editor’s Note: Amen.]

So you keep the piles small because it keeps breakdown more effective?

Yes. Makes the whole yard more holistic feeling instead of pile over there. Plus, it’s benefiting the land straight up. Putting more carbon back in.

Are you able to speak a little bit to the value of carbon in terms of soil health?

As previously described, I learned about the value of carbon by accident. The piles would eventually break down and visibly decompose into the soil. Below that pile, what used to be dry, compact dirt, became rich and black; full of moisture and ‘activity’. Although I didn’t completely understand the details, I knew the piles were improving the capacity of the soil to hold moisture, and ultimately more life. Turns out, by allowing the break down, I was introducing carbon back into the soil, allowing an environment, more conducive to a wider flora of inhabitants. Microbes, fungi, insects, plants, water… It took me 30 years to learn that plants are made up of “stuff” aka carbon. Just like you and me. When we pull that “stuff” out of the ground when growing plants, it needs to come from somewhere. Either through liquid fertilizers, compost, natural break downs, you know - STUFF. You are literally what you eat. Your plants are literally what THEY eat.

Btw I know none of this is very scientific and might not be the “right way” to think about how it actually works. But this is how I understand it.’

[Editor’s Note: This is perfect and I love it.]

Why did you start composting in the first place?

It wasn’t composting at first. More like, leaving piles of stems, woody pieces, leaves, rootballs in a nice and neat pile. Over time, I noticed volunteer plants would thrive near those piles. Some time around then, I contacted you about learning how to compost. Turns out I was already doing it, but with less know how.  

It was all out of necessity. I grow plants year round for seed testing. Many of those plants end up in that pile.

Oh, I love that! I had no idea I factored into the story.

[Editor’s Note: I really didn’t!]

Ahram’s Composts