Nicky and Dave Schauder are passionate about helping families grow their food, and medicine and find God in the garden
How to Compost Correctly
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"If it has lived, it can live again." — Geoff Lawton, permaculturist Hello, Reader, How to Compost CorrectlyLast Sunday, right after liturgy, Dave and I taught a quick composting workshop for our church's volunteers ahead of our annual Middle Eastern Food Festival. I filmed it and put it on YouTube 👇, in case you'd like to sit in.
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All the eating happens earlier, in the larval stage. In its larval state, it eats almost continuously and has even been the subject of research into breaking down styrofoam (though it's a very slow process and not its favorite food, so don't let that be an excuse to compost styro). The good fertilizer for your soil is its frass. But the real nutrition is packed into the larvae themselves, which makes them excellent food for livestock.
Why We Compost - dig deeper than just healthy soils.
Yes, we compost to produce fertile soil, but as I mention in the video above...
- Composting also reminds us that death is not the end. We believe our souls are eternal, and that from death comes new life, in the ground the same as it is in the Resurrection.
- It's also stewardship. We take good care of what we've been given, and we use it fully. Composting is the ultimate form of that: the last, best repurposing.
- And it's a kind of poverty, in the good sense. Composting keeps us honest about the limits of nature and the abundance of God. That word "humility" comes from the same root as humus, the soil itself. There's something fitting in that. The same humbling work that has you sorting scraps is the reason I get to eat vegetables out of our garden and think, how fortunate I am to be eating something this good.
If you're local to the DC-MD-VA area, come find us composting at the Middle Eastern Food Festival on Labor Day weekend. We'll be the ones arguing about whether a coffee filter counts (it does). Come share the food, the faith, and the fun with us.
Upcoming Events - Save the Date
Food Preservation Webinar with Registered Dietitian and Nutritionist Emily Jacobs on Tuesday, September 1st!
Make kimchi alongside her. Emily's workshops are soooo much fun and always full of good food!
Want Food From Our Garden?
Come buy our microgreens! If you are local to Leesburg, we have done a few farmers markets this summer and more to come soon. But you can also order them online. Unfortunately, we do not ship... yet. But we can deliver close to our home.
Order Microgreens Online (delivery within Northern VA only)
Grow abundantly!
Nicky & Dave
Dave & Nicky Schauder
Nicky and Dave Schauder are passionate about helping families grow their food, and medicine and find God in the garden
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