Composting

According to the EPA 20% of what ends up in municipal landfills is food waste.  This means that by properly composting, we can reduce the amount of waste going into our landfills by 20%.  Food waste in landfills produces concentrated amounts of methane, which is a greenhouse gas more potent than C02.  By composting properly we can create carbon sequestration and actually reduce the amount of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere.  By using the compost to feed plants, we can reduce the need for chemical fertilizers and also increase yields.  We can build healthy new living soil and recycle nutrients.  At Harvest cafe we recycle our food waste in a few different ways, all at our microfarm.

• We feed it to our chickens and ducks, providing them a wealth of nutrients to produce incredible eggs, which you can find at the cafe.
• We use a 3 pile system for heat composting (a simple system that can be recreated in any backyard or home using some old pallets or recycled bins).
• We also use worm beds or vermicompost beds.  This is another great system for the backyard that is very simple and takes up less space.
• We encourage all of you to compost as much of your food waste as possible at home.  It can greatly reduce our impact on the planet and create some rich healthy living soil for your home garden.