April 2nd, 2023

In America…

Perfectly Imperfect Composting

If you are thinking about composting, just start. It is such a stunning process and your efforts do not have to be perfect. 

You can use an old ice cream pail and put it under the sink, you will sometimes forget to throw scraps in the pail, you will sometimes forget to take the pail to your outdoor pile or bin, you will sometimes scratch your head and wonder why certain foods break down quickly and turn into luscious soil and others take longer. You will experiment with adding some dead grass or brown leaves to your beautiful mess and cross your toes and hope that hurries the process. Your trusty pail may break or you may decide to level up to more sophisticated equipment — like a metal bucket with a charcoal filter. 

You will find yourself spending an embarrassing amount of time with your head in your outdoor bin. Looking and looking. Staring at your miracle unfolding. Your veggie peels and coffee grounds and egg shells transforming into the nutrient rich soil necessary to birth nutrient rich foods.

You may weep. At how easy it is to feed the soil, to give back to the earth, to be part of the process. You may weep. When you consider how many scraps get trapped in plastic bags in mountains of landfill. When you consider that those food scraps could be put to work—participating in the ashes to ashes circle of life.

Let go of waiting for the perfect time, acquiring the perfect equipment, acquiring the perfect knowledge. 

Good enough is more than enough.