Category Archives: composting

The Return Of Human Compost

Posted on April 30, 2019 by Ann Lovejoy
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Another reason for my rumination is that, at the last obit writing session, I learned that a “new” way of dealing with empty bodies has become possible. Until now, human bodies in Washington had to be embalmed or cremated. Last week, the Washington State Legislature passed SB 5001, legalizing both alkaline hydrolysis (“water cremation”) and human composting. The impetus for this bill came from research done at Washington State University using bodies donated for this purpose by green burial proponents. The research team developed technology has been developed that involves burying a body in a box filled with wood chips and straw. Treated just like any compost, the mixture eventually becomes about a cubic yard of soil that can be used in home gardens. An eco-conscious company called ReCompose hopes to be in the human composting business by 2020. Continue reading →

Posted in composting, Soil, Sustainable Gardening, Sustainable Living, Uncategorized | Tagged , | 10 Comments

Rise Up & Draw Down

Posted on January 7, 2019 by Ann Lovejoy
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How Gardeners Can Help Mitigate Climate Change A new year lies open before us, its pages largely unwritten. Oh sure, many of us have calendars already jammed with work and play, events and appointments, vacations and expectations. Some of us … Continue reading →

Posted in Climate Change, composting, Drainage, Garden Prep, Health & Wellbeing, pests and pesticides, Soil, Sustainable Gardening, Sustainable Living | Tagged , , , | 3 Comments

Aiding & Abetting Carbon Draw Down

Posted on September 10, 2018 by Ann Lovejoy
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Clearly, the bigger our property, the better we can help build soil humus levels and improve carbon storage, but even landless apartment dwellers can help. All of us can get involved with local and regional projects where knowledge about soil sequestering may be missing. Community gardens, local farms, land trust use, public land use, school districts and local and regional parks can all benefit the earth through better soil stewardship. Most will need encouragement to do the needful, and that’s where you and I come in. Continue reading →

Posted in composting, Easy Care Perennials, Garden Prep, Health & Wellbeing, Soil, Sustainable Gardening, Sustainable Living | Tagged , , , | 3 Comments

Healing The Planet Together

Posted on August 20, 2018 by Ann Lovejoy
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Last week I visited several gardens where soils were powder dry after the long baking summer. Watching desiccated soil puff off a shovel like dust in the wind, I was reminded of the dustbowl days when foolish and ignorant farming practices destroyed native plants and soils. One highly productive thing we can do to help repair the ecological damage to our precious world is to amend impoverished soil. Healing treatments include deep mulching with aged compost and/or digested dairy manures, both of which help to renew soil tilth and texture as well as the nutrient balance. This fall, heap weary beds high with fallen foliage, shredding the larger leaves by running over them with a mower. A foot of leaves isn’t too much for empty or new beds, and it’s not too much for empty bays between larger shrubs or areas around trees. Do not till in these amendments; tilling is now considered an ultimately destructive practice. Just layer them on, autumn and spring. Every. Single. Year. Continue reading →

Posted in composting, Garden Prep, Health & Wellbeing, pests and pesticides, Soil, Sustainable Gardening, Sustainable Living, Weed Control | Tagged , | 8 Comments