Effective Methods for Composting On-Farm in Small Spaces
WHEN: October 11th, 3:30 - 6 pm
140 Meadow Street Florence MA
Hosted by Grow Food Northampton and American Farmland Trust
Presenters: Alex Carpenter - Co-Owner/Operator at Assawaga Farm, Jack Loomis - Urban Agriculture Specialist at MA NRCS, Caro Roszell - New England Soil Health Specialist, American Farmland Trust, Ellena Baum, Grow Food Northampton, and Tony Hall, Song Sparrow Farm
Incorporating compost is a leading strategy for growing healthy and resilient crops, especially when soil contamination is a concern and food is grown in raised beds. But compost quality can vary and may carry weed seeds, unwanted pests, and soil contaminants. One way to ensure that you have an excellent source of compost is to produce it yourself! You don’t need a large area to produce high-quality compost, and it can be done safely and efficiently in community gardens and urban farms.
At Assawaga Farm, Alex Carpenter and his partner Yoko Takemura produce about 16 piles of compost per year, in roughly 4 x 4 feet of space using a method that ‘cooks’ down in about 3 weeks. They are able to process the farm’s weeds and crop residues while producing a high-quality compost to feed their crops and build healthy soil!
Join us to learn Alex’s method in a hands-on session. We will show you how to build a small, fast-acting compost pile. We will discuss the composting process, what to put in the pile, and how to manage and use this great resource in the garden or farm.
Before the compost demonstration, we will take a tour of the farming operations and community gardens at the Grow Food Northampton Organic Community Farm and Song Sparrow Farm. Following the demonstration, Jack and Caro from AFT will talk briefly about resources to get your soil tested, both for nutrients and for contaminants you should watch out for (like heavy metals), and what to ask your compost supplier if you do need to purchase compost for your site. They will bring a soil screener that can test samples for heavy metals and will provide on-site screening as time allows. Any samples that can’t be screened at the event will be collected and results returned to the participant within 3 weeks.