This past Saturday my friend and I visited one of our friends house in Syracuse for the day. I couldn't help but notice their little bowls of compost in the corner of their kitchen and I was curious as to whether their compost was successful. After reading Garbage Land and learning about her compost experience, I was skeptical as to whether the Thorley's compost worked for them. What I learned about their compost is that they keep the organic kitchen matter in an uncovered pile in the corner of the yard. Their old system used to consist of used trash barrels with little aeration holes- but this system didn't really work out for them and the compost never had the right balance. So right now it is just a heap in the corner of the yard, and this made me wonder about a potential rodent and animal problem. She said that the only animal problem they have is with squirrels, and it actually provides a useful source of food for them in the winter without causing a nuisance to their compost. Every spring their compost turns over into a nice soil for their garden, so this made me think that the uncovered pile is the way to go with compost. Her family told me that they average about a gallon of compost per day from their kitchen alone, and this saves them a significant amount of garbage while providing them with a useful product.
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