Mike McPherson

Hi Growthers!! I’m Mike McPherson, community member and one half of the duo stewarding a front-yard garden in Kitchener, we lovingly call Yardfarm (it sounds way cooler in a death-metal scream). I would like to take my 10+ years of trial and error, and learning under the likes of Geoff Lawton and Dr. Elaine Ingham to show you my approach to managing the kitchen scraps and garden generated organic matter to make high quality, aerobic compost. This is an “active” approach to compost making, which requires turning and hydrating, but we will discuss general parameters that will refine your ability to take kitchen and garden waste and turn it into microbally-diverse, plant nourishing humus. All while reducing some of the common issues encountered with urban composting, such as pests, smells and poor decomposition.

Topics Include

• Carbon to Nitrogen ratios to achieve “Hot” Compost (while avoiding cumbersome calculators)
• Sources of both C & N (self-generated and free/low costs being priority)
• Hydration for optimal decomposition and how to test
• Tools to reduce ick factor and maintain a tidy fertility zone
• My “Hoops of Humus” system as a possible approach to managing your own compost

I’ll have a prebuilt pile showing decomposition rates and we’ll build a pile and discuss some of the techniques to ensuring quality/consistency. There is an opportunity to get a soil-building workout in if folks enjoy learning by doing! Bring a pitchfork if you have it (necessary equipment these days ;-))