Healing Gardens

            Megan and I have spent a good deal of time discussing what we would like to see happen with the compost site. Initially we planned on ripping the old, dilapidated structure apart and rebuilding a new one immediately. There were a few problems with that plan like neither of us knew much about composting or what type of structure would work best for our location and/or purpose. At that point we decided to rethink our plan and to create a more realistic plan for the duration of this quarter.

            Our current plan of action is to obtain as much knowledge as we can about the fundamentals of composting. At the same time we are going to build a temporary, but functional compost container off to the side of the existing one. We will transfer the compost from the old bin to the new bin so that we can remove the old one. Once the structure is gone we will do light pruning of the salmon berry, salal, coltsfoot, and comfrey in our area. Eventually we would like to build a new and improved compost bin at the Longhouse complete with a handwritten guide to composting. This will most likely be completed by the end of the program. It is a long term goal.

            In the meantime we will continue researching composting techniques, structures, benefits, ect. We have also identified the plants in our site and have begun looking at there healing properties and possible benefits for a compost pile.