compost maven's musings

Recycling Retraction...

2008-11-18T09:19:00.006-05:00

Hi folks!

First, some housekeeping: Regrettably, I must retract my assertion on the "What's in Your Garbage" video that the butter carton is recyclable. Sadly, because it has a coating of plastic, it is not. It SHOULD be, but that's beside the point. I think I was so distracted by the wasted tin cans and egg shells that I lost my head for a second. Anyway, sorry about that. I'll be more careful from now on when I post an informational video. Okay?

Second, I want to thank you for all your great composting comments and questions. I'm totally amped by this conversation. My plan is to put up a post in the next day or two about red worm composting.

Third, look it!

It's an article about WasteFreeLiving.com and yours truly in today's Burlington Free Press.

In good tilth,
compost maven

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Besides Garbage...

2008-11-15T23:18:00.002-05:00

What's in YOUR garbage?

ciao!
-the compost maven

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Birkenstock Compost--Part Deux.

2008-10-26T22:15:00.004-04:00

Hey folks!
Guess what--I recorded another Birkenstock video. Check it out...

In short, the sandals are coming undone but that good German leather will be around for a long time at this rate. Any guesses as to how long it'll take before those shoes are soil?

ciao!
-the compost maven

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Blue Light Lattice

2008-10-07T12:16:00.008-04:00

Hi folks,

Okay, this is getting ridiculous. As amazingly lucky I am to have a generous and talented girlfriend who volunteers to keep my blog alive, I can't just keep relying on Alison to make blog entries for me. It's just been out of whack lately. Long story short, I need to find time not only to start two businesses and turn my (150 degree!) compost pile, but to do other things that I like to do such as connecting with all of you!

So, here's what I have for today. It's a picture of my most recent stained glass piece. I conceived it as a lattice of light, inspired by morning glories climbing towards the sun. Unfortunately, the yellow bits and the green round shapes don't shine through well in this photo. Attributable to the fact that I took it facing west this morning when no direct light was coming through.

Speaking of stained glass, I'll be in NYC this weekend and hope to check out Chagall's stained glass at the UN. Any of you ever see that? Supposed to be amazing. I'm also hoping to check out a gallery show of Kline's abstract paintings, which tend to reach into my brain's not oft used dimensions. I'll report back on what I find!

Ciao for now!
-the compost maven

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it's coming!

2008-10-06T23:00:00.009-04:00

Alison here for Holly again. Things're gettin' pretty crazy here at Waste Free Living Inc. The launch date is almost upon us and Hol's working like a dervish. Here she is tonight, cranking on uploading all the products onto the website.

And here she is yesterday with Sydnee and Autumn, having a summit meeting.
Soon, very soon, you can get all kinds of beautiful and indispensible green things at WasteFreeLiving.com.

Like this awesome compost thermometer, which is measuring Hol's freakin' HOT pile o' compost. 150 degrees, for the love of god.

After the launch, when things settle down, Hol will make a followup video of that decomposing Birkenstock. God, at 150 degrees the buckle might just have melted.

Stay tuned!

startup upstart

2008-09-06T21:28:00.010-04:00

Hi, Holly's girlfriend Alison here. Holly’s too busy starting up WasteFreeLiving.com to tell you how busy she is starting up WasteFreeLiving.com, so I’m doing it for her. Look, her house is a disaster area, piles of catalogs and samples of lovely biodegradable and compostable things everywhere.

Here she is the other day with Sydnee, one of the eco-fabulous women helping her to get up and running.

Here she is placing her very first merchandise order last week when we were on vacation in P’town.

And here she is right now, all crazed, showing you some of her wares.

Now she's trying to figure out why people keep sending her seeds on Facebook. Facebook is rather baffling to both of us.

Also, Hol would like me to show you the extraordinarily handsome compost bins that she designed, and that have been built by local craftswomen. These will be for sale imminently.

They're not just pretty, they're HOT. Today she took the temperature of the compost in the bin in her backyard. 130 freaking degrees.

Here's her logo for the bins. See the little nuthatch? She got it made into a brand, like a for-real branding iron, which she then imprints the wooden bins with. Tssssst! The smell of burning white cedar.

Hot, I tell you.

A couple more weeks of chaos and Waste Free Living will be launched!

A Composting Vacation

2008-08-30T22:24:00.005-04:00

Hey folks!

Guess what. I went on vacation this past week to one of my favorite places: Cape Cod, Massachusetts. One day Alison and I were at Herring Cove Beach basking in bikinis and playing toss with our highly entertaining "buzz bomb", which is a bit like a bright orange mini nerf football that has a blue stabilizing tail. It also makes this oddly delightful buzzing sound when spiraling through the air.

Anyway, while blissfully buzz bombing away we ran into Alison's old friend, the great organizer Michelle Crone, who's now taking care of the Provincetown Unitarian Universalist meeting house (which I accidentally refered to as a church in the movie below. Sorry UU's!). When I told Michelle what I do she brought up the sad state of their old pile out behind the UU. Like most places, the composting scene in Provincetown is pretty much nonexistent. Wouldn't I just love to spend a summer there setting up a beautiful composting program that would turn all the food scraps there into black gold! Anyway, through that conversation a composting project was born. Here's a little movie about how it went down...

Other highlights for me this week included getting to meet the consistently brilliant, charming, and hilarious Kate Clinton and her girlfriend Urvashi Vaid, who are, turns out, really darn nice. If you haven't seen Kate perform lately or picked up one of her books or cd's, then you must do so ASAP.

Have fun turning those piles!
-the compost maven

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Another Triathlon, What's Compostable?, Birkenstock Compost Video Part 1

2008-08-03T17:01:00.010-04:00

Hi folks,

Yesterday was my big triathlon for the year. It was an olympic distance triathlon: 0.9 mile swim, 28 mile bike, and 6.2 mile run. The bike is my strongest event by a long run, so to speak. I finished in 3 hours and 16 minutes--2 minutes faster this than last year. Next year I'm really psyched to start doing more technical training with a heart rate monitor, etc. Here's how it started...

Here I am pushing through the last mile of the run...

All in all it was a busy day because after the triathlon Alison and I picked wild blueberries, drove all over the back roads of Vermont, and then made this little video of me composting my old birkenstock sandals that were already starting to rot with mildew (because they were very old plus I left them out in the garage for a year!).

The "what's compostable" rule: If it was once alive it'll compost.

So why not leather, rubber, and cork sandals? Check it out...

And speaking of what's compostable, on a previous post I was asked by not drowning waving about large scale versus backyard composting. Here's what was asked:

"hey Holly
do you know much about City composting? Our council here in London (Camden) has just introduced organic waster pick up service - little bins and all.
But they say you can compost things that in my other life as a more rural composter I would never have put into my compost.. and it got me wondering how these things work and maybe you might know??
Perhaps the compost pile of a city is so huge and so hot that anything can be broken down??"

My short answer: you can compost anything in your backyard, including meat, bones, and dairy. The only requirements are that your pile be enclosed (to keep out the critters) and you manage it properly. Managing your compost pile means having the right recipe and turning it regularly. Also, you gotta make sure you have at least 2 bins available for composting. When one bin is full you can start a new batch while letting the 1st one turn into compost (without continually adding more food scraps). And it really doesn't take a huge pile to heat up. That's what I do in my backyard. Of course, I had to design my own bins, which work awesome and look lovely. (These will be for sale on the web in the very near future.) But if you just have an open pile that any dog or raccoon can get into then you might not want to put the meat and bones in. And it's a crying shame to throw these valuable resources away when they could be turned back into fertile soil. Large scale compost facilities are in the business of managing their piles properly. That's why they can take anything. But you can do it too! That's the beauty of it.

Thanks for your compost questions. It's just about my favorite topic.

ciao!
-the compost maven

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Alison at the Steinway

2008-07-22T10:20:00.003-04:00

Hi folks,

In my last post I mentioned that I got to see the Brooklyn Botanic Garden composting operation. Then Alison posted a comment with a video she made of me while tooling around in a BBG pick-up truck. Which reminds me that I made this little video of her during that same trip! Here she is at her mother's house...

Ciao for now!
-the compost maven

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July Travel Highlights

2008-07-21T20:41:00.007-04:00

Hi folks!

Long time no post. I've been all over the place this past month including New York City (for a wonderful commitment ceremony in Prospect Park plus NYC Pride!), then to Pennsylvania to visit Alison's wonderful family and check out the old homestead in Beech Creek, and most recently, Cape Cod. Here's a few photo highlights from those travels...

Okay, first picture. Here's some DTWOF trivia for you: Which character's family owns this excavating company? Give up?

Second, check out this waterfall between Brooklyn and Manhattan. This is one piece of an enormous public art project that opened on the day we arrived in the city. It's intention is to get people in the city more in touch with the fact that they're surrounded by water. Very cool.

Third picture: One of the highlights of the trip was getting an inside look at the Brooklyn Botanic Garden's composting operation. They take some food scraps from the big co-op in Park Slope and combine it with a bunch of chipped brush and mulch. They have their own chipper, which is awesome. That's Caleb showing me around. I just love seeing how other people compost! And I have lots of ideas about setting up composting systems/programs like this one in case anyone out there needs a composting consultant.

And lastly, here's me and my 18 year old nephew, Taylor, last week on Cape Cod. Cool picture of him holding the camera reflected in his aviators! We camped in Provincetown for three nights and got very sun-baked and wave-pummeled, which is always the plan. It's been our annual tradition since he was 4! I'm pretty sure that's why he turned out to be so cool. But that's just me. Anyway, it turns out that it was "Bear Week" in P-town while we were there. It was a real treat to see so many big, hairy guys be so sweet, sexy, silly, and just totally having a blast.

Other than that, things are coming right along with Maven Vermont Products and the Waste Free Living website. I plan to post soon on the newest member of the Waste Free Living team, Sydnee Viray, who is completely awesome, brilliant, and of course, fabulous!

That's it for now.
More soon.
-the compost maven

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Triathlons, Permaculture, Michael Pollan,

2008-06-23T21:28:00.004-04:00

Hi folks,

Jeez, sorry to be so out of touch. Starting two businesses can be a tad consuming, turns out!

Welp, I was in a sprint triathlon yesterday. I had a good time except for the parts where I felt sick, I accidentally veered off the pavement on my bike but managed to get back on unscathed, and I almost got hit by a big red F150 pick-up truck. Mainly it was a good (and necessary) kick in the butt to start training in earnest for the olympic distance triathlon on August 2nd. No olympic medalist here--I like to think of these things as try-athlons. (there's a picture of me getting on my bike just before it started to rain)

So, needless to say, I'm a huge fan of permaculture and designing with nature. Michael Pollan talks about healing the planet through a kind of agriculture that is respectful of the entire biota. He brings up an exciting hopefulness--exciting partly because of its simplicity.

Will post on my exciting compost bin project soon! And stay tuned for a Compost Maven exclusive where I will compost my old birkenstocks on video...

Ciao!
-the compost maven

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Two Nice Girls, Alison's Morning Spin

2008-06-01T22:00:00.003-04:00

Hi folks,

I just finished putting this little music video together. I recorded it while riding around town with Alison on a sunny Sunday morning during the Vermont City Marathon, which is a really wonderful race if you're into that sort of thing. I ran it in 2002. Anyway, when I saw the video footage I knew right away that the music it had to be set to was Two Nice Girls' "The Sweet Postcard" which is currently in my cd changer.

Enjoy!
-the compost maven

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Morels and Blue Circles

2008-05-29T08:47:00.012-04:00

Hi folks,

Here's the painting I did last weekend...

Blue Circle (18"X24")

And check out this morel that Alison and I fortuitously stumbled across just before dinner a couple nights ago...

and my favorite part...

That's it for now.
Don't forget to turn your compost--your pile will thank you!

-the compost maven

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Ruby Kaplansky Love

2008-05-26T13:45:00.003-04:00

Hi folks,

Check out this video I made this morning of a ruby throated hummingbird feeding on sugar water as viewed through Space Kaplansky!

There's been a pair of courting hummingbirds buzzing and zipping around this feeder lately. They're surprisingly tame in their shiny green coats, paying little attention to our presence or the salivating cat. Some cool trivia: their wings beat between 55 and 200 beats per second (I guess it all depends on how excited they are), they're the only birds that can fly upside down, sideways, and backwards, and finally, they are darn cute.

Ciao for niao!
-the compost maven

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Flo Rida and House Demolitions = FUN!

2008-05-22T20:08:00.004-04:00

Okay, here's the thing: I really like this song and I was showing my friend, Susanna, how to upload YouTube videos onto her "house demo" blog. I used this video as an example and then decided to just leave it on, for your viewing pleasure.

Here's Susanna's video. It shows her house being creamed into oblivion by an awesome hunk of yellow iron. Check out the heavy machinery finesse and Camel's Hump Mountain in the background.

Enjoy!
-the compost maven

Back to the Basics

2008-05-19T20:46:00.007-04:00

Hi folks,

Here's an update on my bread baking adventures. I showed you a picture of my sourdough starter a while back. I made a loaf of bread yesterday up at Alison's. It was so tasty. Here's a video of me kneading the dough...

Here's what it looked like after the first rising.

Sorry I didn't take a picture of the finished loaf. It was gorgeous.
Anyone have any suggestions for getting the crust to be good and crunchy?

Until next time,
-the compost maven

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Scarlet Runner Bean Love

2008-05-12T22:40:00.007-04:00

Hi folks,

I'm sorry to have been so out of touch. I've been so busy working to get the Waste Free Living website off the ground, plus gardening and gallivanting, that I've hardly had a moments rest! How're your gardens doing? Got yer peas in yet?

As evidence of one of my recent gardening-related adventures I offer a video that Alison made of me yesterday out on her deck.

That's right folks, I don't go anywhere without my Led Zeppelin belt buckle!

ciao!
-the compost maven

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Space Kaplansky Love

2008-05-01T21:14:00.003-04:00

Hi folks,

Here's my second stained glass piece. I just finished it today, the last day of class. I showed you my first piece back in February. Remember that? I love stained glass, don't you?

ciao!
-the compost maven

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Sustainable Inspiration for Waste Free Living

2008-04-30T17:39:00.005-04:00

Hi folks,

As I get closer to a Waste Free Living website launch date I am inspired to share with you some of what has inspired me along the way in starting this company. As an entrepreneur I'm inspired by sustainable practices like zero waste, ethical manufacturing, and making meaningful, social-change-producing connections with vendors and producers. Of course, I'm a big proponent of businesses for social change and I'm looking forward to attending the annual BALLE (Business Alliance for Local Living Economies) conference in Boston this June.

Check out this video of my friend (and world class nice guy and ultimate frisbee player!), Daron Byerly, of Seventh Generation talk about their approach to sustainability.

In good tilth,
-the compost maven

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Fedco Love

2008-04-27T21:44:00.011-04:00

Hi folks,

I took a little trip to Fedco seeds in Waterville, Maine yesterday with my pregnant friend Ann-Elise. I picked up a bunch of seeds, a cherry tree, two grape vines, raspberry canes, a dawn redwood, and a rose. Very exciting! Ann-Elise got a plum tree and lots of other stuff, too. It was their annual tree sale and a very nice scene. Here's a photo essay from the trip...

...driving past the White Mountains of New Hampshire.

Ann-Elise on the grass at Fedco... for her, a dream come true.

...in the Fedco seed room.

...driving back past New Hampshire's Whites, and then home again to Vermont's Camel's Hump.

So now, it's time to get my hands in the soil and do some planting!

Stay tuned for more gardening news.
-the compost maven

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Pledging my allegience to the soil

2008-04-22T23:12:00.004-04:00

Hi folks,

I was just reading one of my favorite poems and thought I would cap off this Earth Day with a quick poem post and a random photograph of a black radish.

For All
by Gary Snyder

Ah to be alive
on a mid-September morn
fording a stream
barefoot, pants rolled up,
holding boots, pack on,
sunshine, ice in the shallows,
northern rockies.

Rustle and shimmer of icy creek waters
stones turn underfoot, small and hard as toes
cold nose dripping
singing inside
creek music, heart music,
smell of sun on gravel.

I pledge allegiance

I pledge allegiance to the soil
of Turtle Island,
and to the beings who thereon dwell
one ecosystem
in diversity
under the sun
With joyful interpenetration for all.

...

Happy Earth, Soil, and Compost Day!

2008-04-22T18:08:00.003-04:00

Happy Earth Day, folks! A lot of people ask me, what does Earth Day mean to you? To me it's simple: Earth Day is about soil and compost. Why soil and compost? Because if we all always acted with the best interest of the soil in mind we would have a healthy planet. Period. For starters, soil organic matter is usually way too low and the soil food web is way to depleted. Luckily, we can easily fix that by adding compost! I personally think we need a national I LOVE COMPOST Day, and maybe someday we will, but until then I'm going to post an annual video about my compost pile on Earth Day. Here's my first installment...

Check out my girlfriend Alison's blog for more Earth Day video madness!

In good tilth!
-the compost maven

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Tip O' the Nib Award WINNER Announced!

2008-04-15T16:58:00.007-04:00

Now, folks, I'm sure that by now you can tell I'm not the type to blow my own whistle, but today is different. Why, you might ask? Why is today different than all other days? Because I have finally realized a life-long aspiration by being named WINNER of the Tip O' the Nib Award in Episode 526 by THE Dyke To Watch Out For herself, Alison Bechdel.

Here's Alison drawing...

Here's me and Alison at the awards ceremony...

I'm totally thrilled. Thanks, Alison!

Until next time,
-the compost maven

P.S. Tip O' the Day: Anyone can be a winner if you make up your own contests. Try it, it's fun!

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Composting Regs, Bear Pond Books, Persepolis...and a name change?

2008-04-14T22:33:00.012-04:00

Hi folks,

I guess I'm on a little roll with writing diary-like posts...

Yesterday I spent almost the entire beautiful spring day indoors with about 40 composters and regulators from around Vermont in the first of a series of meetings to rethink current composting regulations. I was happy with how the meeting went. I felt that a lot of the problematic rule ambiguities, inconsistencies, and redundancies were unearthed and identified. I personally felt good about being able to articulate what I want to see in terms of regulations. I want us to move towards goal-based regulations, where we regulate our activities as if we are a part of an ecosystem, rather than definition-based regulations that bog us done in irrelevant distinctions, that at best don't get us closer to our goals of environmental stewardship, and at worst are actually counterproductive--as in the case of the Intervale. I think we can get there but it's going to take vision and real leadership from the State, and that's always a crap shoot.

Afterwards I finally got it together to send my mother something I've been meaning to send for months, which she reminded me of in a non-subtle manner when I saw her this weekend. So that was a load off. Then I went to my favorite bookstore, Bear Pond Books, in Montpelier, right before I went to see Persepolis, finally, with Alison. I thought Persepolis was powerful. I cried the first time she left Iran... That's right, folks, I'm a weepy butch!

Bear Pond is so great. Imagine those old creaky wood floorboards like in old general stores, plus an amazing selection and an informed staff. Can I just say that Montpelier is completely awesome and worth a visit no matter what? Let me know if you're coming to Vermont and I'll tell you exactly where to go, okay?

Another shot from my recent trip to Ithaca...

Also, I woke up this morning with an idea for changing the name of this blog...

For the love of god, stay tuned!
-the compost maven

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My little spring break in Ithaca, NY

2008-04-13T21:39:00.013-04:00

Hi folks,

I'm just back from a few lovely days in Ithaca, NY where Alison spoke and signed books at Cornell. I used to live in Ithaca so it was extra fun for me. I met so many interesting people including Alison's Firebrand publisher, Nancy Bereano, and her partner Elizabeth. It was simply a blast to be so well attended to by so many lovely people. We were shown a night on the town and a wending walk through Sapsucker Woods at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology where we saw skunk cabbage, sapsuckers, and a Cooper's Hawk sitting on a branch about 50 feet from us!

Here's Alison taking a picture of a sure sign of spring: a drunken cedar waxwing on the Cornell campus...

...These pictures are from my visit to the greenhouse on campus...

Another sign of spring in Ithaca is the start of the Ithaca Farmer's Market, where I got some black radishes, dried beans, and a few random but beautiful pieces of wood. I'll have to show that all to you next time in some kinda still life.

A few more shots from the trip...

...rowing, farmer's market, local fever, the co-op...

And now I'm watching the really cool scene towards the end of Oceans Twelve where the Italian thief is dancing around the lasers. One of the best things about this movie is the tie that he's wearing at the very end where he discovers the truth about the egg. You might say I have a little thing for nice ties...

Until next time,
Adios!
-the compost maven

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Ode to Gretchen Phillips

2008-04-09T21:18:00.003-04:00

Okay folks, finally, after much anticipation, here it is, the short but sweet: Ode to Gretchen Phillips blog post.

Well, let's see, quite frankly and concisely she rocks, she's cute, she's funny, she's totally out, and she's ridiculously talented, charming, and insightful. Plus, who can overlook the great hair? Many years ago I got involved with two nice girls who introduced me to her work . Seriously, Sweet Jane (With Affection) is nothing short of sublime. If you're new to her genius, then here are a couple YouTube links to get you started.

"Gretchen Phillips for President" (would it were that she had ran!)
"Car Accidents and Other Coming Out Stories" (highly entertaining)

Enjoy, and of course, Viva la GP!
-the compost maven

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My fabulous metal water bottle

2008-04-08T22:31:00.006-04:00

Hi folks,

In case you were wondering, this is what my water bottle looks like. Don't get me wrong, I have more than one. In fact, my cupboard is packed with all manner of aging nalgene and sports squirt-style bottles from various races. One old purple nalgene bottle has an awesome sticker of a green, voluptuous alien riding some kinda chrome space missile. She's been the "Space Hussy" for years. But let's face it folks, metal bottles are where it's at: they last a really long time and they're inert. I plan to carry metal water bottles on Waste Free Living once it's up in running--which will be soon!

It's been fun picking out products and designs. I was at a party this past weekend and brought my SIGG water bottle catalog with me for some market research. Sort of a nerdy drinking game. Anyway, it was lots of fun and people really got into the task at hand, which was to pick out their top three favorite models. Most people had a hard time only picking three because there are just so freaking many cool styles. It was sort of like getting the thrill of shopping without the side effects. I think one woman was imagining the different styles as complimentary accessories to her shoes, which I thought was like earth-friendly fabulous. A nod to Emma Goldman's dancing at the (green) revolution.

And so I ask, can earth-friendly be fabulous, fun, and sexy? Holly Rae Taylor says yes.

ciao!
-the compost maven

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Buttons Buttons

2008-04-06T10:01:00.005-04:00

I mean, how cute is that?

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Sad Day for Intervale Compost

2008-04-04T17:08:00.004-04:00

Hi folks,

Oh dear. It's a sad day for Burlington residents and everyone who loves Intervale Compost. Check out today's article in the Burlington Free Press. Around here 10's of thousands of heads are collectively shaking in helpless disbelief.

-the compost maven

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Emily Dickinson, Fun Home, and a new warehouse!

2008-04-03T21:21:00.009-04:00

Hi folks,

The past two days have been very action-packed and interesting. Yesterday I took the day off and went on a quick trip to Amherst, Mass. where Alison gave a talk at Amherst College about her book, Fun Home. We got down there a little early so we went to the Emily Dickinson Museum. It was so powerful to be there in her house. Fortuitously, we were the only ones there and the house manager was trying to wrap up the day and gently usher us out. It was during this chit chat that he gave us an interesting scoop on the polyamorous relationships going on in Emily's life. For instance, it appears that Emily and her sister-in-law (her brother's wife) were romantically involved, while her brother had a long-standing extramarital relationship with a married woman! Here's a picture I found on the web of her house...

Alison gave her talk in Converse Hall after we had dinner with some nice folks from the Pride Alliance, and then coffee with an exceedingly bright and lovely student (that's her in the book signing picture below). It was a great talk, moving and interesting, and well attended by some really cool people. Gotta love that valley! As an aside, in the lobby (behind where Alison is sitting in the picture below) there are hanging plaster friezes from the Parthenon! It was sort of shocking, quite frankly.

...Alison Bechdel signing her Fun Home

And today's big news is that the Waste Free Living warehouse is lined up and ready for the good goods! It's tucked away in the artist's warren on Pine and Howard in Burlington--the same area as the Burlington Glass Studio (where I'm taking a stained glass class), Liza Cowan's Pine Street Art Works, and many other cool stores and studios.

...sweeeeet!

I'll leave you with a poem. It's from one of my favorite books: Picnic, Lightning by Billy Collins.

ciao,
-the compost maven

Taking Off Emily Dickinson's Clothes
by Billy Collins

First, her tippet made of tulle,
easily lifted off her shoulders and laid
on the back of a wooden chair.

And her bonnet,
the bow undone with a light forward pull.

Then the long white dress, a more
complicated matter with mother-of-pearl
buttons down the back,
so tiny and numerous that it takes forever
before my hands can part the fabric,
like a swimmer's dividing water,
and slip inside.

You will want to know
that she was standing
by an open window in an upstairs bedroom,
motionless, a little wide-eyed,
looking out at the orchard below,
the white dress puddled at her feet
on the wide-board, hardwood floor.

The complexity of women's undergarments
in nineteenth-century America
is not to be waved off,
and I proceeded like a polar explorer
through clips, clasps, and moorings,
catches, straps, and whalebone stays,
sailing toward the iceberg of her nakedness.

Later, I wrote in a notebook
it was like riding a swan into the night,
but, of course, I cannot telly you everything--
the way she closed her eyes to the orchard,
how her hair tumbled free of its pins,
how there were sudden dashes
whenever we spoke.

What I can tell you is
it was terribly quiet in Amherst
that Sabbath afternoon,
nothing but a carriage passing the house,
a fly buzzing in a windowpane.

So I could plainly hear her inhale
when I undid the very top
hook-and-eye fastener of her corset

and I could hear her sigh when finally it was unloosed,
the way some readers sigh when they realize
that Hope has feathers,
that reason is a plank,
that life is a loaded gun
that looks right at you with a yellow eye.

...

Compost, Tina Turner, and Chopping Wood...

2008-04-02T12:00:00.003-04:00

...simply awesome.

Hi folks!

Looking back on some of my blog posts I'm noticing that I like to post multiple, somewhat disparate topics concurrently. I'm not sure what that's about. I think it's probably just a true reflection of how my brain functions.

Today's potpourri post is a short report on yesterday's Vermont Organics Recycling Summit, plus a link to a funny little video of me chopping wood that Alison made a few days ago. She quite gracefully and graciously trimmed off the two or three minutes of my missed attempts and stubbornly chopping at stubborn, knotty wood for naught.

I thought the Vermont Organics Recycling Summit was a big success. Malcolm Beck gave a wonderful talk. He's a natural storyteller and among other things he had great pictures of comparative root zones, which was awesome! There were over a hundred people and lots of good energy and conversations. I gave the opening remarks, introducing the idea of Community Nutrient Management Planning, which I developed after leaving Intervale Compost last fall. In my address I even got to say that we need to eliminate the concept of waste TWICE, which I think is worth repeating. There was general agreement that an all-out organics ban in landfills is in order. Actually, BioCycle is leading the way on this with its soon-to-be-launched COOL 2012 Campaign. One of the big issues around this is that organics in landfills creates the potent greenhouse gas, methane. I talked about this in an earlier post called, "What's Compost Got To Do With It?".

...Malcolm and Delphine's garden, where they use Integrated Pest Management (IPM).

It's a beautiful day in Vermont today. The rivers and sap are flowing under blue skies and bare naked birch trees!

ciao for niao!
the compost maven

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My world: Community Nutrient Systems and More Snow!

2008-03-31T10:32:00.005-04:00

Hi folks,

It's still snowing! Here's what Vermont looks like...

I just talked to my friend Al Bushey who's got a sugarbush over in Essex. The sap is slow coming this year!

Tomorrow is the 2th Annual Vermont Organics Recycling Summit. This is put on by the Composting Association of Vermont, a nonprofit organization. I'm on the board of directors and I'll be making the opening remarks tomorrow.

I'm going to describe a concept that I have been calling Community Nutrient Systems. It doesn't seem like outside-the-box thinking because it's all very intuitive. The idea is that we, like everything else on the planet, dwell within an ecosystem that we can help sustain by recycling the nutrients in our waste stream. Looking at the waste stream at all makes most people squeamish. Calling it "our" waste stream is foreign. And then conceptualizing it as a source of nutrients that can be retrieved and put back into the soil is quite a leap, however simple. Community Nutrient Systems is an idea that I developed while managing Intervale Compost Products in Burlington, Vermont. We took all kinds of organics from the community (except biosolids), unlike most facilities which usually specialize in farm manures or municipal leaf/yard trimmings. The compost we made helped drive a thriving local food system and a robust, thoughtful gardening and ecological landscaping community. Every community needs a community-based compost facility like that.

The keynote tomorrow will be given by Malcolm Beck, author of The Secret Life of Compost. Great reading. He's basically saying that Nature knows what it's doing and should be our model for how to care for the planet. In his own words: "If you work with nature, nature will reward your efforts". I had dinner with Malcolm and his wife, Delphine, the other night and heard lots of Malcolm's compost stories, which I loved. They're from a small town near San Antonio, Texas where Malcolm was a railroad man for 32 years and together they raised a family and ran a very successful organic farm and composting business for many years. Delphine made it all possible with her incredible common sense, natural business acumen, and highly evolved ability to multi-task (i.e., run the business, the home, the garden, and mother everyone at the same time). Malcolm has written insightfully and prolifically about composting and related topics such as composting funerals and water conservation. Tomorrow he'll tell us about how composting can help to slow climate change.

In good tilth!
the compost maven

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Back in Good Ole Fat-Cow Vermont!

2008-03-22T11:53:00.020-04:00

Hi folks,

Just wrapping up my travelogue after a week in California. It's been quite the sensory whiplash! To illustrate the contrast I've experienced in a short period of time I drew a logo in the sand in Malibu (where I got a sunburn) on March 18th and a logo in the snow today, four days later, in Bolton (where I froze my fingers)...

After attending the Natural Products EXPO WEST I drove up the coast to Jalama State Park, just north of Santa Barbara. Here are some images from that trip.

It was hard to focus on driving...

...pink Jalama sunrise.

...pink Jalama Sunrise in motion.

...more images from Jalama

I camped right next to the beach for two nights. Driving back down the coast to L.A. I went through Malibu and stopped off at the big, beautiful public beach, all sparkling and blue...

...dolphins right off the shore.

And finally, it's back to work for this compost maven. Here's a picture of all the sales literature I get to sift through as a next step towards opening Waste Free Living for business...

Until next time,
the compost maven

EXPOsed

2008-03-15T23:14:00.025-04:00

Well folks, I am a looooong way from Vermont! This post (sorry about how looong it is, by the way) comes from balmy, palmy Anaheim, CA where I'm attending the H-U-G-E Natural Products EXPO WEST at the colossal Anaheim Convention Center. I'm having a good time picking out some of those hand-picked good goods I promised you on my Waste Free Living website--and I've found some really awesome stuff for you!

This EXPO is mind-blowing in it's immensity and energy. So many people (and businesses) are really trying to do better in this world and that's what this show is all about. I got to see two of my heroes speak: Mollie Katzen and Michael Pollan. They were both great and I'll try to remember to tell you what they said on a future post. Practically every "natural" product you've ever seen is here. It's a great place to be if you're selling this stuff, which I am. However, my moral dilemma is this: have I gone too far down into the belly of the wasteful beast in order to come back out living waste free? I mean, to fly out here, with no recycling or composting around, and basically do bad in order to do good. One worries.

Just to give you an indication of where my four day journey has taken me I offer you a short photo mosaic from the green mountains to space mountain. From the northeast kingdom to the magic kindgom. From crusty snow, wood heat, and tasty brisket one day to Royal Palm trees and Disneyland the next!

...the late-wintry woods near my cute girlfriend's house, with deep, hard-crust snow and all aflutter with love-sick chickadees; my cute girlfriend, Alison Bechdel--ya kinda gotta watch out for her when she's a cleaning dervish (a dervish to watch out for?);

...tons and tons of birds of paradise in bloom!!!;

...the new half of the Anaheim Convention Center, quite a glorious edifacial visage to behold, actually, with it's expressive curves and shiny reaching; my new friend, Blake, doing yoga outside of his bus Friday morning--is this the capitalist 00s' answer to the Green Turtle of yore? God help us;

...a field of strawberries bearing fruit; Mollie Katzen!!! (sorry about the blurry photo);

...a brass manhole cover that's a map of the area--genius!; large ballon hanging from the ACC ceiling that says, Steel Libido--I'm not sure if this is supposed to be like "Nature's viagra" or wut?;

...my sore feet on top of a big pile of newly harvested samples and sales literature (notice the pink nail polish, still extant from the Drag Ball in February); home of Minnie Mouse.

See? Don't you think this is a strange, albeit short trip? Since arriving in So' Cal' I have astutely noticed that it's kinda different here. For example, on the local news they recently featured a real estate agency that shows houses via helicopter because the traffic is so bad! The agent was quoted as saying, We want to show houses, not freeways. I can just see my friend Jackie Marino doing that in Vermont!! That would be so funny.

And then again, there are plenty of things that California and Vermont have in common. Here's a couple pictures of another local news story about a school garden currently on the school budget chopping block. This is a garden that's been around for 15 years and it looks totally successful and valued by the community...and yet they're talking about ending it.

Now wait a minute, why does that remind me of something from back home where a long-standing, do-good project is valued by the community but is on the small-mind, bureaucratic chopping block?? Hmmm, maybe it'll come to me later. Until then, here's another photo from my trip. It's a knight in shining armor in my hotel lobby. Oddly, it's full name is "Tomorrow", but people around here just call it Tom for short.

I leave you with an image of a banner held up outside the ACC urging us all to just do SOMETHING!

ciao for niao!
your roving compost maven

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Lesbian Kale Sauce and the 2008 Lamborghini Gallardo Superleggera

2008-03-08T08:49:00.007-05:00

Hi folks,

If you love kale like I love kale, which is quite a freaking lot, then you will love this recipe published in this week's Seven Days newspaper. It's at the end of an article about local Eat More Kale guy, Bo Muller-Moore. As printed in Seven Days:

***********
Lesbian Kale Sauce
Submitted by Holly Rae Taylor

This originated with Anya Schwartz — who probably got it from some hippie cookbook — but I came up with the name, so I think that counts for something. I've never actually seen it written, so I'm kinda winging it here.

Mix together:
5 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
5 tablespoons tamari
2 dashes sesame oil
3 tablespoons water
1 nub ginger, grated
1 clove garlic, minced
1 tablespoon sugar (optional)
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard (optional)
1 tablespoon wasabi
½ cup toasted sesame seeds (toast the seeds with a pinch of sea salt; sprinkle some seeds in the sauce and the rest on the kale)

Adjust everything to taste

Two perfectly acceptable ways to enjoy Lesbian Kale Sauce:
1. Dip steaming hot steamed kale directly into sauce, one fork- or chopstickful at a time
2. Pour sauce over a big beautiful bowl of steamed kale, toss, and serve!

***********

Oh yeah, and here's the 2008 Lamboghini Superwhatevva. It's just kinda weird that kale (much less Lesbian Kale Sauce!) and lamboghinis can coexist on the same planet, don't you think? And what do you do with one of these things, drive it to the farmer's market? Or to your weekly CSA pick up? I may never know for sure but I have a few ideas. Anyway, if you, dear reader, happen to own one of these beauties then please write in and illuminate us all about what kind of errands one can run with a 5-liter V-10 (523 horsepower, 376 pound-feet of torque); six-speed manual or six-speed automated manual transmission. Okay? Thanks.

bon appetit!
-the compost maven

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Hairy Woodpecker, Stained Glass, and Sourdough Starter...the Photo Essay

2008-03-07T08:40:00.011-05:00

...check out the tongue!

...what a magnificent tail!

Folks!

This is what my living room window looked like this morning. Next time I'll record a video instead of taking still lifes with woodpecker... I wish like hell that I had a camera the day a Northern Flicker was at this suet feeder. The Northern Flicker is completely gorgeous and looked to be about 3 times as big as this Hairy. The spots on the Flicker looked like totally insane gold-fleckled aboriginal circles.

And just below this window here's what my sourdough starter looked like this morning. It would be so cool to have a magnified video of all the goings on inside that jar! Go to that link if you want to know how to make your own sourdough starter and, of course, sourdough bread. (please let us all know if you have a favorite bread recipe to share!)

ciao!
-the compost maven

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What's Compost Got To Do With It?

2008-03-03T23:21:00.013-05:00

Hi folks,

I'm just back from Marlborough, MA where I attended the 8th Annual Massachusetts Organics Recycling Summit "The Changing Climate of Composting". Dr. Sally Brown gave a great keynote address on the subject. I'm taking a lot of liberties here, but just trying to sum it up I think she basically addressed 3 ways that compost and climate change intersect.

1. Putting organics (e.g., food scraps and everything else that can composted) into landfills creates methane, a very potent greenhouse gas (GHG). Therefore, keeping organics out of landfills is an important "avoidance" of GHG emissions. That wasn't news to the composters in the room but it was news that this avoidance effect can actually be calculated in tons of methane that is NOT put in the atmosphere! And furthermore, those calculations are how composters can potentially get money for carbon off-set credits (a very confusing matter which we'll definitely cover in a future post!).
2. Putting compost in the ground is a way to "sequester" carbon, i.e., keep it in the ground in the form of humus and OUT of the atmosphere where it would be in the form of a GHG. But this doesn't have nearly the impact on climate change as the "avoidance" thing listed above.
3. Compost is a soil amendment that increases the all-important soil organic matter (SOM, or OM) and feeds the all-important soil food web of soil critters. Compost is like magic. Sally didn't say that, but I get carried away with this subject, in case you haven't noticed. But her point was this: as the climate is changing and as populations are growing we are asking more and more of our soils. We ask them to absorb or withstand more extreme weather events like torrential downpours and to grow more food with less water. And now we also ask soils to NOT ONLY grow our food but to also grow a portion of our fuel in the form of corn for ethanol and canola for biodiesel. The only way to do any of that is to create healthy soils...by adding compost.

So, her main points were that A) keeping organics out of the landfill is a very significant way to reduce GHG emissions, and B) using compost as a soil amendment creates healthy soils, which will be increasingly important as we continue to make a bigger mess of things but also strive to create a sustainable world.

Okay, enough of all that. Let's look at some pretty pictures...

The top pictures shown above are (top) an unfurling fern from the latest issue of the Green Mountain Club's Long Trail News (isn't it amazing?!), and (bottom) a really big gorgeous fern that lives at the New York Botanical Garden, taken on my recent fabulous trip to NYC.

The pictures above are from my backcountry ski trip on Sunday. Check out those crazy snow formations!

Be well, do good work, keep in touch, eat, drink, be merry, and for the love of god, turn your compost piles!
the compost maven

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Maven Vermont Products is born!

2008-02-29T13:19:00.004-05:00

Hi folks,

I'm really excited to announce that as of today Waste Free Living, Inc. owns the trade name, Maven Vermont Products (MVP! ...I guess that's sort of nod to my athletic background).

MVP will be the local manufacturing arm of Waste Free Living, Inc. I'll design and produce all kinds of backyard conservation things like birdfeeders, food dehydrators, and the Royal Suite Compost Bins (that's a picture of me holding the smallest one, called The Royal Wee).

Check out the bottom half of this blog entry if you want more information about these beautiful bins.

I'll soon be posting more business development news as I plan my big trip to Anaheim, California for the Natural Products Expo West trade show in mid-March. I hope to get up to Big Sur while I'm out there, as well!

All the best, (including garlic, skiing, and rich, black compost in which you can sink both your hands!)
the compost maven

****************************************************
Waste Free Living, Inc. proudly presents
The Royal Suite Compost Bins

Choose the size that's right for YOU:

Garden King (large; $190)
Compost Queen (medium; $160)
The Royal Wee (small; $120)

The Royal Suite Advantage:

Compost ALL your food scraps and yard trimmings
Three sizes from which to choose and no more plastic!
Critter-proof wire mesh on all six sides
Hand-made with local, sustainable cedar
Attractive, rot-resistant cedar frame
Hinged top for easy loading
Removable front for easy mixing
Compost recipe and instructions included

Available now.

For more information or to place an order simply email me, the compost maven, at holly@wastefreeliving.com

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Stained Glass Love

2008-02-26T18:49:00.007-05:00

Hey folks,

I know, you're thinking, Hey, I've come to this Waste Free Living website because I want to buy totally awesome hand-picked goods that will help me live happier and greener--but now all I see is Holly Rae Taylor's art! Well, I'm still working day and night on all my business ventures, including Waste Free Living, but art is just one more dimension to the whole picture. Plus it makes for better photos than business planning!

Here's my first stained glass piece. The criteria for this project were that it had to fit within 12"X 12", 15 pieces or less, and all straight lines. Trust me, my next design will have kaplanskies...

I'm taking a great class through CCV with stained glass master, Terry Zigmund, in her Burlington Glass Studio, located in Burlington's funky, reclaimed brick post-industrial art district.

The studio is right behind Liza Cowan's awesome, cutting edge, ecclectic art gallery and store, Pine Street Art Works--NOT to be missed if you're in town!

ciao!
-the compost maven

Kaplansky Love

2008-02-23T10:14:00.008-05:00

Hi folks,

Here's a photo of my latest painting. It's hanging in a group show at the Rose Street Co-op in Burlington. Check it out on the Seven Days newspaper website.

Kaplansky Undone by Holly Rae Taylor (3'X4', 2008, acrylic on canvas)

Kaplansky is the name I've given a recurring shape in my work. It's a circle within a circle, and the two are attached and in motion. Below is the original kaplansky painting.

Yellow Kaplansky by Holly Rae Taylor (15"X 40"--approximately, 2000, acrylic on paper)

I'll be posting more photos of my artwork, including the stained glass!

ciao!
the compost maven

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Lacto-Fermentation Love

2008-02-18T18:23:00.005-05:00

Hi folks,

To continue on my "Love" theme, this entry is dedicated to my love for lacto-fermented foods! I attended the 26th annual NOFA-VT Winter Conference this weekend in Randolph, Vermont. The theme was "Business Not as Usual". That's why the keynote speaker on Saturday was Judy Wicks of the White Dog Cafe. Judy is one of my personal heroes because of her vision and heart and all the cool things she does for her community. She founded the BALLE network after she basically created a web of interrelated local businesses who are vendors of- or connected to vendors of the White Dog. She challenges conventional business paradigms and comes up with solutions that are positive, effective, human, and sustainable. Businesses for social change. That's what I'm excited about.

Getting back to lacto-fermentation, I went to a workshop on this given by Sarah Flack. Check out her website for recipes and other services she offers. Equipment used in fermenting is definitely on the product list for Waste Free Living--so stay tuned!

I will be writing lots more about all these topics (and more) in future posts.

This week I'm working on a community-based composting project in Franklin County and then heading down to New York City for a whirlwind weekend of fun. I'll definitely post post-NYC, after a brief stop in the Adirondacks for some backcountry skiing, and I'll share with you pictures of orchids!

In good tilth,
the compost maven

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Compost Love

2008-02-14T09:28:00.001-05:00

Hi folks,
Welcome, welcome to this blog!

It's Valentine's Day and so I dedicate this, my very first blog entry, to compost. To paraphrase a Pablo Neruda poem about Turquoise: Compost, I love you, as if you were my girlfriend!

I'm excited to start posting on this blog. Among other things I hope it will be a place where we can all connect around green living, old fashion resourcefulness, random musings and inspirations, and miscellaneous creative whatever. I think it'll be a lot of fun. I will also start posting my business development diary as I continue to move forward with a number of projects, including Waste Free Living, Maven Vermont Products, and Community Nutrient Systems. Feel free to post any questions or comments--this is about having a conversation, not a soap box for me, Holly Rae Taylor.

I'll sign off for now with the Neruda poem I mentioned above from his Stones from the Sky collection where each poem is numbered, not named:

III

Turqoise, I love you
as if you were my girlfriend
as if you were mine:
you are everywhere:
you are just washed,
just recently sky blue,
just fallen from above:
you are the sky's eyes:
you slice through the surface
of the shop, of the air:
blue almond:
sky talon:
bride.

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