Community Composting weekend a great success

On 26^th/27^th April we hosted our 2^nd annual Community Composting Masterclass. The event brought together existing groups with new and emerging ones to learn, discuss, connect, share and inspire.

Our ever-eager and knowledgeable compost mentors Mel, Nicky & Ben shared their wide-ranging experience of composting in community, farm, street and home settings and helped the group explore various possibilities and challenges relating to their projects.

We were given a fascinating tour of The Marsh composting site by Ross from Sustainable South Brent who explained the site history and how their 40-strong team of volunteers receive and process huge volumes of green waste each week and turn it into nutrient rich compost for the community.

Another highlight was a session with soil microbiologist Jake from Symbiosis Soil Lab. He awed the group with his inspirational talk about the power of healthy soil and plants to restore landscapes and create abundance. This included a fascinating view through the microscope at the life forms found in the compost brought in by two of the group.

We also heard from Joe from Sustainable South Brent about plans for their new community market garden. Using Mel’s experience at School Farm CSA and the input of our participants, including permaculture designer Tess from Generous Earth, we explored ways in which the project could make us of various nutrient streams.

Big thanks as always to Cllr Jacqi Hodgson for her commitment to the groups and South Hams District Council for funding and supporting the event. We will follow the event with a tour of sites later in the year. Drop us a line if you’d be interested – ruthlw@sussh.org

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