3-Point Plan for Sustainable Eating IV

I have come a long way with most of my personal project, while a third of it has completely stagnated. My efforts will continue, but it is clear which parts of the project are really taking shape. In the next few weeks, I will attempt to concentrate more on those aspects that are underdeveloped. Nonetheless, I am ecstatic that at least part of my personal project has come together.

Composting

Composting has been the greatest success by far, which I am particularly proud of. I have attempted composts piles in the past that never reached their full potential because I gave up on them. Thankfully, this personal project gave me a good reason to stick with it. As you can see in the pictures below, my compost has formed a fairly fertile soil. It has some more decomposing to go, but I think in the next month or so it should be pretty rich. My main concern is what I will do with it in the winter. Hopefully I can place it under the stairs outside of my apartment complex. I definitely will not stop after this much success.

Cleaning the transfer compost bin is always the worst part, but I use the water to wet some of my outside compost pile. Composting triumphs the garbage again!

Now that my compost is turning into a decent soil, it is time to research the best ways to use it in my future garden. Here is a pretty informative video that discusses the art of incorporating compost into your garden. Techniques include side dressing, broadcasting, dumping and spreading. You can also use a pitchfork to spread the compost for aeration purposes. Even though it seems rather straight forward, its better to make sure that you are doing it right.

Rain Barrel

On a different note, this is the third of my project that I am most disappointed with. Not much to report here except that I have made a few additional calls to businesses. I have called the major grocery stores such as Marsh, Kroger, and O’malia’s, but every person I talk to says they do not use gallon-plastic barrels. From the few car washes I have called I have not received an answer, but I may need to call at different hours. So the search for the barrel continues! I refuse to buy one because there are countless videos online with folks talking about how they got their barrels for free. I know I can do this, it’s only a matter of talking to the right person at the right time.

Plant-Based Meals

My plant-based meals continue, though they are not as substantial as I would like them to be. I continue to roast peppers and make spinach salads, and when I’m lazy I eat an apple or two. Tomorrow or Tuesday I plan on making these falafels, which I have made before. And look I already have the garbanzos beans!