I had the good fortune this summer of working with the Learning Gardens program of the City Parks Foundation, a program that hires public high school students to learn about garden basics while maintaining community gardens.  One of our field trips took us the EarthMatters, a pretty fantastic composting facility on Governor’s Island.

Amongst the things learned:

1 – Avocado pits are hard as hell.  And yet…

…three weeks in a compost pile big enough to generate some real heat, and I could crush this pit in my palm with only a little more effort than it takes to squish a banana.  I find this absolutely, completely fantastic, though no one else to whom I have detailed this little miracle seems quite as excited as me. Continue reading →