Help Wanted: $20 an hour. Compost service demand is exceeding our ability!

We need help!  We have more demand for composting services than we can handle.  We are looking for someone to help us increase composting in the county.  We have about 6 - 8 hours of work a week, some flexible hours.  We can provide all the training.  If you are interested, please let us know.  We would love to help someone start their own company and help provide services we can't keep up with.  You can email us at [email protected] or call at 304-482-3062.  Thanks! Kim & John

Join us for a potluck on Thursday June 17th at 6 pm & and a class on about applied mycology from Leif

We will host a potluck on Thursday June 17th at 6 pm at the Cedar Mountain Canteen. Please bring a covered dish to share and your own non-disposable place setting. Plant-based meals are encouraged and all dishes are welcome. Everyone is welcome to join us. We look forward to getting together. At 6:30 pm we will enjoy an informal talk by Leif Olsen about applied mycology and focus on having plenty of Q&A about topics people are interested in. Leif Olson is an environmental scientist and educator with a background spanning ecological field research, environmental chemistry, soil health management and mushroom farming. He worked for two years as a cultivation manager at Pisgah Gourmet, a local mushroom farm in Brevard, NC and currently operates Integrated Land Enhancement, an environmental consulting and education business based in Asheville, NC.  Leif has taught all over the country about fungi, soil, plants, compost and more. He also started co-hosting the Applied Mycology podcast earlier this year, a show featuring discussions with co-host [...]

The Sharing House needs help with composting and they have reached out to us. Can you help?

We received an email this week from the Sharing House asking if we could help them learn to manage the compost bins built for them.  I told them absolutely, yes.  Are you interested in helping?  Please let us know.  Creating soil is one of the greatest things we can do for the earth as so much is being turned into dirt, void of life.  Let's help the Sharing House!  Send an email to [email protected] if you are interested in helping.  Thanks and thanks Sharing House for asking!

By |2021-04-11T08:37:25-04:00April 11th, 2021|Categories: Composting, Help a Neighbor, Moving to Zero-waste, Use Food Scraps|

Moving to Conservers Members helping us create a food forest at the Cedar Mountain Canteen

Growing food organically and planting native plants and trees is one of our passions.  John and I are now part owners of the Cedar Mountain Canteen and we want the community to enjoy locally grown food so we are busy planting.  We have planted 2 peach trees, rhubarb, blueberry bushes, strawberries, and are planning on much more as the weather warms up.  We have also planted 2 Red Bud trees and 1 Dogwood in the garden for shade. We planted bee balm, a native flower.  Our dear friend Susan Sunflower brought us native Green and Golds and planted them at the base of our shade trees and also blessed us with a couple of Oconee Bells, a rare native flower. Michael Plauche of the Transylvania County Bird Club brought us 4 bird boxes for our food forest as well.  We have found nesting birds are one of the greatest forms of natural pest control. We received some gorgeous hanging baskets from some of our neighbors for the garden [...]

By |2021-04-11T08:16:13-04:00April 11th, 2021|Categories: Composting, Eating Consciously, Food, Gatherings, Growing food, Help a Neighbor, Use Food Scraps|

Want some vinyl campaign signs to re-purpose? How about trophies?

For me, one of the most interesting parts of moving to a zero-waste community is looking at the thought of waste differently.  I often ask myself: When and why did it become OK to waste something? There are so many businesses we need in our community to support a move to zero-waste it is exciting.  The first in my mind is a business that helps us divert food waste from the landfill.  We received so many excellent ideas during our essay contest to solve that problem.  We have put some in practice and need to continue to do that at a larger scale. We have recently received a large supply of vinyl campaign signs so that we can keep them out of the landfill and facilitate reuse of them.  I have used my old campagin signs for a lot of purposes.  I left office 4 years ago and my signs are still going strong as repurposed signs and even a water barrier on a piece of outdoor furniture. [...]

By |2020-11-16T09:59:13-05:00November 16th, 2020|Categories: Moving to Zero-waste, Use Food Scraps|

Rooster Head Farms wants your pumpkins

It is that time of year again.  Fall harvests bring pumpkins and Halloween brings them to many homes to brighten our community.  Rooster Head Farms wants your pumpkins.  They will have a bin at the farm for folks to "chuck their pumpkins".  Pigs love pumpkins and they are looking forward to seeing you bring them by! For more information, contact Rooster Head Farms here: Rooster Head Farm1200 Old Hendersonville Hwy Brevard NC 28712 (828) 702-9929

By |2020-10-19T09:59:26-04:00October 19th, 2020|Categories: Compost Drop-off Location, Moving to Zero-waste, Use Food Scraps, Zero-waste tips|

Why focus on zero-waste when there are so many more pressing issues?

At one of our potluck events (I sure do miss those), someone said to me, "Why so much focus on zero-waste?  There are more pressing issues."  I have thought of that a lot.  Of all the issues I can think of, they all are impacted by working to move to a zero-waste community. "Our goal is to eliminate the idea of waste from our mindset and to normalize a kinder existence without waste." John and I are moving to that mindset and it has impacted every part of our lives.  John and I have lived most of our life not thinking deeply about our waste.  Recycle, recycle, recycle and we were good citizens.  Items are disposable for a reason right? Well, right we have discovered.  What we discovered and what we continue to learn is that the thought of waste is privileged.  I visit the DrawDown Project website frequently, especially the solutions page.  Here is a paragraph from the page. Here, we present the individual solutions reviewed and [...]

Board of Commissioners Solid Waste Workshop

On September 2nd, Kenn Webb, Transylvania County's Solid Waste Director, gave a presentation to the county commissioners on the state of the landfill.  It was really informative.  Kenn has an amazing background and the depth of the presentation was amazing. The presentation was recorded and you can see it on the county's website here:  https://www.transylvaniacounty.org/meetings/commissioners-meeting-09022020-solid-waste-workshop

By |2020-09-12T11:38:09-04:00September 12th, 2020|Categories: Composting, Moving to Zero-waste, Use Food Scraps|

We need more community food scrap drop-off sites. Interested? We will help

Growing food usually requires soil.  Nutrients in the soil get used up when we grow food and luckily for us, an easy way to rebuild the soil is through making compost.  We have taken on a new community project with a few other groups that involves giving plant starts to those who are in need of food.  We usually have enough pots, plant starts, and volunteers but we usually need more soil. We currently have 2 publicized community compost drop off places in our community and we could use a few more.  If you are interested in helping us build more soil please let us know. Do you currently compost at home but have no use for the soil?  Let us know!  We could sure use it. Would you collect your food scraps for use if someone would pick them up and take them to a drop-off location?  Let us know that too. Send an email to [email protected] and let's talk dirt :)

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