TODAY IN THE ORCHARD

A brand new heap ready for the great inhalation

I worked in the orchards and gardens near the house and barns, doing some late planting and cutting back spring growth to make paths into the fruit trees. I capped off one compost heap with a load of year-old cow manure and started a new heap nearby. The compost piles are 6 foot square and about 5 feet tall when complete. They are built one layer at a time with soft wood poles (primarily spruce, fir and hemlock). The poles are not tied or screwed together; they just rest on one another. The building of the compost pile is the in-breath, and the dispersal of the finished compost is the exhale. When we inhale, a large amount of air is sucked into our lungs. When we exhale, the concentrated air leaves us and spreads out into the world around us. Into the heap goes plant material from throughout the farm. At the end of the season when we clean up the gardens, the garden-remains are collected and concentrated into just one or two heaps. There they decompose over the next two years. In spring we get out the forks and shovels and spread this concentrated material throughout the farm. That is the exhalation. The compost pile is the entire universe focused in one small space. Inhale and and focus; exhale and discharge!