Gisborne organisations keen on composting

Children staying at Te Kainga Whaiora Childrens Health Camp are actively involved in transforming their food scraps into tasty home grown vegetables.  “Now the children stay in individual houses they are involved in preparing their own meals,” according to health camp gardener Brian Bowden. “All food scraps are put into a bucket and taken daily to the camp’s large bokashi drum which sits in the raised vegetable garden. This bin is moved around so all areas of the garden get the benefit of composted food.  Council staff helped us come up with the best way to use our food scraps easily and effectively. This system works well.  The children use the raised gardens to plant vegetables that eventually end up on their dinner plate.”  Mr Bowden has attended Gisborne District Council’s composting workshops. He has now qualified as a Master Composter and is passing his skills on to others interested in learning about this process. 

This is just one of many initiatives that organisations are undertaking to use food scraps productively. For the last 6 years Gisborne District Council staff have been diligently separating their food waste from their recyclable waste. Keen staff take the waste to the worm bin for the worms to devour and turn into rich vermicompost that eventually enriches the Council gardens.

The worm bin is built on a shower base picked up from the building recycler.  According to Council’s environmental educator Anne Lister over the years around 1 tonne of waste has been diverted this way.

To encourage more people to use their kitchen scraps productively, and to celebrate International Compost Awareness Week, Council is running free composting demonstrations. “Anyone who would like to know more about composting, worm farming or using Bokashi buckets should attend. Composting doesn't just reduce waste, adding it to the garden improves soil and plant growth. Autumn is a great time to start composting. Fallen leaves and fresh grass are perfect for composting,” Ms Lister added.

The workshops will be held at the community garden established by SuperGrans in Mildura Place, opposite Kaiti Mall. There are 2 sessions available. One on Friday 30 April and the other on Saturday 1 May both from 9am – 10am.