One of the many joys of working for The Council is that we get to play time zones. There are 4.5 hours worth of time zones across the country ... we can start out in the morning chatting with our members in Atlantic Canada and end the day in BC.

And, of course, given the way that our compost folks love what they do, the nine-to-five way of life is not a standard part of the equation. Minds are always thinking about ways to make more composting happen, develop and expand compost markets and all points in between. As I sit writing this little note in our quiet post 6 pm office, the phone continues to ring and we've had the chance to have great catch-up chats with Paul Arnold in Nova Scotia, John Paul in British Columbia, Scott Gamble in Alberta ... all of whom are busy in their compost piles and with their projects.

This week has flown by. As thoughts and lives start to head towards friends and family-time for Thanksgiving, the week's events start to lower in brightness, readying for a re-awakening on Tuesday morning.

I can't believe that it's already been a week since we did a Harvest Party near St. Lawrence Market in downtown Toronto to support our Plant a Row - Grow a Row program. We bar-b-q'd corn as well as pizza; had amazing baked goods for sharing (special thanks to Tanya Principe's (North York Harvest Food Bank) Mom & her bakery's donation for our event). We handed out flyers to passer-bys and were so amazingly thrilled to have so many of them drop by with donations post their market shopping. We collected well over 500 pounds of fresh produce for the North York Harvest Food Bank that morning. And best of all, we got everything cleaned up, the truck loaded and the good-byes said just before it poured down rain. Whew. Lucky break.

We are about ready to declare our national winner for Compost's Giants - The Great Pumpkin Growing Contest ... bragging rights are about to be handed over to a brand new winner this year --- our fifth year of the contest and to-date every year has had a new champion. So far, it's been Dave McCallum, the City of Kelowna, the Lunenburg Composting and Recycling Facility and the City of Guelph. Year #5's champion will be crowned next week.

We had a terrific day in London yesterday, discussing the Compost Quality Alliance program and its applicability with the requirements of the Canadian Food Inspection Agency under the Fertilizers Act. This is becoming a key program for us in the year ahead and holds the promise of tremendous potential for compost market development and industry sustainability.

But it's Friday night and it's time to turn the computer off.

Enjoy the Fall colours ... and delight in knowing that we'll be "catching" many of them for our compost piles in the weeks ahead.

Happy Thanksgiving.

Posted by Susan Antler at 7:19 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

On Saturday September 23rd, the Toronto Trees & Parks Foundation kicked off their Fall fundraising and community support program known as B.U.L.B.S. (Better Urban Landscapes with Bulbs).

Their plan is to plant 40,000 daffodil bulbs in three Toronto neighbourhoods (Jamestown, Jane/Finch, Kingston/Galloway) this fall. Youth from each of these neighbourhoods will be championing the plantings.

To kick-off the event, speeches and a bar-b-q took place near the Bandshell at the C.N.E. (Canadian National Exhibition). Mayor David Miller, Deputy-Mayor Joe Pantalone and Patrick Berne, Chair of the Toronto Trees & Parks Foundation were all involved in the launch. As well, our much-cherished com-poster boy and spokesperson, Mark Cullen, (who is also on the board of the Toronto Trees & Parks Foundation was there, broadcasting his Saturday morning gardening show on CFRB.

Our office donated our time to help with the media outreach and plan, including pulling together a great (no bias) invite that was also used for the event banner. Congrats and thanks to our very own, Tyrone (Biljan), for creating the terrific invite.

In addition to the many positives about this initiative is that Fall Plantings connect so well with compost ---- adding compost before and during bulb plantings help ready the soil and makes for a welcoming home for their new residents.

Posted by Susan Antler at 9:04 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Welcoming Sign at the front entrance of Lemieux Composting

Where Antler folks meet ... my Dad and cousin, Kenny, at Lemieux's Composting facility in Sault Ste. Marie

Kathy Lemieux driving "The Loader"

Probably one of the prettiest Composting Facility offices in Canada ... who wouldn't want to come and pick up a tonne or two of compost from here?

Phil & Kathy Lemieux with the folks from the Soup Kitchen

Phil and his pride & joy, Missy

Phil and his Compost Team ... a.k.a. THE BOYS

Probably the only composting facility in the country with a "ride 'em and rope 'em" bronco, mechanized or otherwise

The Smell of Good Compost

Posted by Susan Antler at 8:58 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Time has flown since our conference. Just as soon as the boxes touch down in our office, we are grabbing others, getting them in the car or sent out to another event.

More about our conference happenings later but I just wanted to let you know about a couple of our events from not this past but 2 weekends ago.

Kathy & Phil Lemieux have a great composting facility in Sault Ste. Marie --- Lemieux Composting. It was started by Phil's dad, Roly, a couple of decades ago. In our first composting facility survey (1992/93), the facility had the most unique organic feedstock recorded --- the old lottery tickets from the Ontario Lottery Corporation at the Sault.

Since then, that feedstock is no longer, but other types have become regular fare for their outdoor windrow facility ---- folks from the Sault can drop off their garden organics and leaf & yard materials for free. The Lemieux's draw their revenue mostly from the sale of their finished compost. They are providing a real community service to the residents of Sault Ste. Marie and are deserving of every success.

On September 23rd, we were able to join with them and their community partners for a Stone Soup Harvest Party to support Plant a Row - Grow a Row and the local food-sharing programs. A number of local restaurants donated soups and the Lemieux's offered free compost to the first 100 visitors to the party.

Folks from the Salvation Army and the Soup Kitchen along with representatives from the local community gardens and horticultural society were there to help support the event and share their happenings with the community.

All the staff involved at the composting facility donated their time to help out with the event....
A beyond great event .... as soon as I figure out how to post photos on this site, they'll be posted to show the events of the day.

Posted by Susan Antler at 8:26 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)