Our Story

The Journey

Some years ago, my wife and I purchased our home just outside of McGraw, NY. We had plans for a garden, but the soil was poor. Being full of rocks and stones, it was no place for our veggies. I dug the garden up and sifted the stones out. From there, I began adding compost to bring the soil to life. My efforts have paid off over time, and the garden has given us more than enough food for ourselves. This past year we donated some veggies to a couple local churches to help those in need.

Over the last couple years, I have been expanding our garden. To date, the garden covers an area of 30’ by 150’. This has been made possible using the compost I have made. I gather materials from various sources and compost them down into a nutrient rich soil amendment. My rate of compost generation has allowed me to offer my extra compost to other gardeners in the area.

With ads on social media outlets, as well as visiting the city’s organics facility, I gather material for composting. Leaves are the hardest to obtain, as they are only available once a year. Lawn clippings are another material I use, and although they are easier to obtain, I must be wary of herbicide use.  Herbicides will do harm to a vegetable garden. I also have done a couple barn clean-outs to obtain the manure from the animals.

On my days off from work, I spend a few hours turning the compost heaps that I have. Keeping track of temperatures helps me determine when to turn them. At 130⁰F, weed seeds and pathogens are killed after a couple days. I have had temperatures of up to 165⁰F on several occasions. Seeing the steam rise out of the heaps while turning makes it look as though the are on fire… It’s just the heat created from the microorganisms doing their thing.

Regular yard waste is my main resource; however food waste is another possible source.

As Cortland is without a food waste program, I have decided to make a go of it myself and start a curbside composting program. I have obtained buckets and lids that will be used in the collection of food waste. I have been working on literature that can be handed out so others can learn why composting is so important.

On October 10, 2018, The Cortland Voice did an article about composting and foodwaste and I was featured in the article. It was such an honor to be featured for such a noble effort.

On February 22, 2021, WXHC.COM did an article about my composting efforts.

My wife and I save our food scraps and people as far away as Binghamton, NY bringing their foodwaste to me. I have also partnered with Coffee Mania in Cortland, NY to obtain their used coffee grounds. I have also contacted a couple local restaurants in hopes of getting their foodwaste, however I have not heard back yet.

Every Sunday morning, I go out and collect food waste and coffee grounds. The food waste is added to an animal resistant bin to compost down. I turn the contents every week, letting in more oxygen so it breaks down into a nutrient rich soil amendment.

Food waste that is sent to landfill does not harmlessly breakdown. It has a big impact on the environment as it rots and releases methane – a harmful greenhouse gas that is 25 times more potent than carbon dioxide. However, it is not all bad news as many of us will be able to recycle or compost our food waste.

I have begun a collaborative effort with the Seven Valleys Health Coalition (SVHC) to help steer people away from sending their foodwaste to the landfill. On February 8th, I had a phone conversation with one of their project coordinators, Adrianne Traub. Together we learned what each one of us can do regarding foodwaste ending up in a landfill.

I have been doing some fundraising helping defray some of the costs that I have ran into trying to do this alone. In the past year I have raised some funds, however I find that I still have out of pocket expenses. I have been researching the prospect of grants however, there does not seem to be any available.

I have created Facebook pages to help draw attention to my efforts, with limited success. South Hill Compost and South Hill Composting are to me my only available outlets. One can only hope that with growth comes change.

On August 27th, 2021, I went live with our official web site… southhillcompost.com…!!!

Overall, my goal is to help save our little corner of the environment one small part at a time. Sometimes all we need is a little push to get us going in the right direction.