Community-scale composting systems: a comprehensive practical guide for closing the food system loop and solving our waste crisis

Community-scale composting systems cover
Author James McSweeney passionately believes that food scraps are resources — not waste — and has spent a career consulting for farmers, businesses and community based non-profits on how to turn organic material into high quality compost. His experience and knowledge has been collected into a text book that details not only the various techniques for making compost at scale, but also all the economic, logistic and business considerations required for success. The book is very well organized with charts, worksheets for planning, diagrams and excellent color photos. McSweeney’s writing is scientific, but also engaging with just enough anecdotal examples and case studies to keep readers interested in what could be a very dry topic. Footnotes document extensive references, while sidebars give focused information such as “Common regulations for food scrap composters.”

In the introduction McSweeney distills the essence of successful composting to the four Cs: cover, contain, complete and carbon. The following chapters explore several business and system models (such as drop-off, school, commercial, community garden) with economic analysis for each system. The biology and chemistry behind the compost process is detailed in another chapter. Proven composting methods, such as windrows and aerated static pile, are explained the following chapters. Finally the text concludes with chapters on site management and marketing the final product.

This book would be useful for anyone on the composting continuum from serious home scale and multi-family, to neighborhood, school and work place, to on-farm, community gardens and demonstration sites to large scale municipal and industrial enterprises.

Excerpted from the February 2020 Leaflet for Scholars Volume 7, Issue 2.

Flora of the Mediterranean with California, Chile, Australia and South Africa

The lands that border the Mediterranean Sea have – for the most part – a similar climate: hot, dry summers and mild, wet winters. Climatologists have identified four other regions in the world with a similar pattern, including most of California and parts of Australia, Chile, and South Africa.

The floras of these regions encompass intense speciation, so that on approximately 2% of the world’s land mass one finds over 12% of the world’s plant species, many of them endemic. Exploring these floras is a new book, Flora of the Mediterranean by Christopher Gardner and Basak Guner Gardner.

This is a rich photo guide; one could just enjoy the many, stunning close-ups in this large format book (12×10″). However, that would mean missing the extensive detail in the text, such as a description of the Mediterranean climate in Australia that begins: “On occasion the botanist is subjected to such an intense bombardment of new species they have trouble assimilating everything in front of them.”

The chapter on California will feel closer to home, as the Pacific Northwest has a modified, or cool Mediterranean climate, colder and wetter in the winter, with less heat in the summer. This allows us to grow successfully many of the plants from these regions in our gardens.

All images in this book are in situ and a bonus is a short but pithy description of techniques for photographing plants in the wild. While it’s not a lending book, I encourage taking some time with this book, or the authors’ earlier Flora of the Silk Road (2014), in the Miller Library.

Published in the January 2020 Leaflet for Scholars, Volume 7, Issue 1

RetroSuburbia : the downshifter’s guide to a resilient future

RetroSuburbia cover David Holmgren co-created the philosophy of Permaculture while living in Australia in the 1970s. More than just a gardening method, “permaculture could be better described as a design system for resilient living and land use based on universal ethics and ecological design principles.” Holmgren writes RetroSuburbia : the downshifter’s guide to a resilient future from the point of view that the future will become increasingly difficult because of “energy descent” (scarcity) and general global economic depression. However, his tone is optimistic and pragmatic—
he has led a self-reliant life and so can you. Retrosuburbia is a thick manual with a philosophical foundation for those wishing to be environmentally conscientious, resilient and self-reliant. Holmgren distills the rationale of his guide as: “… downshifting away from consumption supported by paid work and debt to a culture of voluntary simplicity and permaculture productivity.”

The book is divided into three fields: built, biological, and behavioral. Each discussion point draws from 12 permaculture design principles. such as “integrate rather than segregate” and “use and value diversity.” These principles have a corresponding icon that is included every time the principle is invoked.

One chapter in the Build section is “Warm in Winter, Cool in Summer,” which explains house retrofitting methods to reduce reliance on gas and electric heaters and air conditioners. Common sense measures to reduce drafts and improve insulation are mentioned. Holmgren also details more creative techniques such as building attached greenhouses on the sunward side for passive solar winter gains. In the summer, the greenhouse would grow vines like beans or tomatoes to block the sun from over-heating the main house. Growing deciduous trees or vines on the west side of the house also moderates summertime indoor temperatures. And like fathers everywhere, Holmgren reminds us to put a sweater on if we’re cold in the winter.

The chapter “Building and Maintaining Soil Fertility” is in the Biological Field section. The introduction to soil management for food production is general and discusses how suburban soil fertility is different than conventional agriculture and how modern practices like city composting programs make it relatively easier for home farmers to improve backyard soils. Holmgren highly recommends professional soil testing and gives an example from his own garden of how soil minerals can get out of balance with direct negative impacts on trees and crops. The rest of the chapter discusses various fertility generating techniques in general terms and when they might be appropriate to use. No details or instructions are given, but the heavily foot-noted text gives numerous suggestions for further reading.

The Behavior Field section covers topics such as “Transport and Travel,” “Creating Your Own Livelihood,” and “Financial Planning and Security.” Each chapter encourages a re-framing of how to spend time and money. One suggestion in the financial planning chapter is to invest in small, local business that will directly contribute to community resilience, like a wind farm or urban farm. There is also discussion of which trade-able goods might be worth stockpiling and the relative pros and cons of having cash on hand. Holmgren questions the wisdom of borrowing to pay for a university education that leaves graduates deep in debt, but without skills of self-reliance.

The book will be instructive for people concerned about the climate crisis, those wanting to be self-sufficient and even those on a path to FIRE (Financial Independence, Retire Early). There are no suggestions to head for the hills and retreat from society, but instead Holmgren instructs readers how to retrofit urban and suburban developments to support growing food and meeting life’s necessities while transitioning away from conventional modes of employment and consumption.

Published in the January 2020 Leaflet, Volume 7, Issue 1

Field Guide to the Grasses of Oregon and Washington

[Field Guide to the Grasses of Oregon and Washington] cover

Field Guide to the Grasses of Oregon and Washington is the work of five authors over a period of 15 years, but it will likely remain a standard for a much longer period. Covering the whole of both states, this guide presents 343 of our species (out of some 10,000 worldwide), including invasive species, naturalized ornamentals, and even some agricultural crops that show up as “waifs” along roadsides. All are in the plant family Poaceae. Excluded are sedges, rushes, or any of the numerous plants that have “grass” in their common name – such as beargrass or eelgrass – found in other families. Also omitted are bamboos; while some have established locally, none are known to sexually reproduce in our climate.

The keys are a daunting 75 pages long, but the authors provide helpful descriptions by genus throughout, along with some diagrams of closely-allied species. The encyclopedic bulk of the book includes detailed descriptions, range maps, and – the best feature – especially intricate photographs showing many close-ups parts for each species.

While written for an expert, the introduction addresses the needs of the beginner, too, with helpful hints on getting started and not being discouraged. Clearly, the authors love their subjects. “We hope you come to enjoy grasses as much as we do. Besides their ecological and economic importance, grasses themselves are fascinating.”

Published in the December 2019 Leaflet for Scholars, Volume 6 Issue 12.

Common Mosses of Western Oregon and Washington

Common Mosses of Western Oregon and Washington cover

Common Mosses of Western Oregon and Washington provides the beginning bryologist a key to 200 species of mosses found west of the Cascades, including a few of the most common species found on both sides of the mountains. Keys for any plant group can be challenging, but the introductory section gently teaches the steps necessary for accurate identification, including the use of a microscope as an essential tool. The many close-up photographs are also a boon.

Authors Bruce McCune and Martin Hutten recognize this is just a sampling of the more common mosses of our region, expressing much respect for the 1971 comprehensive moss flora by Elva Lawton that included 598 species. “We hope that one of you using this key will eventually produce a new moss flora for the Pacific Northwest. This is one of the mossiest places in the world, and beautiful because of it.”

Published in the December 2019 Leaflet for Scholars, Volume 6 Issue 12.

Emily Dickinson’s Gardening Life

[Emily Dickinson's Gardening Life] cover

Whether or not you are a fan of Emily Dickinson’s poetry, you will find much to enjoy in this book. McDowell gives context to a number of the garden-themed poems. But she also gives a wonderful portrait of a nineteenth century woman’s relationship with her garden.

Every aspect of Emily Dickinson’s Gardening Life deserves praise. From sturdy paper quality to admirably painstaking research, with much in between, the book is a delight.

In this revision of her 2005 book Emily Dickinson’s Gardens: A Celebration of a Poet and Gardener McDowell has organized the main body of the text around the seasons. Thus the opening section, “Early Spring,” includes background on the town of Amherst and the Dickinson family, plus description of early spring in Dickinson’s garden, with color plates and a page describing some spring bulbs. The well-written text is spare but sufficient on the poet’s life while lavish on her garden and her connections to it.

McDowell has mined multiple sources to get her telling details, such as noting in a thank-you letter to a friend who had sent Dickinson bulbs that she had “long been a Lunatic for bulbs.” Throughout, poems are included to expand a point and give context.

The color plates are by three contemporaries of Dickinson. One, Ora White Hitchcock, was a friend of the family, and another, Clarissa Munger Badger, published a folio of prints that Dickinson owned. McDowell includes, among many other photos, one showing the cover of the 1881 Bliss seed catalog, and the text quotes a Dickinson letter from January of that year that describes her sister Vinnie as “in Bliss catalog, prospecting for summer.”

After the final season section, “Winter: Requiem for a Gardener,” including Dickinson’s death, a last section, “A Poet’s Garden,” contains a marvelous 26-page list of plants: those in the garden, mentioned by Dickinson, or known to be local from other sources, plus notes describing the plant and/or noting how Dickinson used it in print or in the garden.

McDowell writes with clarity and elegance. I came away with a much broader sense of Dickinson’s life, seeing her as much more than a hermit who wrote great poems. Rather she was someone who lived a surprisingly varied life, enriched through her love for and labor with gardens. Don’t miss this book.

Published in the December 2019 Leaflet, Volume 6 Issue 12.

Flowers of Mountain and Plain

Unusual for her time, Edith Clements (1874-1971) had a formal botanical education; she received a Ph.D. in botanical ecology from the University of Nebraska, and spent her life in various academic and research pursuits. Typically this was in conjunction with her husband, Frederic Clements (1874-1945), who was also a plant ecologist. Together, they published “Rocky Mountain Flowers” in 1914, a botanically detailed flora of the flowering plants including trees, but no conifers or ferns. The watercolor illustrations by Edith Clements are exquisite, typically showing several plants from the same family together. On her own, she later published “Flowers of Mountain and Plain” (1926), a book for a more general audience using many of the same illustrations.

Excerpted from the Winter 2020 issue of the Arboretum Bulletin

Flowers of Coast and Sierra

I think Edith saved her best work for West Coast readers, with “Flowers of Coast and Sierra” (1928), including the mountain ranges of Oregon and Washington, even if they are missing from the title. She was self-taught as an artist and comfortable driving throughout the West to paint from living specimens. While clearly steeped in botanical knowledge, she sought to reach a general audience with both her art and writing. An example is her impression of the glacier lily (Erythronium grandiflorum), saying these “will spring up by the thousand and carpet the earth with smooth green leaves which can scarcely be seen for the myriad bright-yellow blossoms nodding above. On the slopes of Mount Rainier, they unite with the white avalanche-lily (E. montanum) in turning the scene into fairyland.”

Excerpted from the Winter 2020 issue of the Arboretum Bulletin

The Wild Flowers of California: Their Names, Haunts, and Habits

“The Wild Flowers of California: Their Names, Haunts, and Habits” was the earliest (1897 – the Miller Library has the 1921 third edition) West Coast book published in a recognizably field guide format. Text author Mary Elizabeth Parsons (1859-1947) was born in Chicago, but spent most of her life in California. She was a keen student of the state’s botany and studied with noted botanist Alice Eastwood at the California Academy of Science in San Francisco.

Her book reflects her scientific discipline by including a “How to Use the Book” introduction, a glossary of botanical terms, and keys to distinguish plant families. She goes on to describe these families – all of flowering plants – with a count of the genera and species as known worldwide and in the state at that time. This makes the book a useful time capsule of botanical history.

Parsons also studied art, but she asked Margaret Warriner Buck (1857-1929) to illustrate the book and accompany her explorations of the state. With few exceptions, Buck drew her simple but effective pen-and-ink drawings in the field. All these efforts paid off, as the “The Wild Flowers of California” remained a standard through several editions into the middle of the 20^th century. Later editions included color plates by Buck, also known for her work with the early years of “Sunset” magazine. The Miller Library also has the 1960 edition, available to borrow.

In addition to her attention to detail, Parsons captured the joy of being a field botanist. “Every walk into the fields is transformed from an aimless ramble into a joyous, eager quest, and every journey upon state or railroad becomes a rare opportunity for making new plant-acquaintances—a season of exhilarating excitement.”

Excerpted from the Winter 2020 issue of the Arboretum Bulletin

Field Book of Western Wild Flowers

Margaret Armstrong was from the Hudson River valley of New York; she explored the West as part of an extended adventure, but never settled here. She traveled from 1911 to 1914, often with two or three female companions, exploring all of the states west of the Rocky Mountains and into Canada. She was possibly the first woman of European descent to travel to the floor of the Grand Canyon, where she found, described, and illustrated several new plant species. The result of these adventures was the “Field Book of Western Wild Flowers,” published in 1915.

She had considerable training as an artist and is perhaps best known amongst bibliophiles for the over 300 book covers she designed, an art form mostly lost in the 20^th century with the development of dust jackets. She also wrote biographies in her 60s, and mystery novels in her 70s! Her schooling was in art, but she understood botany practices very well, collecting and pressing some 1,000 herbarium specimens. Many remain in the New York Botanical Garden herbarium. She lists as her co-author, John James Thornber (1872-1962), professor of botany at the University of Arizona, crediting him and many others (including Alice Eastwood and Julia Henshaw) for assuring the accuracy of her text.

“But it is her illustrations that make the book so appealing,” according to a review by Bobbi Angell in the December 2018 issue of “The Botanical Artist.” These included some 500 pen and ink drawings and almost 50 watercolors, all drawn or painted on site. While there is a glossary of terms and a short set of keys, this book relies more on its illustrations for identification than the others in this review.

Excerpted from the Winter 2020 issue of the Arboretum Bulletin