During Compost Awareness Week organisations the length and breadth of the country (and indeed in other countries) that are involved in some way with compost or composting make an extra special effort to raise awareness about composting and the benefits it can have on the environment and in the garden.

This year´s Compost Awareness Week will focus on highlighting to the general public some of the people and places that act as examples of composting excellence. Throughout the week these "Compost Flagships" will be opening their doors and welcoming visitors, offering them the chance to see composting in action, hopefully dispelling any myths, and showing just how wonderful composting can be both for the environment and for the garden.

At the beginning of 2006 the committee of the Girton Allotment Society agreed with the Sustainable Girton Project to set up a composting facility on the allotments site. Sustainable Girton's Master Composters gathered a dozen pallets which were treated against rotting, and these formed the basic structure of three composting bays.

Following work on the allotment trees and hedges, and a visit from the National Trust's Black Gold Project, we started with a large pile of wood chippings. To these has been added green waste from Peter Graves Florist, and one bay is already nearly full. It will take some time to rot down, but in due course we plan to offer to allotment holders a supply of well-balanced compost.

The management of the composting bays has been entrusted by the Allotment Society's committee to the Master Composters, and material should not be added by anyone else. We shall advise the committee when compost is available. The Master Composters will also be happy to give advice to anyone having problems with waste from their own allotments.

On 13 May, as part of Compost Awareness Week organised by Garden Organic (formerly HDRA), the Allotment Society's committee has agreed to allow visitors to view the new facility. The event will run from 2pm to 5pm, and Master Composters will be in attendance to guide visitors and answer questions. Matt Vernon from the National Trust's Black Gold shredding project will also be in attendance as will members of Garden Organic, with literature and advice.

Visitors will also be able to see other examples of the ways in which allotment holders deal with their waste, from the very good to the very bad. What they all have in common is the fact that you simply cannot help making compost if you try!

The Sustainable Girton Master Composters are: Douglas de Lacey, Don Henderson and John Ranken. They can be reached by e-mailing compost [at] sustainable-girton.org.uk or by phone on 276757.

This article was first published in the May 2006 edition of the Girton Parish News

Saturday 13 May was a cloudy day threatening a storm, but a steady stream of visitors nevertheless visited the Girton Allotments as part of {\bf Compost Awareness Week}. As a "flagship site" of composting in Cambridgeshire, we proudly flew a flag made by local schoolchildren to advertise the benefits of composting.

With the help of Garden Organic (formerly HDRA) and the National Trust a display was set up to explain the ins and outs of composting, and visitors were able to see the new composting facility recently set up on the Allotment site. They could poke into the two-month-old bay where hedge trimmings and tree loppings, combined with waste from Graves the florist, are already rotting down into good compost; while next to it a second bay has just begun its work. They also visited some of the wide array of other processes employed by allotment holders to turn their waste into compost. The visitors took away with them a number of mementos -- not filched from allotments but donated by Garden Organic -- and also a bag of compost donated by Donarbon. However, this was something of a challenge to our many visitors who arrived by bike, and there were several bags to spare, gratefully snapped up by our own allotment holders.

The day was a success despite the weather, and we hope everyone involved will be encouraged to turn more of their waste into a valuable garden product. The Master Composters, trained by Garden Organic, are always happy to advise. The Sustainable Girton Master Composters are: Douglas de Lacey, Don Henderson and John Ranken. They can be reached by e-mailing compost [at] sustainable-girton.org.uk or by phone on 276757.

This article was first published in the June 2006 edition of the Girton Parish News

On 17 May the Glebe School Garden Club had a visit from Douglas de Lacey, one of Girton's Master Composters. Douglas brought a number of things with him, including a bag of material dug from his own compost heap, a number of strips of newspaper, a sieve and a packet of seeds. He first explained to the children how most organic material will quickly rot down to produce good compost, and the children looked at the make-up of his compost under a magnifying-glass. Douglas then showed the children how to make a seed-pot out of a strip of newspaper by wrapping it round your fingers and tucking the base in firmly. They sieved some of the compost, filled their pots and planted a sunflower seed to take home with them.

The Club, which is supported by Sustainable Girton, has gone from strength to strength, and the children have already been able to enjoy some of the produce they are growing. Oakington Garden Centre donated a water butt to the club which was much appreciated during the hot dry days of early June. Thanks to the Centre for the gift. And thanks to the children for a huge "thank you" card which they made for Douglas.

On 15 June the children from Reception and Years 1 and 2 at the Glebe School paid a visit to the Allotments. As well as learning about the nature of the Allotments scheme (Allotments are one of the very few amenities which the Parish Council is obliged by law to provide) and seeing some allotment holders at work, they saw the large compost bays which the Master Composters have been running since March, the first of which is already well rotted. They were able to trace the history of green waste from freshly-pulled weeds through the stages of rotting-down to the fine tilth of a mature compost heap, ready to repeat the cycle of food growth.

We are impressed at the effect of these encounters. We are told that as a result one boy has insisted that his family take on an allotment, and other children are learning how to compost and grow crops for themselves. The school is planning to buy a special composter. And Douglas learned not to take too much for granted: having explained that for the best compost you need to mix green and brown waste, he asked for an example of something green. "Sir, please sir!" offered an excited child, "wine bottles!"

This article was first published in the July 2006 edition of the Girton Parish News.