for it was the first time
I put my Biodynamic Farming knowledge into practice.
I was lucky to be guided by
another amazing Holistic Living leader
Mdm Betty Khoo
to kick start my very first compost making
at my farm at Tampin, Melaka
Betty who has been immersing in
conscious farming and eating for about two decades
invigorated me by helping to gather a few green-living friends
to help me do a medium scale composting.
To me, this is very significant milestone in my life,
because Betty brought into my farm,
unconditional love and good wills!
On a cooling and cloudy morning, last Sunday.
Betty, her friends and mine too, totaling 6 of us,
spent about 1.5hours to gather from all corners of the farm,
the followings:
. branches
. dried leaves and hays (from cut grass last week)
. fresh greens weedy leaves and overgrown banana trees
After that we took a long lunch break,
Vegan Potluck with new friends from Aenon |
having pot luck gathering at my residence,
with some new friends and conscious souls,
from Aenon Healthcare Centre.
I see their good will
rejoicing in my green-living path...
it's really touching!
After lunch, we continue our work at the farm,
making "compost sandwich"
by making multiple layers of the following materials
in sequence of bottom to top :
At the bottom most layer,
we laid out branches spanning an are of
5ft x 4ft
On top of these branches, we repetitively
pile up, from bottom to top :
1. dried leaves
2, fresh green leaves
3. aged cow dung (Cow Pit Pat)
4. kitchen garbage
5. water
6. ashes from Agnihotra
7. thin layer of soil
to follow Biodynamic composting protocol,
but due to some extent of resource limitation,
we missed out a few "ingredients"
(e.g. fresh cow dung, stone powder, chalk powder etc)
to make this a genuine Biodynamic compost.
Having said so,
this is still a good baby step to begin with!
We did the compost piling just under a sick mango tree.
If the composting is successful,
it will help remediate the soil
and "medicate" the mango tree ^^
So, in months to come,
we shall know if the semi-Biodynamic compost is successful
by checking on the vibrancy of the mango tree and
hopefully we will reap a few big fat mangoes
when the tree heals :D
According to my Biodynamic teacher, Mr Teoh,
human beings have been asking for so much from mother Earth.
Making compost is merely a basic gesture of gratitude,
contributing back and nourishing our mother Earth.
Making compost is labour intensive
and requires a lot of patience.
Bearing the thought of thanking mother Earth
for giving us good foods,
humbles us down
to happily engage in the hard work of composting :)
May all Earthlings be blessed,
Kee Yew
#ConsciousFarming