Yipster

A few years ago I wrote a brief something about composting for the Huffington Post. As someone without outdoor space but a lot of feelings about throwing out kitchen scraps I felt frustrated by my limited composting options. But things have changed, as of last week, we have a side yard! Privacy lattice has already been constructed, the dog has urinated out there, citronella candles are being stocked! Things are moving right along. I am freezing my kitchen scraps until I figure out how best to encourage them to decompose. Here’s the thing, I might drop them off at the backyard farmer down the street (even though it might be technically…illegal) my life long dream of turning my fennel fronds into soil is losing it’s luster, and you want to know why? Maggots. And fruit flies. The Internet is really freaking me out about having food and leaves be part of a magic alchemy that results in nutrient rich material. If we had more than a side-yard maybe the idea of nature taking its course with it’s tiny insect carrion would be totally cool with me but this bin is going to be 3 feet from the BBQ. I am disappointed in myself. I have found countless enthusiasts online with worms and maggots and fruit flies in their basements/balconies/side-yards. Their toddlers mix the compost, they learn about microbes everyone is the better for it. And yet, I am haunted by the abject. I don’t want to see my fava bean pods crawling with larvae when I go in there to stir, even though admitting that makes me feel weak and stupid. I am hoping my feelings change. That laundry lint isn’t going to decompose itself. 

—Bridget