MLK Day Volunteers

Mika’s school encouraged the upper grades to volunteer on MLK Day at the Gowanus Canal Conservancy. Thankfully, the activity didn’t involve getting anywhere near the still-toxic body of water, but rather help maintain the flourishing compost piles, which will help keep our community trees and gardens healthy in Spring. Most adults helped turn over the brooding, 160°F (70°C) piles of 1-month old scraps with pitch forks. The kids got to work with the pleasantly smelling, perfectly fermented end product. Their job was to rub the final pile through a large sifting station, to get all larger pieces of wood chips and debris sorted out. After two hours of hard labor, we got treated to hot apple cider and an in-depth Q&A session to answer every last question about composting.