Food scrap composting, which was previously available to residents, is no longer offered at the Harvard Transfer Station. According to Department of Public Works Director Tim Kilhart, the bin was owned and maintained by a private resident who used the material for a worm farm. The resident had a memorandum of agreement with the town to maintain the bin by collecting its contents each Wednesday and Saturday. Kilhart said the owner is no longer interested in continuing with this agreement and has removed the bin. As of now, there is no town-run composting in Harvard and no plan to bring in a commercial service.
Residents can maintain their own compost piles or bins on their properties. A brochure created by the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection recommends building or purchasing an enclosed bin to keep out animals, retain moisture and heat, and maintain a neat appearance.
Yard waste, fruits and vegetables, coffee grounds, tea bags, and eggshells can all be safely composted, but animal products, including cheese and oils, cat litter, and invasive weeds are best left in the trash. The brochure explains that green material such as grass clippings and food waste should be layered alternately with brown material such as leaves and wood chips. Every 12 inches or so, sprinkle the heap with soil and be sure to bury food scraps in the center of the pile. Use a rake or shovel to turn the compost regularly to ensure oxygen is available throughout.
When the material in a compost pile resembles a dark soil, it is ready to use. Soil from compost is nutrient-rich and promotes root growth and moisture retention, making it great for use in gardens.
If someone creates a lot of compostable material, it may be helpful to buy or build a bin with two sections: one to add newer material and one that is allowed to process into soil without regular addition of fresh material. The two sections can then be rotated in and out of use. This way, the compost soil won’t have pieces of fresh material, such as apple cores or eggshells, that take longer to break down.
Plastic Earth Machine compost bins can be purchased for $53 and kitchen scrap bins for $6 from the Ayer Recycling Committee. To order a bin, email Laurie Sabol at LSabol@ayer.ma.us or call 978-496-5839.
Earthworms to the rescue
Indoor composting using earthworms—a practice known as vermicomposting—is also an option. A fact sheet published by the state’s Department of Environmental Protection (MassDEP) explains the benefits of vermicomposting. “Earthworms speed up the composting process, aerate the organic material in the bin, and enhance the finished compost with nutrients and enzymes from their digestive tracts.”
The MassDEP fact sheet recommends using red worms, which are native to Europe, but can be ordered from various suppliers in Massachusetts. Red worms are a better choice than other types of worms because they are efficient workers, their health indicates soil fertility, and fast rates of reproduction mean that they are easy to maintain: “Red worms make composting indoors feasible because they are very efficient processors of organic waste; they eat and expel their own weight every day. Even a small bin of red worms will yield pounds of rich compost, also known as worm castings. Finished compost can be harvested in as little as two to three months.”
Worm bins can be purchased or built from plastic or wooden containers drilled with holes and filled with dampened bedding: a mix of compostable material.
Some neighboring towns have townwide composting services in place, but these are strictly for use by residents and are not available to Harvard composters.
Black Earth, a Massachusetts-based company that collects food scraps and processes them into compost and soil mixes to sell, operates a pickup site in Ayer. This allows residents to drop off their compostable material, which is taken away by Black Earth to turn into compost.
Starting around Nov. 1, Black Earth will be setting up a compost site at the Groton Transfer Station as well. Groton already has a dropoff site for brush and yard waste that will now be overseen by Black Earth. The agreement is that Black Earth will manage the compostable material that is dropped off at the transfer station and will be able to sell the material once it has been composted. Groton residents will be allowed to drop off their material there or sign up for a curbside service at half-price, and will have the option to receive free compost from Black Earth.
Currently, Harvard is not looking into this kind of service. “That is an added cost that we would have to figure out how to pay for,” explained Kilhart. However, there are various subscription services available that residents can sign up for on their own, such as Waste Not LLC, a curbside trash, recycling, and compost company that serves Acton, Ayer, Bolton, Dunstable, Groton, Harvard, Lancaster, Littleton, and Pepperell.
