Dear Editor,

This will be a good year to dabble in gardening. With the U.S. administration playing gimme with tariff tantrums on and then off, food prices are guaranteed to rise. This is especially true of those items that don’t grow this far north, and so are transported from or through the U.S.. It’s not as if we’re going to achieve food self-sufficiency with backyard gardens, but it’s a satisfying feeling that we’re making some food, not just buying and wasting it.

Timing is a big part of gardening, and now is the time for most vegetables and flowers to be going in the ground, seeking the sun and pumping water.

After you’ve grown, harvested and eaten the garden bounty, what do you do with the leftovers? Here’s where we can exert leverage, by composting onsite. If you’re not that committed to organic living, someone near you probably is. Whatever you do, don’t just dump it into the garbage – whether you’re in town or out in the country all by yourself, keep the compost nearby.

It costs us all if you burden the garbage or recycling streams with organic matter. It’s heavier and smellier and causes environmental damage when it’s put in with trash where it doesn’t belong. Composting is easier than hauling heavy garbage away, and cheaper than hiring someone else to do it for you.

Now I’ve got to stop writing, and go stir some fresh food scraps into my inactive compost heap.

Robert Wills, Thorne and Shawville