A cosy autumn morning for the second HCC open day

Just last week I was joking with a workmate about how ‘it never rains in Hackett’ but I guess the joke was on me this morning as it rained this morning only during the HCC open day and not later in the day like the weather man said it should (although if we get some more after I write this that would be tops).

Regardless, it was a lovely cosy morning and the soft rain did not put me and other motivated compost lovers off. Everyone who came by got a good run down on the operations of the HCC, whether that was by way of my informal speech or private compost tours and demos. One of our newest members, Ingrid in Downer, even got stuck into a bit of pitchforking! and then long-time scraps donor Wen Wen followed her lead. Amazingly, Scott even did a little compost shifting 🙂 Ingrid and Maryann were impressed by the heat in the middle of bay 1 and thought the compost had a lovely, earthy aroma.

I told everyone about my plan to invest in an e-bike (probably a pedal-assist cargo trike…) to make the Saturday collections in Watson and Downer carbon neutral. An important announcement was the new ‘host a barrel’ scheme. I’ll write more about that in a follow-up blog post soon. New member Kaye signed up on the spot and gave me 3 months payment (‘suggested donation’) up front. Every little bit helps to get that bike, and hopefully a chipper somewhere along the line too. Apart from raising revenue I also suggested other ways that people can help the HCC. It’s prime time for leaf collection starting now, so thanks to Peter for dropping a bag off to get the donations started. Claire in Hackett thought she might be able to help with washing some buckets (I’ll rinse them first) and Katy in Gunderoo (she drops off scraps direct to Scott at their work), offered the services of her partner and his ride on mower! (to process leaves).

Overall there were lots of discussions about getting the word out about the HCC, how composting actually works, how to have more compost heaps to service other areas, particularly apartments, and what to do with the lovely compost when finished. Oh, and by all accounts lots of coffees and cups of tea were imbibed 🙂

Thanks to Katy, Scott and Ingrid for taking photos! Although the light rain showers might have scared off a few punters hopefully the pics show potential new members what a bunch of lovely people we are. Next time they can all come along and learn just how easy taking care of your kitchen scraps can be with the HCC.