Diary of a Compost Hotline Operator : Edible Essays on City Farming

Rating:
Summary: Oh, those wacky gardeners! I think I'm going to be sick....
Review: Not the book to get if you're seeking to learn much about composting. Sure, there are some tidbits but overall the info presented is the basic stuff available free in pamphlets at garden stores, via internet, libraries, municipal fliers, etc., such as ratio of greens to browns.

The book is intended to be humorous and I suppose it may be to the ya-ya sisterhood crowd. The humor leans heavily on goofy puns and wacky scenes such as dressing up in whimsical costumes and performing ceremonies to stop bees from stinging. Tee-hee!
Oh, and they also do a compost "rap", ha ha! what a hoot!

If you still want it I'd give you mine but it's stewing in the compost pile.

Rating:
Summary: A lot more than compost
Review: You could read this book just for the fun of it. Or you could read it to get a thorough grounding in all the current basic reduce, re-use, recycle wisdom.

The writer works to City Farmer, an organization in Vancouver, Canada that specializes in urban agriculture and in enhancing the sustainability of our cities. The writer may spend some time as operator of a compost hotline but she knows an awful lot about all the ecological issues facing people who live in cities. Similarly, while she lives in Vancouver, her writing is relevant to almost all cities.

In the eight chapters she deals lightly with compost, bugs, cob houses, yard waste, water conservation, dog (and cat) poop, and critter control. Nowhere does the reader felled preached to. There is no "You ought to....or else" There are just gentle, humorous stories and observations. If you discovered something new to you (Wow! Bags of dog poop can explode in the compactor of a garbage truck! Who knew?) then maybe you might act on that. There is also a chapter on urban agriculture initiatives in New York and in Havana, and the issues facing the people involved in those cities. Each chapter ends with a generous list of resources, mostly publications, websites and organizations.

There is so much delicious jam enfolding the pill of learning that you don't know you're swallowing it. This bok was a delight when it might have been a bore. I enjoyed it tremendously.