Compost Flowers

Preserving our Community Heritage...Now and For The Future

Composting the Flowers at the Interbay P-Patch (e-mail from Jon Rowley, Coordinator of Interbay P-Patch)

What an amazing community! We did it! Over 80 volunteers from Interbay, from other P-patches and the community came together Saturday morning the 21st to hand mix approximately one million flowers from the Seattle Center Flower Vigil with leaves, pine needles, straw and even pine shaving bedding from the circus elephants for composting in our bulk storage bins. We filled three and were finished by 2:00 p.m. including time for lunch. Something about this project of composting the volumes of memorial flowers so they can be returned to the soil for a memorial garden resonated profoundly with the community and each of us that participated.

We came together during a time of feeling helpless and emotionally drained with the events that shattered our sense of the world and humanity to work our butts off making huge piles of compost pitchfork by pitchforkful, wheelbarrow by wheelbarrowful... something we know how to do, something we understand the meaning of, something that makes a difference. The now steaming piles are, and will always be, symbols and agents for hope and renewal. The earth and the community have felt human kindness.

The table at lunch, laden with many huge pots of delicious soups, represented Interbay at its best. Thanks to all the soup makers and to Ciro once again for delivering loaves and loaves of his great bread. The roots of the word "companionship" mean "sharing bread".

And to Alaska Fishermen's Journal editor/song writer John van Amerongen who came from Vashon to sing a song he wrote for the occasion. And to Ann Hursey for her poem.

When the flowers were delivered on Tuesday evening, we had nothing in our Brown bins. Thanks to appeals by radio stations, KCPQ and Jean Godden the community responded with almost enough brown material (and helpers) to finish the job. The piles, currently steaming away, are a little heavy on "green" but we will have a chance to add more brown when we turn the piles (we have been offered mechanical help).

So that you appreciate the historic significance of this project, what this project has meant to our garden and the community at large and especially the depth and breadth of caring in the Interbay community I would like to share with you some of the e-mails I have received leading up to Saturday's amazing manifestation of "community" in its finest sense.

Sincerely,

Jon Rowley

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"Definitely count me in. Since many of the flowers in my garden went to the Seattle Center, they will make a full circle."

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"Stephanie's suggestion to send our compost to the closest community garden to the WTC, released more of my tears-- Composting memorial flowers, and sending them to sprout new seeds in community gardens closest to the WTC, offers rich and fertile hope.

See you on Saturday.

As always, Ann

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"Yes. I will take Tuesday off work to help." Eileen

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"Our family is very supportive of this idea. We left flowers at the memorial last nite from our ppatch plot so this composting idea provides a nice connectedness. Let me know what I can do." David

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"I can help out, and I have a friend who is interested." Jess

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"I am available to help with the peace flower project." Anne

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"YES! and after seeing the flowers i still say YES! i can help saturday..... and possibly some time on friday too. i will also put the word out to friends and i feel pretty confident i can get quite a number of people to join in..."luci

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"I think the idea of composting the flowers is one great idea. I would be available Thursday and or Friday for at least part of those days. Also available Sat. for morning hours. Let me know how I may help." Fred

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"I'd be willing to help on Tues or Wed evening, either at the p-patch or the Seattle Center."

Thanks, Patti

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"I can be there on Saturday. My best friend is in town from Arizona and I will bring her too!"

Denise

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"This is REALLY cool!" Sue

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"Beautiful idea. We'll help spread the word."

Jim Diers

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