Each month, we will highlight community heroes that are making a difference in their communities and working to make their local environments cleaner and healthier.
This month, we are taking a look at Four Hands for Healing Light in NM!
Four Hands for Healing Light is a farmer and composter in Albuquerque new Mexico. Biobag Associate spoke to William Zamora with Four Hands for Healing Light about the organization. Their interview is transcribed below.
What led you to start your composting operation?
We began our composting adventure in 2016 when we began a garden that did so well we had extra to give to friends and family and finally to keep from throwing food out selling at a farmers market. We already had 3 chickens and I am a homebrewer of ales and wines so I always had left over yeast cakes and organic matter for composting.
Who do you serve and how can people get in touch with you if they want to start composting?
We serve the greater Albuquerque area through Railyards farmers market Albuquerque and Mile High farmers market Albuquerque. We can be found at both markets on sunday mornings during their seasons or contact us directly @fourhandsofhealinglight (Instagram)
How much organic material do you typically take in on a weekly basis?
Our small homestead produces hundreds of pounds of compostable organic matter during our heavy composting months mostly in fall but is sustained to some measure all year.
Our compost pile consumes about 1ton of waste annually keeping organic material from ending up in a landfill. This is just over an acre of homestead with a small orchard and 3/4 of an acre of field/garden space in use now and about 30 chickens. We actually use hot composting methods to heat our, (upcycled material built) greenhouse and our pictures and videos confirm the practice. Our greenhouse is powered by 6-100watt solar panels and 2 1800amp storage batteries with a 3600watt solar converter. It's a simple solar system kit I did not design but did install myself.
Feel free to add any additional information about your operation as you see fit.
Both of us have a long heritage of agriculture and were raised creating with our hands and tending trees plants and veggies. We are proud to be the next generation of growers that have given our time in stewardship of the soil.
We also use an active composting break down effect directly in the soil called Hügelkultur.
This is an ancient water saving technique developed independently in Germany and here in the Southwest where water is scarce. It essentially consists of burying wood or cactus or other organics like fresh moss. Then allowing them to break down directly in the soil. There are several way to achieve this some folks use whole logs and some folks use mulch. Some folks dig into the soil and create "forest floor" or "lasagna layer" some folks build upward "humped" or "high" rows ontop of solid bedrock. We have done both and have the pictures and videos to confirm the success of the practice. I know I'm sending alot and it is probably more than what you need but I could write a 2 page editorial for yall about the finite details and produce several hundred pictures and dozens of videos about active and passive composting. We are just regular folks but we can both steer industry and heal the earth mother. When I reach out I can hear the hungry microbes, I can speak with the bees and with the trees. I can feel the water moving through the veins of the leaves through the soil beneath my greaves. I can feel the water in hot breath or the water through solid opal rocks. The water is life.
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