Yann Toussaint brought us another of his hands-on learning sessions in Kitchen to Compost. He previously taught about reusing pallets to build raised garden beds and benches, and another on keeping backyard chickens. Yann led us through a variety of options for managing waste from your kitchen and yard, and, at least for me, made a big distinction between COMPOST and FOOD SCRAPS. 20150327_103039 Although food scraps are compostable, there are likely better methods for managing kitchen scraps than adding them to a compost heap, except where you have massive volumes. And compost can be easier and quicker than you imagine, when the system is managed efficiently. Where Yann’s sessions  really shine is in the application of the knowledge shared in the information session. On Friday afternoon, participants built a compost bay out of pallets, and then built up the heap with various materials, explored worm farms and worm tubes, and discussed worm and other ‘teas’. 20150327_12581620150327_132607  20150327_134920 20150327_140225 At the end of the day, one lucky participant got to take home a worm farm of her own! 20150327_142510 I was inspired to get started with a worm tube, and jumped made myself one straight away. Although our local nursery doesn’t stock worms in boxes, she had a few of her own, so I got a handful to get me started. No doubt, if kept fed and watered, they will multiply soon! 20150328_131956 20150328_132519 20150328_132527 Did you know that you need about 3000 composting worms to break down 150g of food waste per day? I have about 500 worms in my tube, so I will have to manage my waste carefully until they start to multiply! Yann challenged us to not remove any organic matter from our property, but to put it all back into a nutrient cycling system to keep our soils healthy and full of nutrients. How do you manage your garden and kitchen waste? Have you got a zero-waste home?