Held on Saturday, March 16t at Great Falls College, MSU, the 3rd Annual FRESH! Food Forum was a hit! Comments from participants ("It gets better every year!", "I learned so much in the classes"), to the vendors ("This venue is a very important part of our becoming known in the community", "We made excellent contacts"), most everyone who attended has something good to say about their experience.  The caterpillar class for kids (and adults) was a roaring success and 39 caterpillars went to good homes while they readied themselves for butterfly-hood.

Enjoy the pictures, and if you didn't attend, put it in your 2014 plans.

Sunburst began their partnership with CMR's Rustler's, Inc. in the spring of 2010 with a marketing class willing to develop marketing materials for our projects. We started with a team of 5 juniors. In the Fall of 2010, we were lucky to have 3 of those same, now seniors, return and design an Independent Study Class - and they recruited the creator of Captain Compost to join them. The team of 4 seniors created the prototype for the school district in designing Valley View's handouts and new action figure - Captain Compost!

Gardens from Garbage held it's 1st Annual Harvest Celebration & Membership Dinner on September 10th at the Flower Farm.  Over 60 people communed over great food, a short program, and a tour through the bokashi-making greenhouse.  Enjoy the pictures!

Theresa is so creative!  Her side yard is beautiful and very inspirational!

A wonderful group of volunteers turned out on November 24th to "winterize" the trees and shrubs that will populate the Orchard Garden in the spring.  We organized and mulched them all, tucking them into a side-by-side group to withstand our local wind and cold weather.  Master Gardeners were present to supervise our efforts and guide us - and we're hoping for the best when we check them out in a few months.  Thanks to all who helped!

Young Neighbors in Action is a Catholic youth service organization that sends out teens to do service work in a variety of communities throughout the US.  Gardens from Garbage had the good fortune to work with 5 teens and 2 advisors from Sacramento, CA for a week in June, 2011.  They helped Captain Compost (Mike) with projects ranging from re-building & painting compost bins at the Food Bank, planting a garden at West Elementary, to drying and packaging bokashi.  It was a great week, much was accomplished, and we look forward to working with the organization next summer!  Thanks, team!

The Virgelle Education Greenhouse Institute is a work in progress in Virgelle, Montana. A partnership between Virgelle Mercantile owners, Don Sorenson & Jimmy Griffith and Sunburst Unlimited, the future home of V.E.G.I. will provide the rural community with locally grown vegetables, eggs & chickens year-round and serve as an education center for cold composting, vermiculture, organic gardening, food preservation, and cooking. Stay tuned for progress reports!

Photos of the trenching method of composting with bokashi. Food waste is first fermented in an airtight container, then added to a trench in your garden or yard. In 2 weeks, the fermented food waste is no longer identifiable - all you'll find is dirt! 

With bokashi bucket composting, 2 steps are necessary.  Step 1:  fermenting/pickling your food waste by adding bokashi, sealing your bucket for 14 days.  Step 2:  adding brown matter (dirt - see Soil Factory) to your fermented food waste and allowing it to sit in the airtight container another 2-4 weeks to become dirt, or adding your fermented food waste to an existing compost pile, or 'trenching" it as shown in the photos.

When adding food waste directly to an outdoor compost pile (called kitchen to bin), without fermenting first, simply sprinkle bokashi over the food waste, leaves, or grass, and cover. A bokashi compost pile works best when an anaerobic (airtight) system exists, so covering your compost pile with black plastic, or a piece of rug works well.