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

What do you do with Doggy-Doo? Can I put corks in my compost bin? Do worms have lungs? Why is my compost full of thousands of tiny white flies?

Vital questions such as these are the lot of a Compost Hotline Operator, as Spring Gillard knows only too well. That really is her job description, and she fields calls like this all day long. She also meets a cast of characters curiously crazed by the gardening bug, like Ellen, who wears worm earrings and belts out the "Compost Rap" to unsuspecting participants in her vermicomposting class. Or Laurel, worm bin mural artist, West Coast Wes the Scarecrow, Scissor-happy Sally, and Mike their fearless leader, prone to tai-chi fits . . .

The Diary of a Compost Hotline Operator began in 1996 as a series of entries on the website of City Farmer, Vancouver's nonprofit urban agriculture group that has been thriving for twenty-five years. It is packed with barely credible real-life tales from the trenches of the urban horticulture avant-garde, dealing with all manner of gardening lore-such as:

the essentials of composting
alternatives to pesticides
organic and edible landscapes
garden tours and compost teas
green buildings and drug-free lawns
rainwater harvesting, and even
urban ag in New York and Cuba.

It is also a mine of useful resources-perfect reading for garden fanatics, gift-givers, ag-academics and environmentalists, and all who like to laugh while they learn.

Spring Gillard abandoned a successful advertising career twelve years ago, and stumbled into City Farmer's garden in Vancouver. She never left. Her diary entries have been published widely, and-as editor of the Compost Hotline News-she does widespread research into urban agriculture worldwide. An avid storyteller, she believes in the power of humor to convey serious messages.

Spring Gillard abandoned a successful advertising career 12 years ago, and stumbled into City Farmer's garden in Vancouver. She never left. Her diary entries have been published widely, and - as editor of the Compost Hotline News - she does widespread research into urban agriculture worldwide. An avid storyteller, she believes in the power of humor to convey serious messages.