The Tilsons

Here is a recipe I invented in our endless quest to live without creating any form of waste that can’t be composted or recycled. Since we don’t throw anything that rots in our garbage and animal remains aren’t really supposed to go into residential compost bins I had to figure out what to do with the remains of the occasional organic chicken carcass that we buy. Having roasted the bird in our sunoven and spread the meat through several meals, I was left with a skeleton, some skin, a neck, fat and a bit of meat. I simmered the lot for several hours on low to create a great broth that went into the freezer for a later day. After simmering for so long, the bones have softened to a point where the blender can chew them up. Add enough water to bring the water line up to about 2/3s full. Don’t try this if you blender is wimpy and use pulse! Occasionally a larger bone will jam the blades and you want to be able to stop blending quickly to prevent burning out the motor. Continue blending for a couple minutes until all the bones are ground up and you have thick soup. This calcium rich slurry will disappear within days in an active compost vs. years if tossed in whole. Happy composting!

1. Strain soup
2. Add remains to blender
3. Fill blender 2/3s full of water
4. Blend carefully until smooth
5. Feed to compost!

I had an awesome afternoon playing in the garden despite the snow that blessed us all afternoon. Thanks to the help of some outstanding volunteers, the garden expansion plans have been moving right along. Matt and I got all the compost turned in so it can fester slowly for the rest of the winter and one new raised bed got filled with soil. We have almost enough garden capacity to plant the rest of our 500 garlic plants.

The folks from Rocky Mountain Flatbread came down today to help build some community compost bins. We’ve been talking about it forever and now they are well on their way to finished. We used old lumber that we scrounged from an abandoned lumber yard so no new trees were harmed! Rocky Mountain will be able to dispose of all their restaurant waste in their own neighbourhood and we will have an endless supply of organic compost! They have been actively working to reduce their carbon footprint and this will help significantly.