You know that you are really into growing your own soil when you are driving home from church and eye a pile of leaves in the road with desire. This afternoon when I was working on the garden one of the first things I did was to take the wheel barrow to the road in front of my house and rake up the leaves from the gutter. Most people rake their leaves into the gutter for city pick up. I rake my leaves out of the gutter for making compost.

Growing Soil, compost and castings, is key to the mound system of Growing Power. My wife gave me some information she obtained at a librarian’s workshop about “vermicomposting”. It was interesting but not the same system and on a much smaller scale (in a bin) than the Growing Power System. Most of the articles played down the role of carbon, using such things as shredded newspaper or cardboard as ‘bedding’ for the bin. They mention leaves as not too good a source of carbon and did not even mention wood chips, my main source of carbon, at all. What is one person’s gutter waste is another person’s soil-maker.

My friend John put some final touches on the five-pane window system today, and we are almost ready for a test of the energy savings of the windows. After dinner tonight we talked and dreamed about the commercial value of these windows. Certainly, if it works, these five pane window inserts would be valuable for greenhouses, even the ones that are at Growing Power. We even talk about their use in homes.

After John left I checked my email and there was an email from a person who had heard about these ‘nifty’ five pane windows from a friend and was interested. I explained that we still have not tested their effectiveness and would update her when we did. In truth, even if this idea has some value, although I have the financial means, I am no longer interested in the idea of being a business entrepreneur. John has the research and development skills to make this idea a success but does not have the financial means or business skills to make it happen. Perhaps, if this idea works out, we can find a third partner who can bridge the gap between John’s and my skills and interest. Anyone out there looking to get into a “green business?”

Perhaps if you look at a pile of leaves in the gutter with interest you are the person.

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