A Recycling and Composting day with Taranta's Staff
Posted In: Events, Green Restaurant, Organic Products
Last Monday we did our first field trip with our Staff to the place we send our recyclable products, food waste and biodegradables. Our restaurant Staff has been separating all the waste and as a part of the process of understanding the reason why we do that, I decided to organize a field trip visiting Save That Stuff in Charlestown and Brick End Farms in North Hamilton. We met Adam Mitchell Ian Lavery giving us a tour of the facility and were amazed by the amount of cardboard and paper waste that can be recycled, as well as plastic, glass and metal. We drove about 1/2 hour and arrived to Brick Ends Farm, a site that receives all the food waste, yard trimmings, etc. We learned how they “cook” compost, using wood chips and yard wast on a 1 to 1 ratio with restaurant food waste, they mix it and turn it for about 10 months and the result is a very nutritious compost that is used in Agriculture and Landscaping. During the process thermophilic microorganisms generate heat that can reach up to 160 F. We met Mike, a farmer that leases land at Brick Ends and utilizes the compost to nurture his crops, his farm First Light Farm was the highlight of our experience, meeting him and walking the fields literally eating fennel, carrots, second sprout broccoli and kale was just amazing. We couldn’t resist to ask him if we could harvest some Leeks, Carrots, Celery, Cilantro and Fennel and bring it back to the restaurant. After this very educational experience we understand the importance of what we do and how good it make us feel!! Next… an experiment cooking in the compost pile using Sous Vide Bags, perhaps a some short ribs, cooked over 10 hours….. If anyone is ever interested on organizing a trip to visit the Farm, and have lunch or early dinner with products from the farm just let us know, we will be more that happy to arrange this for you.
