Council Compost Kick-Starts Residents’ Market Garden Dream

Council’s newly implemented composting service, which provides residents with high quality and reasonably priced compost processed right here in Ararat, is off to an inspirational start.

Last weekend Mark and Terri-Anne Lewis of Cathcart secured 200 tonnes of Council-created compost, the first step in their vision of building a homegrown market garden.

The Lewis’s property covers 20 acres, and is currently home to sheep, alpacas, a “very naughty” goat, and a couple of ponies. “We love every animal here – they’re all spoiled rotten,” laughs Terri-Anne, a local nurse whose nickname “Tag” is well-known to most in the community.

Tag and Mark’s self-built straw bale house sits up the top end of the site, offering awe-inspiring views of Mount Ararat. In front of the house, the couple will establish a garden of at least three acres, with a chalked-out goal of expanding to five.

Initial soil tests for the plot came back with less than ideal results.

“We’ve got terrible soil here,” Tag admits. “[The soil tester] said, ‘I can tell you that you’ve got great soil for growing houses – not so great for growing anything else!'”

In researching how to increase their soil’s fertility, the couple’s plan was always to go local. Tag estimates that 90% of the materials and labour which went into their straw bale house came from local businesses and tradesmen, a very deliberate choice.

The Lewises decided to contact Council to ask about the system in place for processing the area’s green waste, and discovered that the first batches of AS4454 compost were ready to go.

AS4454 is a quality assurance standard, which guarantees three things: that the compost’s organic bits and pieces are processed systematically for a consistent product; that batches undergo pasteurisation (raising the temperature of the entire batch to a sustained peak) to destroy pathogens and weeds; and that the process complies with a list of regulations and guidelines for health and safety, such as tests to manage biosecurity risks.

Dr Tim Harrison, CEO of Ararat Rural City Council, says these standards are strictly adhered to.

“Every batch of compost we process is sampled and sent to the lab for testing,” he explains. “Our aim is to support the local community with a very high quality product.”

Tag and Mark’s freshly laid compost will become beds for vegetables – a “trial and error” process of selection to see which ones do well in the area’s climate, says Tag, though she has definite plans for some olive trees. Fruits will run the gamut of pears, cherries, peaches,

nectarines, and more. The couple’s goal is to eventually put together boxes of veggies and fruits for residents, businesses, cafés, and “the best restaurant in Ararat,” Sicillians.

“We’re not here to make our millions,” explains Tag. “It’s purely about keeping things local, and giving people an alternative to going to the supermarket.”