Welcome back to the bins, decomposers. Today’s Compost Corner is a special recap of the MSCG Arts Café and Bake Sale. I’m tickled to report that the fundraiser was a massive success—and for that, we must thank our community for your immense support.

MSCG Fundraising Committee, photo by Pamela Honey

Let’s dial it back to the beginning.

Rotem, the chair of fundraising, had a vision for a day of creativity, community, and philanthropy. Bri’Anna, Cait, Haebin, Wanufi, and I worked together under Rotem’s leadership to spearhead this effort. For months the team worked tirelessly behind the scenes, planning layouts, creating graphics, and collecting donated art supplies (thanks Big ReUse!). Many community members contributed to this labor of love: Juliana led a seed burst workshop, delicious baked goods were donated by neighbors, and it was the day that the new compost sifting table made its public debut.

But let’s just say there were a few windrows in the way (please enjoy my compost pun—this is a compost blog, after all).

On the eve of the bake sale, the first drama unfolded. After baking some incredible lemon meringue cookies, Bri’Anna’s mixer Humpty Dumpty’d straight off the ledge and out her window. The mixer was suspended in air, lodged between the building and a fence. Of course—impossible to reach. After texting for aid in fence-climbing, the ever-resourceful Bri’Anna managed to retrieve the rogue mixer.

“Omg, what a saga,” wrote fundraising chair Rotem.

(Did you have one of those cookies, by the way? I’m still dreaming of them.)

The fundraising committee was not about to let a rogue mixer thwart us, but alas, it was eclipse season…and there were hours until the fundraiser.

On the morning of the bake sale, all seemed well until Cait’s oven died mid-cookie-baking. Again, the universe was unsuccessful in stopping the committed members of MSCG.

Not only did we have Cait’s cookies, but she arrived in time to create a beautiful sign for the Arts Café. And by the way—it was INCREDIBLE. So many people came out and shared their creativity together in the beautiful weather under the grand willow tree. The day brought together multiple generations, backgrounds, and talents, and it was especially moving to welcome so many first-time visitors to Maple Street Community Garden.

But what is a great drama without a third-act twist?

This author co-led Saturday’s scrap drop-off at the bins with Doug, Compost Committee’s Browns Manager. I got to the garden early for bake sale prep, and just as I began to slowly set up for drop-off, I was informed that the “Build a Compost Sifting Bin” workshop had been cancelled due to unforeseen circumstances.

A complete surprise, mere moments before people arrived! The signup was full, and fundraising had worked hard to promote this event. What would Team Compost do to engage our eager supporters?

Well, Team Compost, under Captain Zhenia’s navigation, pivoted the compost activities for the Arts Café on the fly. Which is what I love about composting—it’s so flexible.

There’s a forgiveness to composting that I think many of us can learn from. There’s room for error, but not for blame. We work as a team. We can always adjust a batch.

Too dry? Add water.

Too wet? Add air (turn!).

Too carbon heavy (browns)? Add more nitrogen (greens). And vice versa.

Even after the compost has been cured and sifted, we begin again with the overs—those pieces we didn’t chop enough, or that just haven’t fully decomposed. It’s okay. We put the overs into the bin to compost again. That’s a lesson in forgiveness we can apply outside the garden gate.

Compost Activities, photo by Kevin Woodford

And so pivot we did.

Our Saturday, the volunteer shift chopped a whopping 205.5 pounds of food scraps. We filled Bin A with fresh greens (31 donations—score!) and fresh browns Doug collected from Greenwood Cemetery earlier that morning (while Cait’s oven dearly departed mid-cookie-baking). Zhenia led compost education with children, new volunteers, and curious neighbors. We turned Bin B, moved Bin 1 into 3, and sifted the recently cured Bin 3 at the brand spanking new sifting table into bags for our community.

Plus, the brand-new Captain of the Super Secret Worm Task Force made a cameo. The worms were fed watermelon rinds, cantaloupe, apple cores, and strawberries. By the time this author checked the vermi-bin, the worms were happily satisfied. We even got a glimpse courtesy of a dedicated follower of Compost Corner.

Captain of the Super Secret Worm Task Force, submitted anonymously

Thank you to everyone who supported the Maple Street Community Garden Arts Cafe & Bake Sale. Whether you bought your breakfast, shared us on social media, or just took home a bag of compost—thank you for being part of our community event. The Fundraising Committee will be back on October 25th with a Portraits in the Garden event. More details soon…

That’s the soil for now.

With grit & gratitude,

Jess Frost

Compost Committee

PS. Follow @maplestreetgarden on instagram to see all our photos from the event.

From Ovens to Overs: An Arts Cafe & Bake Sale Success Story