MSCG Fundraising Committee, photo by Kevin W.

Hello Decomposers,

Welcome to a special edition of Compost Corner.

If you read last month’s column, you know I was very, very sick. It kept me away from my beloved shifts, but I’ll be back soon. I’ve spent the last few weeks trying to catch back up to the normal high-speed chase of life. I have a very rambunctious three-year-old, so there was plenty waiting for me.

I struggled with what to write this month. I could write about the city’s budget. I could write about how scrap drop-off numbers are down because the city’s industrial program is gaining momentum. I could get really scientific.

None of it was working.

Then, on the last day of May, I finally found the words. I like this column to stay monthly during open garden season, so we’re cutting it close.

Today’s special edition of Compost Corner is officially: The Best Open Mic Ever.

Last year, Wanufi, one of our Fundraising Team coordinators, pitched and led an Open Mic Night at Gallery Parti down the block from the garden. It was a great experience and a complete success. Naturally, the committee wanted to grow the event in its second year.

First, we picked a date. May 30 felt safer than last year’s mid-June event, when everyone was just a little too warm. Next came finding the most AWESOME venue possible to accommodate our growing community.

We had optimism and a slight case of delulu when we decided to plan an outdoor event.

The weather gods smiled on us, but more on that later.

Awesome Brooklyn, located at 653 Flatbush Avenue, is not only a phenomenal store but also has a lovely backyard that hosts community events. Vanessa, the owner of Awesome, is a dedicated community member and endlessly supportive of efforts like ours that bring neighbors together.

This year we changed up the menu a bit as well. Thank you to IX Restaurant and Lenny’s Pizza for keeping our guests and committee members fed, and to Evansburg Vineyards for helping us all loosen up and take the stage with their fantastic wines.

Our community not only sold us out four days before the event, but also filled a standing-room waitlist.

On behalf of the Fundraising Committee, thank you for showing up. We love the Maple Street Community Garden and the people who keep it running. We could not host these fundraisers without your support.

Fast forward to Saturday.

The Big Day.

Weather: perfect.

Well, maybe the wind could have been a little more sedated, but I’ll take jacket weather over sweating. Or glistening, depending on your perspective.

Everything was set. We were ready.

Except for the part where I (yes me) take full responsibility, completely dropped the ball on the microphone.

For the open mic.

Naturally.

I had buried the question in a mass text and never properly followed up. Showtime was only a few hours away.

So I did what anyone would do. I started sending increasingly frantic texts to every neighbor in my phone.

One friend had a microphone and amp, but it appeared to have been manufactured by Fisher Price. Another had equipment at her partner’s parents’ house in Connecticut, which briefly felt like a reasonable option. My next-door neighbor had equipment in Bushwick. A traveling friend offered to have their roommate let me into their room to retrieve theirs.

By this point, my blood pressure was reaching levels usually reserved for medical emergencies. (Which I know all about.)

Eventually, we located microphones, cords, and an amp. My blood pressure stabilized. I got dressed and headed to Awesome…

But then, at 5:05 PM, we discovered the amp wasn’t actually in Brooklyn.

Hope was not lost. After all, we had mics and cords.

Another amp was located nearby.

It didn’t work.

At 5:45 PM, a second amp arrived and worked perfectly.

And we could all finally enjoy the first Maple Street Community Garden fundraiser of 2026.

The evening itself was beautiful. A breezy late spring night full of neighbors gathering together and sharing community. Dipping cheese pizza in black bean dip. Sipping bubbly rose and hibiscus tea mixed with lime seltzer.

We enjoyed performances of all kinds. Jules played the fiddle, or violin, which I learned this weekend are apparently the same instrument. Rachel and Pamela teamed up for a spontaneous and emotional collaboration. Wanufi treated us to the tale of Homer the owl. (Who made quite a few questionable choices along his journey.) There were hula hoops (a lot of hula hoops). There was poetry. There was an absolutely hysterical improv trio of strangers who left as friends.

Together we cleaned up the Awesome backyard, everyone jumping in to help.

And drumroll…please…thanks to your generosity, we reached our fundraising goal for the evening!

We’re already cooking up ideas for next year’s third Open Mic Fundraiser, so stay tuned.

Maybe I couldn’t find the words about composting this month.

And that’s okay.

While my body is still recovering, I’m grateful that the Maple Street Community Garden still had use for my other faculties.

That’s the thing about composting. You can’t do it alone.

Because I found so much passion in dedicating my free time to this garden, I also found a community of incredible people who keep it alive.

When you spend enough time working side by side with people, things naturally grow beyond the garden gates.

I’ve learned a tremendous amount about composting over the last few years. The science, the systems, the practical skills. But the most meaningful thing I’ve gained has been the people.

Composting doesn’t just happen at the bins.

Once you start composting, you start seeing things differently. You stop looking at something and asking whether it’s useful right now. You start asking what it could become with a little time and the right conditions.

That’s true of food scraps.

It’s true of communities, too.

Next weekend, join us for Open Garden Day. I’ll be co-hosting a Compost Orientation with my friend Julia from 11:00 to 11:45 AM.

Next month we’ll return to our regularly scheduled decomposition.

Until then.

With grit & gratitude,

Jess Frost, Master Composter

Co-Coordinator, MSCG Communication Committee

The Best Open Mic Night Ever