DIGGING SOIL HEALTH From Composting To Congress

from Serenbe Hamlet - Spring/Summer 2023

LUXURY RENTALS Attracting Future Neighbors

In late December 2022, the South experienced single digit temperatures in what the National Weather Service called a “one-in-a-generation storm.” While the Governor was declaring a state of emergency, Georgia farmers, including Serenbe Farms, were reeling from the loss of nearly their entire crop to the freeze.

“It’s devastating to see your hard work wiped away like that, particularly when you’re feeding a community of residents, farmers market shoppers, and supporting our restaurants,” said Farmer Ian Giusto. “It forced us to push our CSA Farm Share back a month, but we’re fortunate because our fields are resilient.”

This resilience is due to regenerative farming practices that Serenbe Farms has followed since its beginning, an innovative style of farming that has been standard practice to Ian and is now becoming a major talking point in national farm policy. David Scott, Serenbe’s district Congressman and former Chairman of the U.S. Congress House Agriculture Committee, held a historic session in September 2022 to discuss the 2023 Farm Bill. Steve Nygren testified before the committee about soil health and regenerative agriculture - the first time Congress has used those words in a bill.

What do we mean when we say “regenerative agriculture?” According to Kiss The Ground, a group on a mission to inspire participation in the regenerative movement, it’s a philosophy and set of holistic principles. The core of the philosophy focuses on soil health that provides carbon sinks and farming in harmony with nature so we leave our land, waters and climate in better shape for future generations. Healthy soil reduces greenhouse gases like carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide, and water vapor.

One such regenerative practice is composting. Roughly ¹/³ of food ends up in landfills where it produces methane, a greenhouse gas 25x more harmful than carbon dioxide. Composting eliminates this waste while enhancing soil to grow more nutrient-rich food. Serenbe Farms has composted on a smaller scale since its inception, and is now home to the first commercial-capacity compost station, funded by Art Farm at Serenbe’s Environmental Council, in what will eventually be a robust city-wide system. They announced this new station at a screening of Kiss The Ground’s documentary by the same name, hosted by Finian Makepeace, Co-Founder & Policy Director of Kiss the Ground. The film sheds light on this “new, old approach” and reveals one of the top viable solutions to our climate crisis.

“Being an arts organization as well, we wondered how the compost initiative could translate into an event,” said Rob Kirsch, Environmental Council Chair. “Only one film could show how these issues can help community driven initiatives. Sharing the film and message at the same time that the compost program was launched? Perfect pairing.”

Composting is a controlled process that converts organic materials into nutrient-rich soil or mulch through natural decomposition. The new compost station at Serenbe Farms is uniquely efficient and powered by blowers that force air from the bottom of the compost pile for enhanced air flow. This allows the pile to be in a steady aerobic state, heating up to over 130°F and increasing compost capacity and quality, which produces healthy soil with no odor. This means the farmers won’t have to physically churn the compost, saving both time and money, though that perk isn’t what drove the project. “Having a closed-loop system removes food waste from the community and the need for paid transportation to bring in compost for soil health,” said Rob.

The station can fulfill its potential of putting out 20-30 cubic yards of compost every 45 days if there are at least 200 homes participating, said Rob, adding that it’s an attainable goal in the Serenbe community. For those who are unfamiliar with or nervous about composting, Art Farm created educational materials and left bags at every Serenbe resident’ home inviting them to be a part of the program. The hope is to get people excited about it so they’ll participate in a way that is effective and useful. Rob mentioned it was also important for them to partner and collaborate with the City of Chattahoochee Hills, Rodale Institute, and others so they will be able to scale the compost station to a city-wide system, with Serenbe Farms modeling an example.

“When Art Farm started, it was important to the board to be good stewards of the environment in addition to supporting the arts,” said Rob. “In the case of this composting program, Serenbe is a rural community with agricultural roots and is uniquely positioned to bring awareness to soil health and agricultural viability.”

Find Serenbe Farms veggies at the Serenbe Farmers Market, Saturdays 9am-1pm on the Selborne Green, or sign up for the Serenbe Farms CSA program at serenbefarms.com/csa.You can also learn more about composting on the Serenbe Farms website.Visit artfarmatserenbe.org/environment to follow updates on Chatt Hills community composting. Details about Steve Nygren testifying before the U.S. Congress about the 2023 Farm Bill can be found on the Life at Serenbe blog: serenbe.com/life-at-serenbe.

(Opposite) Serenbe Farms grows herbs, flowers, and vegetables in field rows and inside their greenhouse. They harvest weekly April-October for members of the CSA Farm Share program. Steve Nygren spoke before the U.S. House Agriculture Committee. He was joined by Jeff Moyer from Rodale Institute, Finian Makepeace from Kiss the Ground, Matthew Raiford from Strong Roots 9, and farmers from across the country to discuss soil health in the upcoming 2023 Farm Bill. (Above) Okra blooming before it’s ready to harvest. Serenbe Farms’ composting bays with one bay filled in Fall 2022. All four bays were full and ready to be mixed by April 2023. Farm photos provided by Serenbe.