To the editor:

Even with all the fall foliage dropping leaves all around us, the compost team at BFS (Barrington Farm School) is out of them.  

We have recently exhausted the stockpile we collected from last fall. What do we do with all these leaves you may be asking? We mix them with the food scraps we collect from our community drop-offs to create our soil-enriching compost for the farm.  

As this paper’s editor has attested to, without a good amount of carbon (leaves, paper, cardboard, etc…) mixed in with your food scraps, your attempt at composting can be quite a memorable experience – and probably not in a good way. The balancing act of nitrogen (your food scraps), carbon, water and oxygen (turning piles frequently) promotes the healthy microorganisms to do their thing. With enough carbon and oxygen, your compost can have little to no foul odors. 

If you are bagging your leaves and are able to do so, please bring your bags over to BFS and the compost area behind the Barrington Public Safety building. There, in the parking lot, you will find trails to the farm and our compost site.  

Our compost team meets after school every Wednesday at 3:15 p.m. and Sunday mornings at 9 a.m. Please drop off your leaves during these volunteer times. Also, this Sunday, Nov. 5 from 9 to 11 a.m., we will be hosting the student-run nonprofit Barrington Environmental Establishment for a special compost session. Come see how compost works and meet some of our amazing volunteers.  

On a related note, we’ve been informed that Mr. Ashley (BHS principal), Barrington Middle School and Primrose Hills Elementary School are in need of parent volunteers to help direct our kids at lunch as to what should and should not be composted. If you are an approved volunteer with the Barrington School District and have time to help, please reach out to Barrington School District Volunteer Coordinator Anita DiMatteo (dimatteoa@barringtonschools.org) for more information – or come on by the farm and chat with Tim Faulkner.  Tim has done some pretty incredible work in our schools creating our district’s first lunchtime food scrap separation program with the help of the students and staff at Sowams Elementary School.  He’ll be able to give you a pretty good idea of what the kids need help with. 

Barrington Farm School

Barrington