Getting our hands on a composter: Part 9

It's actually been in residence for quite a while now, beside the bamboo patch (of which more later) and just behind the two vegetable beds that I've dug. 

So, to continue. We brought the composter home in its flat-pack cardboard box, unpacked it so we could gaze at it, propped its pieces against the kitchen sink and promptly forgot about it. 

Some days later, we decided to assemble it by which time the bottoms of the four side sections had bent a little. Much sweat and an hour later, we had it finished, ready to install in the garden. 

First sacrifice into its gaping maw were several bags of partially (in some cases, quite considerably and smell-ily ) decomposed fruit and vegetable peelings which I'd been stockpiling for several weeks. 

The bamboo to the left of the composter is shockingly high and dense and we thought it was dead, until we asked a friend who knows about these things. Evidently it's the deciduous type which not only casts off its brown in spring but also sprouts new growth which shoots up at the rate of several centimetres a week. Meanwhile, all last year's brown and dried leaves fall to the ground. One simple movement and they're in the composter. A green layer, a brown layer, and so it goes...

I nearly forgot. One strange thing is that, to date, nobody has asked is to pay for the composter. 

Getting our hands on a composter: Parts 7 and 8

Part 7:

Signed papers in hand (we forgot them last time) we set off the Communauté des Communes in Mirepoix this morning with a double mission: to take possession of our composter and to obtain an access card to the garbage dump. We have a lot of garbage to dump and you can't just swan in and ditch it. You have to prove your right to the card by taking along an electricity or other bill.

It took surprisingly little time. The man who handles these things gave us the smart plastic kitchen bucket, inside of which was an enormous carry bag, bigger even than the ones you use temporarily at Ikea. Along with these came a booklet describing what we can compost. Just about everything, it seems, including paper towel and handkerchiefs. Most important of all, he gave us a hand-written note to take to Copami, home to large composters.

We were so thrilled that we took the plastic bucket to the market square to have its photo taken, and then out for a coffee and pain aux raisins.

Part 8:

Baskets filled, we returned to the car and drove to Copami which is beside the cemetary. A man told us to take our official paper to the cash desk in Gamm Vert (I'm unsure of the connection) where they looked at it and told us to go outside to the warehouse section. There, a young man took the paper, disappeared and emerged with a very large flat box. This is the quick assembly type of 600 litre composter, obviously. We pointed nervously at the Clio, a compact car to say the least. He opened the trunk and slid the enormous box inside. It fitted exactly although it did completely block the rear window. I have visions of composter box designers experimenting with different sizes until they found one that would fit even the smallest car.

Next, wait for it, the composter is assembled and installed in its final resting-place. P.S. Which is wasn't the following day because it rained.

Getting our hands on a composter: Part 6.

Oh joy. Just as we were finishing breakfast, the yellow Poste van pulled up outside. The envelope in the box bore the return address of the Communauté de Communes in Mirepoix. Inside was the white form we need to complete (and take back) that will get us a composter. Meanwhile, I continue to donate our vegetable trimmings to a neighbour. 

Getting Our Hands on a Composter: Parts 1 through 5.

As I start to get to grips with the garden, it's obvious that there's going to be a vast amount of "green garbage" to deal with. And, like all households, we produce a large amount of potential compost in the form of onion skins, orange peels and so on. At times I've contributed to others' compost piles but lately (blush, blush) I've been throwing most of it in the bin. 

   

Part 1: In which we read about the availability of composters.

Judge our delight when the periodic village newsletter came around with the news that all anyone wanting a composter had to do was to go to the mairie and ask for the correct form.

Part 2: In which I go to the mairie.

I spoke to Chantal (the mayor's right hand), made my request and left with a bright green form to fill out. 

Part 3: In which we make Important Decisions and complete the paperwork.

Opting for the larger composter--a steal at 10 euros--we filled out the form which had to be taken to the office of the Communauté de Communes (a local organization) in Mirepoix. Meanwhile, our new neighbours, Bea and David, had also filled out a form which I volunteered to take along with ours. P.S. Theirs was a white form. This should have told me that something was amiss.

Part 4: In which I go to the Communauté de Communes.

The man who deals with these things was en vacances. The man standing in for him dealt with great speed with Bea and David's form, giving me a handsome dark green lidded bucket for kitchen use, a very large carrybag, and an instruction book. 

All for them. 

All I got was a promise that the white form would soon be in the post to us. And the information that, once we get the form, we have to come back to the C de C where we will be given a piece of paper that we can take to Gamm Vert to receive our composter. We will also be given an invoice for the requisite euros which we must pay to the Tresor Public. 

Part 5: The return visit to the Communauté de Communes one week later. 

The white form didn't arrive so, in Mirepoix for the market, I trotted off to the C de C for the second time to meet the man who deals with these things. He told me that he was saving up the green forms (and showed me a bundle as proof) before taking the next step because it saved money on composters. I haven't quite figured this out. Something may have got lost in translation. He assured me that our white form will soon be in the post.