Dear Editor,
My wife and I moved into Ponoka about seven years ago. It was an easy choice; after viewing many central Alberta communities it was plain to see Ponoka was the jewel of the Central Alberta prairie. Between shade trees lining the streets, the lazy Battle River meandering through town and the adjacent countryside, all the services one needs right in town and a central location, all our needs were met. Little did I know all the little gold mines Ponoka was hiding.
The homes and yards in this community are well kept which means lots of yard work. With all that yard work, lush green yards, beautiful flowers and healthy shrubs, it takes lots of nutrients to keep it that way. This can sometimes be tough on the pocket book. Your readers may not be aware, but compost contains many of the needed nutrients to develop healthy shrubs and flowers and can be substituted to add those rich nutrients into our flowerbeds and gardens.
All the grass, leaves, twigs and other organic waste our citizens deliver to the solid waste site are recycled by our town employees into, yup: compost. Usually fresh compost is very strong and requires mixing with black dirt or it will burn your flowers and shrubs. Our little gold mine here in Ponoka is all that compost at our solid waste site is just waiting to be picked up. There is 10-year old compost at the solid waste site, rich in nutrients and does not need to be mixed with additional soil. For five years now, I have filled our pots, flowerbeds and shrubs with 100 per cent 10-year-old compost, and everything just blossoms.
Another part of this little gold mine is no other nutrients need be added to the compost to see healthy and lush flowers and shrubs. You can save on buying all those fancy fertilizers; instead use our recycled product, compost; you keep things green and recycle at the same time. The last part of our little gold mine here in Ponoka: Last week, I picked up 25-gallon pails of ten-year-old compost and after weighing out on the scale, my cost was under four dollars. You can’t beat the price, get the needed nutrients for your yard, support our town-composting program and be an active recycler. This is just one of many little gold mines here in our Ponoka.
Doug Thorson
Ponoka resident