Fetch large quantities of organic matter and add to the soil’s surface. With the help of microorganisms, it will be decomposed and become available to arriving plants.
Use carbon-rich materials ubiquitous in contemporary urban spaces, like cardboard boxes, to ensure large fungal populations.
Add kitchen leftovers, which are particularly rich in nitrogen, like coffee, to accelerate composting.
Form a mound of organic matter to initiate a hot compost pile.
Add marine elements to complement the compost’s mineral profile.
Make bokashi to accelerate the anaerobic decomposition of food scraps, adding bran with microorganisms previously collected from a healthy forest.
Add the bokashi solids to the hot compost pile, to enrich it with diverse nutrients.
Blend the fermented materials with the oxidised compost ones as evenly as possible.
Spray the compost with an inoculate of indigenous microorganisms and microorganisms specially efficacious in the decomposition of recalcitrant materials, like heavy metals and hydrocarbons found in petroleum and concrete.
Keep track of the accelerated oxidation process in the compost, checking temperature regularly to avoid the loss of biodiversity.
Turn the compost pile over to regulate temperature and guarantee that all parts have gone through the hottest center of the pile.
With your hand, verify and maintain the compost’s humidity.
Introduce worms and some arthropods, if necessary, to accelerate nutrient cycling.
Begin the sowing of acorns, for oaks are amongst the group of climax-species of the Iberian Peninsula. They reate bountiful quantities of organic matter and also produce plenty of food in the form of acorns. They steadily help increase biodiversity and subsequently raise soil fertility, allowing for the sowing and planting of other edible and useful plants for a resilient agroforest garden in the near future.
End of part III
This project is being developed at CCOP’s patio, Rua Duque de Loulé 202, Porto. It emerged in the context of «Pastos e Pastos - Gallery Energy», programmed by Galeria Municipal do Porto. It includes an exhibition at Mercado do Bolhão, where the steps in its development are displayed. The project has received support from Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation and took form throughout two artistic residencies, at Coliseu do Porto and Galeria do Sol.
