BANGOR DAILY NEWS • June 5, 2022
It’s the manure, according to veganic farmer Warren Berkowitz, that provides the heat needed to decompose the other compost materials into a usable soil amendment. With enough manure, that process can take as little as six weeks. “You have to be dedicated to making vegan compost,” said Berkowitz, farm manager and board member of The Good Life Center and the Forest Farm Homestead in Blue Hill — the former home of his friends the late Scott and Helen Nearing, famed Maine homesteaders credited with starting the “back to the land” movement. Instead of manure, Berkowitze uses seaweed to heat his compost for the year it takes the compostable kitchen scraps, garden scraps and weeds to decompose.