The Jersey City Independent"

Illustration: N.I

After winter overstayed its welcome, it’s refreshing to see the signs of spring starting to poke through: birds are chirping, trees are budding, grass is greening, and the worms are churning.

That’s right. As we speak, worms are working overtime churning in urban gardens all over Jersey City. Despite being underpaid (or paid in dirt) with almost no benefits, they are the most reliable urban farmhands, turning and churning the soil, a key ingredient to improving the quality.

Urbanites often forget the worms, and often even the grass. But for a growing number of Jersey City residents, it’s all about the worms. This Earth Day, we’re not only celebrating the groundswell of environmental activity happening around us, but also the literal groundswell in our backyards, parks, and abandoned lots. Soil is being turned, spaded, and hoed all over this town with more than a little help from the worms.

Gardens are not just for big backyards in the rural suburbs these days. Any little plot of dirt, or even a pot on a fire escape or windowsill, can turn out anything from mint and lavender to peas and tomatoes.

“Gardening is really doable,” Heights resident Pamela Windo says. “Use the ground you have, anywhere. I grow what I can on my fire escape.”

But Windo isn’t limited to her fire escape — she also grows in the Riverview Community Garden at Fisk Riverview Park, one of most active community gardens in Jersey City. Downtown’s Brunswick Community Garden, another popular spot, is gearing up for the season. It recently handed out one square foot parcels to some folks who are on the longer waiting list for a full parcel.

One of the new square footers is Downtown resident and blogger James Young, who says it’s his “first foray” into gardening.

“After spending day after day in front of a computer, it’s really gratifying to get my hands dirty and work with nature in this small way,” Young, who works in advertising, says. “I’m doing this because it’s something I am going to enjoy and appreciate throughout the full process. Over the weekend, I actually enjoyed pulling up weeds and preparing the land until my hands blistered.”

But you don’t even need to join a community garden to start growing something. Wherever you are, there’s likely to be a plot of dirt somewhere nearby. Consider asking a neighbor blessed with a backyard if you can try gardening on their soil, possibly to share the bounty, or reclaim an abandoned lot with some guerilla gardening.

Some may worry that urban soil is too tainted for good growth, but by loosening it up and adding some extra organic matter like compost, anything is possible. New gardeners should remember that while fertilizers can boost production and plant sustenance, compost can do much of the same, while also using up the rotting leftovers in your fridge and reducing your waste output.

But do the benefits of compost really outweigh the possible stink and inconvenience?

According to the Environmental Protection Agency, food scraps comprise up to 30 percent of Americans’ trash. When the country generates more than 250 million tons of waste annually, diverting even 10 percent of that waste back into the soil just makes environmental sense.

The Hudson County Improvement Authority (HCIA) is making it easier for first-time (and veteran) composters with an upcoming sale of compost bins. The HCIA is selling bins at a deeply discounted price of $25 on May 9. The Earth Machine bins the HCIA is selling retail for more than $150.

“We have about 150 Hudson County residents pre-registered already, and expect over 400 to pick up composters this year,” HCIA enforcement supervisor Carmine Graziano says. “We sold composters about 10 years ago, but now that it’s coming back, we’re going to see if interest is strong enough now for a sale every year.”

Graziano says compost bins are the solution for small-scale food waste collection.

By composting, you reduce your waste by tossing vegetable scraps, eggshells, bread crusts and fruit cores into your receptacle of choice, whether it’s a bucket in your fridge or a fancier model in the backyard.

The particular bin the county is selling is for outdoor use, but if you don’t have outdoor space, you can buy indoor composters that will fit right under your sink. They range from a simple bucket system for $5 to the indoor NatureMill for $400, which turns and aerates your compost on its own, and even has an air filter to keep the smell down.

But whatever composting system you choose — or even if you decide to eschew composting and just concentrate on growing fire-escape tomatoes — the important thing is taking a step towards sustainability.