Jim Bundscho describes how produce is grown at Ben Wheeler’s community garden. Food and paper waste from Moore’s Store is composted (below) and used as fertilizer. Months later, vegetables are harvested and used in food preparation at the family restaurant. BEN WHEELER — Using an acre of farmland near downtown, Jim Bundscho uses compost piles to fertilize the garden where produce is harvested for Moore’s Store.

And the waste in those compost piles comes from the restaurant, creating a recycling method that’s proven to be efficient.

“We started with the need for recycling,” Bundscho, the community garden’s manager, said. “The first thing we started doing is creating compost piles. Five months later, we are now using that compost in the garden. Every month, we’re generating two cubic yards.”

Food and paper waste from Moore’s Store is organized into bins for biodegradation at temperatures exceeding 180 degrees.

Paul Bryant Photo “It’s kind of like building lasagna,” Bundscho said. “We use cow manure and just layer it and layer it. When it gets so hot in the composts, that tells me I’ve got a lot of good biological activity in there.”

Eventually, that waste helps produce cabbage, lettuce, broccoli, collards, beets, carrots, onions, spinach, and other vegetables. It’s all part of a series of experiments to learn how such gardens can best benefi t their communities.

“As we’re doing this, there are successes and failures,” Bundscho said. “That’s part of the process. They’re experiments in fertilization.”

But Bundscho, an employee of Ben Wheeler Development Company, doesn’t want to keep his findings to himself.

“We want to educate the public on planting in a different manner and encourage people to come out here and learn the different techniques. We’re not looking to be certified (in organic techniques); my idea is to be appropriate with our technology — to balance natural fertilization...and petroleum-based stuff.”

Classes are scheduled to begin April 20 on those methods and others, including what Bundscho calls “posture gardening,” a technique used for shallowrooted crops such as baby greens.

Bundscho came to Ben Wheeler from Houston in September to manage the garden. He’s looking for volunteers and to “create alliances” with schools and organizations on education initiatives.

Bundscho’s classes are set for the third Tuesday of each month.

The April 20 class is scheduled for 10 a.m. to noon. Visit homesteadservices. org.