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"This is my monument to Mother Earth that shows waste can be
converted into something that restores life."
This is
the real life story of a man who has built a 200 foot long, forty foot
high composting pile in the residential area of a
Los Angeles suburb.
The compost mound is covered with beautiful plants, giant veggies and trees,
along with squawking geese, ducks,
and chickens.
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Tim & giant amaranth
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For nearly three decades, Tim
Dundon meticulously fed his obsession to create the towering monument it is today:
a 40-foot-high mountain of decomposed mulch, kitchen scraps and horse
manure. This richly fertile "heap" retains rainwater throughout
Southern California's hot and dry summers. Mr. Dundon laughingly relates a story
on how JPL satellites registered
his place as a 30ft
deep lake when California had the torrential El Nino rains
some years back.
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Swiss chard
growing on the pile |
This compost guru, as many environmentalists
call him, likes to speak in rhyme, and without warning breaks into song,
especially the Beatles or Cat Steven tunes, to make a point.
"Come together... right now..."
he once sang from his extensive knowledge of songs as he described how
the world would benefit from working together to solve the problems
plaguing society. |
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Moments later, several refrains from Cat's
Steven's "Moonshadow" were used as Mr. Dundon pointed to the dense tree
tops above him and told how light filtered through the foliage.
Dundon said his pile began with a
vision in February 1973. "It showed me this was something that
would change the world and make it into a better, more
peaceful place," he said. He gives the compost, better
known as "HORSE POWER", away for free but does charge
to deliver it in his flat-bed pickup truck.
Dedicating his entire life to
proving the marvel of mulch, Tim has accomplished wonders
towards the education of schools, children, their families and
the community at large.
Being around him and his
passionate personality one cannot help but think that
restoring the planet is possible.... one step at a
time. Instead of hating and destroying, why can't we
channel all the energy into something positive and help
nurture and create life.
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~ PHOTO GALLERY ~
For more inspirational pictures of one
man's passion for compost
and his beautiful urban oasis....
The Pile 2002 »
The Pile 2003 »
Snapshots from
the Dun Heap |
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~ CONTACT ~
Mr. Dundon - dubbed the"King of
Compost" by Organic Gardening Magazine - has lovingly
cultivated the mammoth compost pile carefully blending household
garbage, animal droppings and mulch into an organic tower of
supercharged soil!
"There are a lot of people who are starving, have no
resources. Resources can be created out of the life process that can keep people
prosperous, happy and keep them out of trouble," says Tim Dundon, on the
philosophy of his pile.
To get a free load crap (aka "Royal Soil")or learn the "Doo's and Don'ts" of
composting, Tim Dundon
can be reached at home by phone
626.794.1351 or
email.
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