Organic Life Amendments

10/23/2026

The capstone! 🌱 One project comes full circle as the next begins.

This photo marks the completion of Phase 1 and the beginning of Phase 2 for Organic Life Amendments. The last compost pile from our Phase 1 site became the foundation for the pad where our first windrow will begin at our Phase 2 site. ♻️🐞🦉🐇

We started with just 33 three-gallon buckets and a vision. Today, with the help of so many, we’re taking a major leap forward.

A heartfelt thank-you to the NC Dept of Environmental Quality(NCDEQ) for funding our From Waste to Wellness initiative. That support helped us expand our waste diversion efforts with a custom-wrapped 2024 Ram 2500, 44 collection toters, and a dump trailer equipped with a cart tipper to collect compostable materials.

A huge shout-out to Sustainable Sandhills for their unwavering support and to the North Carolina Composting Council for putting its mission into action through education, advocacy, and connection.

To everyone who has contributed, encouraged us, or trusted us with their food scraps, thank you! You helped build this foundation, and we’re ready to keep growing.

09/27/2026

You don’t want to miss this one!! 🚣‍♂️🚣‍♀️🚣‍♀️ come and join us 💜

09/18/2026

We had the pleasure of hosting students from Blooming Minds Academy for a hands-on lesson in designing a small-scale composting site! ♻️🐞

Using NC Dept of Environmental Quality requirements, students identified, measured, and marked the required buffer zones. We also worked together to develop stormwater management and discharge plans.

Soon, this site will help increase local waste-diversion efforts while providing hands-on environmental education for the next generation!

09/06/2026

A huge thank-you to Old Dirty 30 Family Farm in Jacksonville, NC & Toxic Free NC, for inviting us out to demonstrate how to build a three-bin composting system! ♻️🪱. We also managed to build a rabbit tractor!🐇- In all cycles, the circle of life is protected. 💜👁️‍🗨️🫡, can you see what’s actually going on here? 🕰️🦉

Special thanks to Myrover-Reese Recovery Homes and Vagabond Cafe for diverting their food waste to support education, soil health, and community resilience. Together, we’re turning waste into wellness! 💚🦅🦉🐞

08/20/2026

08/13/2026

With this crucial funding, the Garden of Healing is blooming brighter than ever! We’re carefully tending to our chives, nasturtiums, and our fast-growing trellis cucumber vines so we can continue sharing fresh, healthy produce with our amazing neighbors at McCall’s Plaza. 🥒🪴

08/10/2026

“Big Changes Happen in Small Rooms!” 🦉 Great news! 🦅OLA now has a dedicated space for teaching ADULTS!

We’re incredibly grateful to the Nature’s Herbal Cabinet team for generously donating ALL of the equipment and half of their retail space to help make this possible. Your support, generosity, and belief in our mission mean more than words can express.

This is an exciting new chapter for OLA, and we can’t wait to see what grows from this space! 🦉🐞🦎🐇

07/29/2026

‼️Landmark Farm Act! Heartfelt thank you to our Advocacy and Access Committee for working hard to get this done! 🔗 in the comments! ♻️

07/26/2026

No fancy post. Just results. A heartfelt thank you to the team at Vagabond Cafe for choosing to turn their food waste into something meaningful. Instead of filling our landfill, it's helping build healthy soils, educate our children, and create lasting change in our communities. Many people talk about soil, air, and water pollution. But the real question is: What are YOU doing about it? 🦅🦉. Join us!

07/20/2026

A full-circle moment. ♻️🌱

Today we had the privilege of hosting Jagger, a Sustainable Sandhills intern from NC State University for a hands-on look at community composting and food waste diversion.

Together, we built a compost pile using pre-consumer food waste diverted from Myrover-Reese Recovery Homes ,Vagabond Cafe and wood chips provided by The City of Lumberton, NC Government, turning what was once considered waste into the foundation for healthy soils.

What makes this even more meaningful is that this will be the final compost pile built at this location before Organic Life Amendments transitions to our larger site. There’s something poetic about ending this chapter the same way it began: through collaboration, education, and a shared commitment to building healthier communities from the ground up.

Here’s to the next chapter of From Waste to Wellness. 🌎💚🪱