Brown gold

Fruit and veg peels, rinds, stalks and  stems, leaves, dead flowers, grass clippings, weeds, cardboard, brown paper bags and paper towels all   go to make this perfect compost, with the help of red tiger worms, woodlice, slugs and a bunch of micro-organisms that break down the tough skins and fibres as they extract what they need. Leaving behind them this sweet-smelling and nutritious "compôte".

(Hmm, the circumflex over the letter 'o' seems mostly to be omitted now which is a pity because it indicates the former presence of the letter 's' - the two words compost and compote being originally identical in their Latin meaning of a mixture.)

Every day I spend a while dipping my hands into the compost (which I have transferred from the heap to an old dustbin). Its perfume delights me and its qualities encourage me to sow more seeds and nurture more  veg. 

I've often thought that composting would be the best way to dispose of our dead bodies - and it is possible according to this  which is called terramation.

But then again, there are so many options to consider:
*direct cremation - swift, cheap and no-frills; 
*donation to medical science - useful but they must get so many old female bodies already;
*burial on our own land  to nurture the woodland regeneration (current favourite).

My preferred method of disposal, sky burial, is not available in the UK.

It is of course a privilege to be able to ponder this subject at all.