Starting a composting business might not be everyone’s dream, but it’s a labor of love for Tim and Beth Kiefer (pictured above).
The husband-and-wife team started their business, Perennial City Composting, earlier this year to provide residential composting services to the St. Louis community. The company gets subscribers from its website and delivers a bucket to people’s homes. Every week or so, the Kiefers pick up the bucket and deliver a new one to subscribers.
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“I want our system to inspire people to rethink what they’re throwing out,” Beth says. “It’s funny to see what we, as American consumers, consider not good. Our business helps people rethink what they throw away and how you can be sustainable with minimal effort.”
The idea seems to be catching on. Perennial City is adding subscribers every day and is already at two full days of pickup. The company diverts about 2,000 pounds of compostables a week, Tim says, laying a solid foundation for a growing business.
The Kiefers also started work recently on 2.5 acres of vacant land in the West End and Visitation Park neighborhoods. The couple uses the compost they pick up every week to nourish the lots. One side of the land has woodchips for composting and the beginnings of an edible perennials garden. The other side has chickens to nourish the soil.
“We’re at the farm three times a day or sometimes I’m here all day,” Tim says. “Some people hear that and say, ‘I’ll keep my job, thank you.’ But if I had a nine-to-five job, this is what I’d do when I got off work. I feel lucky to get to do it all the time.”
Perennial City represents a shared passion for food and agriculture for the couple. Tim founded Food Pedaler, a bicycle-based food delivery business, in 2013. He met Beth, a dietician student at SLU, while he was making one of his first deliveries to a residence hall. “We talked for 45 minutes about urban agriculture, fermentation, and goats. It was our first ever talk and that conversation never ended,” Tim says.
The couple has big plans for Perennial City. Eventually, they’d like to start an urban academy that gives individuals interested in farming a chance to pursue their career goals.
The Kiefers also want to serve as an example to the rest of the St. Louis community. They say there are tens of thousands of acres of vacant land in the city, and people can make the land more productive by using it for sustainable agriculture.
“St. Louis was ready for someone to do what we’re doing, and this is our platform now for growing really good food,” Tim says. “It’s exciting how well it’s working.”
