Locals Loving Lavender: Earth & Essence with Ernie from Compost Culture
- Karen
- Jun 7
- 4 min read
Updated: Jun 15
At Wine Country Lavender, we love connecting with fellow nature lovers and changemakers in the Hunter Valley who share our passion for sustainability, well-being, and all things calming. In our blog series Locals Loving Lavender, we explore the stories of community members who have a special connection to lavender, whether through their work, their rituals, or simply their love of nature.
This week, we’re chatting with Dr Ernie Harbott, the inspiring founder of Compost Culture, a compost collaborator encouraging and empowering everyone across the region to compost (where every second person you talk to seems to know Ernie!). A long-time environmental educator, with great community spirit, an advocate for living in harmony with the Earth - and not to mention a PhD in biogeochemistry and recently nicknamed "The Queen of Hunter Valley Composting" by none other than Costa - Ernie blends her passion for soil with self-care, using lavender as a gentle reminder to slow down, breathe, and refresh. In this blog, she shares her journey with compost, her favourite green practices, and how lavender has found its way into her regular rituals as a grounding, calming, and natural scent.
Ernie & Her Composting Journey
Ernie's vivid memories of her father's DIY professional brick bay compost system, where the initial steps in her composting journey. "I was fascinated with how you could turn a waste into a resource. That potential for sustainability still drives me. But what really inspired me to turn composting into a business was the joy. I was standing knee-deep in compost, blissed out on the high that compost microbes induce, and thought I should find a way to do this every day. It was then that I decided if I wanted to do what I loved every day and set an example to my kids, I would have to start a compost business".
Quickly realising the importance of education accompanied by hands-on support, she started her composting business. "As a compost collaborator I consult, coach, train and educate residents, small businesses, farmers, schools, community groups, councils, and organisations in the science of compost making. I offer system set-ups, soil and compost bioassessments and testing, audits, waste management solutions, advice purchasing equipment and training in the equipment. What I love most about compost collaboration is I get my hands dirty doing a huge variety of tasks, no single day is ever the same, and I learn so much from always doing something different".
Ernie is passionate about nutrient-rich produce. "Part of the reason our food is making us sick is the damage we’ve done to the soil growing it. If we want to regain our health, we have to grow healthier food, and that starts with restoring the soil. Compost is only a part of the solution. But it’s the part I’m passionate about".
Everyday Rituals & Eco Living
One of Ernie's favourite eco-friendly slow-living practices includes food preparation, especially with ingredients she's grown or know where they’ve come from - last year she only put her red bin out once! For anyone wanting to live more sustainably, Ernie recommends joining her Facebook group: Soil Sisters Singleton (which has an international following and welcome blokes too) where she provides 'baby' steps on living sustainably, tips on how to reduce waste, soil preparation, and self-care. Ernie encourages everyone to give it a go as "you can’t fail at composting, there's a solution to fit every situation, and every person can make a difference. You can manage an enclosed system or one that doesn’t require turning in a small space. You can keep a worm farm or a bokashi bin indoors or on a balcony. You can donate your organic waste to a composting neighbour or local community garden. You can even freeze kitchen scraps until you have enough worth donating", explains Ernie.
Lavender & Living Naturally
Ernie does not use beauty products, cleaning products or fragrances, and instead uses plants or essential oils. "Lavender - a staple in any granny’s garden when I was growing up - reminds me of my maternal grandmother. I remember picking it and making potions with it. Sometimes my grandmother would steep it in hot water and rinse our hair with it after a bath. I suppose it relaxed us for sleep. We keep a spray bottle in the fridge full of water and a few drops of lavender essential oil. On a hot day we spritz ourselves with it straight from the fridge. I used to use the same bottle to spritz the kids bed linen when they were little to help them sleep. We don’t turn to our gardens or nature for solutions often enough these days. We’re too quick to pop a pill or look in a packet. Our food should be our medicine and we should look to plants to heal us. I grow a lot of edible plants and encourage the kids to “forage”, hoping they’ll make their own potions".
I have a very busy life and I have to make an effort to remind myself to slow down. A smear of lavender essential oil on the back of my neck calms me for a day at work, or a drop on the pillow at night soothes me to sleep.
Fast Five with Dr Ernie
Favourite thing to compost? Underpants - it always makes people smile.
Most underrated item people should compost? The contents of their FOGO bin – don’t send it away, the richest compost you can get is the one you make yourself. If you care enough to separate it, you might as well compost it.
Go-to ritual for winding down? Writing in my gratitude journal before bed.
Best scent combo with lavender? Clean bed sheets
Lavender in one word? Calming
Read more about Ernie’s journey here or reach out to join a Compost and Coffee session she organises monthly.
Just like composting helps us return to the earth and honour nature’s pace, lavender reminds us to relax and slow down. Do you have a passion for lavender? Would you like to be a featured guest on Locals Loving Lavender? Get in touch!
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