Compost for Healthy Soil & Gardening - Workshops - April 27th & 30th

What:  Compost for Healthy Soil Workshop

Presented by: George Mason University Sustainability Institute (MSI)

When: Workshop 1: Wednesday, April 27, 2011. Time: 6:00-7:30 PM.; Workshop 2: Saturday, April 30, 2011. Time: 10:00-11:30 AM.

Where:  Green Acres Center, 4401 Sideburn Road, Fairfax, VA. Room 113

Why: Why do eco-friendly gardeners love compost?

There are few practices which make as much economic and environmental sense as creating compost out of yard wastes and kitchen scraps. Composting yard waste recycles nutrients back into the yard, helps retain moisture and saves landfill space. Composting reduces yard waste volume by 50 to 75 percent. The cost of collecting, hauling, and handling yard trash is a large share of the solid waste management expense.

If you have a space for it, a compost pile or bin can be used to recycle yard wastes and kitchen scraps to make a perfect, nutrient rich soil additive. Not only can you add leaves and clippings from your yard, but fruit and vegetable peelings, fruit pulp from a juicer, dryer lint, coffee grounds, teabags, eggshells, shredded paper and sawdust can all be recycled to provide nutrients for your plants.

To learn more:

The MSI compost workshop will introduce attendees to the basics of at-home composting. Participants will be instructed on creating a simple compost system, and how to use kitchen and lawn waste to make compost. Workshop participants will leave the course with a list of materials needed to start an at-home project. The other half of the lecture will introduce participants to vermiculture, or worm composting; a fascinating, fun and easy way to recycle your kitchen waste into some of the best fertilizer on Earth. Composting Workshop 1 and 2 offer the same educational content.

Registration: Please visit http://tinyurl.com/msi-registration-form
Or, e-mail Danielle Wyman dwyman@gmu.edu for registration inquiries.

Cost: $15. Please bring cash or check at time of registration (exact change requested)

Instructor's Biography:

Dan Schwartz is a graduate of the University of Maryland and holds a B.S. Degree in Environmental Science-Soil Resources. He has been working as a soil scientist for the Northern Virginia Soil and Water Conservation District for the last 8 years. His job duties include updating the county soil survey, helping citizens with erosion and drainage problems, and educating the public about soil and storm water issues. He would like everyone to know that it is called soil, not dirt!

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