Schedule for 2012

Feb 7^th is a one day “Back yard Compost Train the Trainer” session.

This one day session is geared toward environmental educators, certified Master Composters and certified Master Gardeners who are looking for ways to “tune up” their teaching skills and engage more people with their message. We’ll look at teaching techniques from across the State, as well as alternative methods of residential composting.

The class is 9a-3p at the Reedy Creek Nature Center, 2900 Rocky River Road, Charlotte NC 28215. 

Feb 14^th is the first day of the County’s Master Composter Training program.

This free 40 hour training program is open to all residents of Mecklenburg County. Applicants must have completed the County's Basic Home Composting workshop and/or have a working knowledge of composting. In return for the training, students are required to give back 40 hours of volunteer time to the Organic Waste Reduction program and its projects. Past projects have included developing a school compost garden, and providing under-served neighborhoods with residential recycling training. The classes will meet weekly on Tuesday mornings from 10am-12noon at the Reedy Creek Nature Center, 2900 Rocky River Road Charlotte, NC 28215.  The classes end April 24^th with a graduation lunch at the St. Alban’s Community Garden in Davidson.

April 21^st is the County’s Annual Compost Bin and Rain Barrel sale.
The County is teaming up once again with Norseman Environmental to offer the Earth Machine for $47 plus tax and the Systern RainBarrel for $58 plus tax. The sale takes place 8a-2p at 700 N. Tryon Street, Charlotte NC 28202. 

For more information and/or an application for the above events, contact Nadine Ford at Nadine.Ford@MecklenburgCountyNC.gov or call her at 704 201 2201.

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Spring Topic Talks 2012: Mecklenburg County Master Composters and  the Charlotte Mecklenburg Library are teaming together  to offer FREE one hour classes Thursday evenings from 6:30p-7:30p in March and April. These classes offer an overview into natural and organic gardening tools for the residential homeowner. The classes are held indoors at the South County Regional Library, 5801 Rea Road, Charlotte NC 28277.  For more information and registration, contact the library at 704 416 6600.

March 8: Bokashi Composting & Deep Mulch Gardening / Anna Brown

Learn the Bokashi method of composting. This easy method allows you to compost ALL food scraps.   Also during this session, you will learn how to use leaves to create a deep mulch gardening system that eliminates tilling, weeding, watering, and is a constant source of nutrients for your growing plants.

March 22: Vermicomposting: Red Wiggles Are Your Best Compost Friends / Lino Scala

Composting with worms is easy, requires very few supplies, and can be done by anyone.  In this hands on demo, learn to turn a simple box or container into a fine worm bin that keeps worms and decomposing food scraps in one area. Composting worms require very little attention, do not get sick, and don't mind if you go on vacation. In addition, these worms are voracious eaters that are extremely happy to spend the day eating organic waste, excreting worm castings and making more worms, providing you with high quality compost!

April 12: Companion Planting / Janet Burlee

Companion planting is the planting of different landscaping plants, or agricultural crops in close proximity on the theory that they assist each other in nutrient uptake, pest control, pollination and other factors necessary to increasing productivity.  During this session, you’ll learn about various companion planting systems, how these approaches can enhance flavors, provide pest control, and be a cornerstone of organic gardening.  Do you plant tomatoes -- make sure there's some basil nearby!  Garlic and roses?  Cucumbers and corn?  Petunias and beans?  Even tansy and fruit trees. Companion planting will help you look at your plant and vegetable gardens in a whole new and exciting way!

April 26: Creating the Healthy Earth Happy Lawn / Geoffrey Huntley

Learn to balance growing a lush and healthy lawn with your commitment to being environmentally conscious.  From fertilizers to soil-balancing agents, these tips are designed to leave the Earth a little bit better than you found it.

I received my copy of Urban Homesteading in the mail a few days ago and the first part I read was the section on composting. We have our active pile 3-bin system, passive pile, worm bin, chickens that do the composting, mulch beds/composting in place, and I trench compost in the raised garden beds.
I feel pretty well covered in the area of composting, but am intrigued: has anyone out there tried the Berkeley Method? Fully composted after 21 days, you get a pretty good workout with this method, but it sounds like it's worth a try.

Holli Richey's blog is an incredible wealth of information about common plants and their uses. Richey hails from Georgia, so we see a lot of the same wild plants. Even if you don't want to drink dandelion tea, might I suggest brewing a compost tea with some dandelion leaves thrown in? Richey explains,

"Dandelion’s saw-toothed leaves are diuretic and high in potassium salts, supporting kidney health. The vitamin-rich leaf is higher in vitamin A than carrots, and also contains vitamins B, C and D."

Especially as we enter tomato season when potassium deficiency is about as common as the dandelion.