Stanislaus County Library Composting Classes
Tuesday, September 6, 2022 at 6:00 p.m. – Salida Library
Saturday, September 10, 2022 at 2:00 p.m. – Riverbank Library
Monday, September 12, 2022 at 6:00 p.m. – Ceres Library
Tuesday, September 20, 2022 at 6:00 p.m. – Oakdale Library
Monday, September 26, 2022 at 6:15 p.m. – Modesto Library
Wednesday, September 28, 2022 at 6:00 p.m. – Turlock Library
Stanislaus County Agricultural Center, Harvest Hall Composting Class
Tuesday, September 27, 2022 at 6:00 p.m. rooms D&E
Turlock Community Gardens
We taught composting at this location in spring, so this month we are offering vermicomposting, the fun and easy way to compost kitchen scraps using red wiggler worms. Children are welcome!
Saturday, September 17, 2022 at 9:00 a.m.
Patterson Library
We are offering a Fall Vegetable Gardening Class at the Patterson Library, in case you missed this class last month at other locations. Class is Wednesday, September 14, 2022 at 2:00 p.m. Composting will be taught at the Patterson Library on October 12 at 2:00 p.m.
Never miss a class, bookmark our online calendar: https://ucanr.edu/sites/stancountymg/Calendar/
/h3>/h3>/h3>/h3>- Author: Anne E Schellman
If you've ever felt confused by the process of composting, you are not alone! Most gardeners experience confusion at some point over the following topics:
What can I compost?
- Kitchen: fruit and vegetable scraps, tea bags, coffee grounds, and eggshells.
- Yard waste: grass clippings (except Bermudagrass), leaves, pine needles, and shredded wood chips.
- Rotted manures from non-meat-eating animals are allowed, but not necessary.
What shouldn't I compost?
- Avoid animal products (meat, bones, fish, grease, dairy).
- Ashes from the fireplace or BBQ (can cause pH imbalance in soil).
- Sawdust from treated wood.
- Dirt: this ends up making it heavy and too hard to turn.
- Avoid diseased plants.
- Most weeds.
What are “greens” and “browns” and why does it matter?
Greens are rich with nitrogen, and browns contain carbon. Don't get bogged down by reading about the ratios of how much of each to use. Bottom line? You need to add equal amounts of greens and browns. The easiest way to do this is by using two 5-gallon buckets.
Greens examples
Vegetable & fruit scraps, grass clippings, coffee grounds, and rotted manures.
Browns examples
Dry leaves, straw, sawdust, wood chips, corn stalks, cardboard, and paper.
Composting Tips
Make sure all items added to the pile are chopped or shredded to at least 1 ½” in size. Otherwise they won't break down equally. The best size for a pile is 3x3 to 3x5.
For more information including what compost system to choose, which compost method to use, how often to turn your pile, pests, troubleshooting, and a general demystification of the composting process, watch our Composting Basics presentation! You can download the handout on our Classes and Workshops page. https://ucanr.edu/sites/stancountymg/Classes/
- Author: Terry Pellegrini
Composting is a fabulous way to turn your garden waste into garden gold. By taking your dry waste and combining it with your green waste, you can transform it into a rich, usable material to enhance your soil. You can also use it as a mulch around plant beds to reduce weeds and fill your containers and pots without the cost of store-bought soils.
Not only is composting good for your garden, but it is also good for the environment. By composting your garden (and some kitchen) wastes you are conserving precious landfill space, reducing the need for commercial soil conditioners and fertilizers, as well as adding beneficial microbes and nutrients back into the soil. Compost, either added to the soil or used as a mulch, saves on water usage as well.
Turn your compost every day or two (for rapid composting), or once per week. Check to make sure it isn't too wet or too dry (it should feel about as moist as a wrung out sponge) and protect it from the weather (a tarp or covering to keep out intense heat or rain) and in no time you'll have rich, usable compost.
Composting is a science but still, things can go wrong. The number one complaint I've heard from friends is, “My compost always turns out stinky and I give up.” Stinky compost is a sign of an imbalance in your pile. A healthy compost pile should smell earthy and not look wet and slimy. Trust me, stinky compost is a real turn-off. I should know – it's happened to me on occasion. Checking your moisture levels, adding in additional brown materials if needed, and making sure to turn your pile will help with this issue.
Don't let composting scare you. It can be a fun and rewarding way to give back to the environment, save money and water, and enhance your landscape. With a little bit of work, a pile of waste becomes the garden gold we all desire. Still have questions about composting?
Sign up for our Composting Basics class!
When: November 24, 2020 6-7:30 p.m. PST.
Where: on Zoom.
How: http://ucanr.edu/compost/2020 sign up by Nov 24 at 4 p.m. to receive a link sent the morning of the class.
Instructors: Master Gardeners Terry Pellegrini and Heidi Aufdermaur.
And remember, all classes are recorded so you can always watch it again later.
Hope to see you there!
- Author: Kat Kerlin
- Contributor: Ann King Filmer
Last week, on Earth Day, the university and Sacramento-based technology partner CleanWorld unveiled the UC Davis Renewable Energy Anaerobic Digester (READ) at the campus' former landfill. Here, the anaerobic digestion technology Zhang invented is being used inside large, white, oxygen-deprived tanks. Bacterial microbes in the tanks feast on campus and community food and yard waste, converting it into clean energy that feeds the campus electrical grid.
“This technology can change the way we manage our solid waste,” Zhang said. “It will allow us to be more economically and environmentally sustainable."
It is the third commercial biodigester CleanWorld has opened using Zhang's technology within the past two years and is the nation's largest anaerobic biodigester on a college campus.
The system is designed to convert 50 tons of organic waste to 12,000 kWh of renewable electricity each day using state-of-the-art generators, diverting 20,000 tons of waste from local landfills each year. It is expected to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 13,500 tons per year.
The READ BioDigester encompasses several of the university's goals: reducing campus waste in a way that makes both economic and environmental sense, generating renewable energy, and transferring technology developed at UC Davis to the commercial marketplace.
The biodigester will enable the more than 100 million tons of organic waste each year that is currently being landfilled in the U.S. to be converted to clean energy and soil products. The READ BioDigester is a closed loop system, moving from farm to fork to fuel and back to farm. Whatever is not turned into biogas to generate renewable electricity can be used as fertilizer and soil amendments — 4 million gallons of it per year, which could provide natural fertilizers for an estimated 145 acres of farmlands each day.
Nearly half of the organic waste, or feedstock, needed to operate the biodigester to full benefit will come from UC Davis dining halls, animal facilities and grounds. CleanWorld is working with area food processing and distribution centers to supply the remaining amount. Meanwhile, UC Davis will earn 100 percent of the project's green energy and carbon credits and receive all of the electricity generated.
Anaerobic digestion is an age-old process. However, Zhang's patented technology made it more efficient — capable of eating a broader variety and bigger quantity of waste, turning it into clean energy faster and more consistently than other commercial anaerobic biodigesters.
View a video about the UC David biodigester here:
(This blog post is condensed from a UC Davis news release about the biodigester.)
Additional information:
- Read the full press release
- Download biodigester photos
- Vine video: From lunch to lights
- Visit http://www.cleanworld.com/
- Author: Alec Rosenberg
A counselor brought out a bucket containing all of the food leftovers from the plates of the sixth graders, their teachers, naturalists and parent chaperones. It was empty. The crowd cheered: The group had met its goal of zero waste.
The camp made me think about how much food we throw away on a regular basis. Americans waste almost 27 percent of all the food produced in the United States each year. That’s the equivalent of around one pound of food a day for each American.
How can we do better? At the camp, they eat when everyone is hungry, serve small portions and choose items such as pizza and salad that lend themselves to minimal leftovers. What are college campuses doing when faced with the challenge of all-you-can-eat buffets? Actually, quite a lot.
The University of California has been a sustainability leader, working toward an ambitious goal of zero waste by 2020. Take for example UC Davis, home to the nation’s “Coolest School,” an award-winning eco-friendly football stadium, a student farm and robust waste reduction efforts in dining services.
UC Davis Dining Services has reduced plate waste by more than 40 percent in three years, going from 3.6 ounces per person to less than 2 ounces. Danielle Lee, sustainability manager with UC Davis Dining Services, explained some of the key steps that led to the change:
- Trayless dining: Without trays, students only take as much food as they can grab, instead of piling on more than they can consume.
- Try-a-taste program: Students can sample new entrees to see if they like them, instead of getting a big portion of something they may not want to eat.
- Bunless dining: Staff built a tower of leftover buns from hamburgers, turkey burgers and veggie burgers, encouraging students to ask for burgers without buns.
- Waste audits: What’s bigger than a bun tower? The waste buffet spread on top of tables during the waste audits each fall and spring. Students are so surprised by how much waste is generated that they improve their eating habits, Lee said.
- Feedback from staff and students: Dining services meets regularly with staff to review menus, track portions and reduce waste. Also, it seeks student comments and consults with a board of student representatives – among the changes, offering smaller bowls for Mongolian barbecue, limiting leftovers.
With UC Davis dining serving 1.8 million meals a year, these actions add up.
“You’re saving quite a bit of money, energy and resources,” Lee said.
For the food that is uneaten, much of it is composted: 550 tons of organic waste a year, with some turned into renewable energy at a biogas facility that uses UC Davis technology.
Overall, UC Davis diverts almost 75 percent of all its waste – the UC target for this year – from the landfill. To get to the next level, UC Davis will need to improve its recycling of plastics, Lee said.
UC’s efforts to increase sustainability are worth it, said Lee, who began advocating for waste reduction as a UC Davis student, coordinating with campus cafes to compost their coffee grounds.
“I’ve been able to continue the work,” Lee said. “This is my dream job.”
It’s a reminder to think about what you need the next time you dine or shop for groceries. Watch not only what you eat but how much you eat. Be judicious. Serve appropriate portions. Waste not, want not.