Solana Center for Environmental Innovation
137 N. El Camino Real
Encinitas, CA 92024
(760) 436-7986
info@solanacenter.org
www.solanacenter.org
Visit the Solana Composter Blog!
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Upcoming Workshops
All workshops are FREE
and open to the public
Register Now!
El Cajon Composting Workshop
Saturday, Sept. 6
10 a.m. - 12 noon
Water Conservation Garden
12122 Cuyamaca College
San Diego Composting Workshop
Saturday, Sept. 20
9 a.m. - 11 a.m.
San Diego Zoo
Otto Center, one block south of main entrance, Balboa Park
Encinitas Composting Workshop
Saturday, Sept. 20
10 a.m. - 12 p.m.
Quail Botanical Gardens
230 Quail Gardens Drive
*Vermicomposting*
Click here for a full list of upcoming workshops
this fall!
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Upcoming Events
Sustainability Fair
Tuesday, Aug. 19
10 a.m. - 5 p.m.
California Center for Sustainable Energy
8690 Balboa Avenue
Kearny Mesa
Environmental Awareness Festival
Saturday, Sept. 13
10 a.m. - 2 p.m.
Harry Griffin
Park
9550 Milden Street
La Mesa
Wild Animal Park
Annual Garden Festival: Fall into Bloom
Saturday, Oct. 4
9 a.m. - 4 p.m.
15500 San Pasqual Valley Road, Escondido
Truckload Bin
Sale and Compost
Demonstrations
Saturday, Oct. 25
9 a.m. - 3 p.m.
Water Conservation Garden
12122 Cuyamaca College
El Cajon
during the California Friendly Gardening
Festival
Click here for more information about upcoming events!
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The Compost Program is looking for Interns
The Compost Program is currently in search of interns to assist with outreach to children
at schools, composting workshops, booths at events and designing
brochures and other promotional materials. Work would also include
selling compost bins and answering the 'rotline' for composting
questions. Training will be provided. In addition, independent research
projects are encouraged. Help create a more sustainable and waste free
San Diego!
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Feeding Frenzy Fridays at Curie Elementary
By Mary Ricci and Laura Cartier
Rather than awaiting the final bell to ring on Friday
afternoons, students at Curie Elementary anxiously wait for something very
different, a Feeding Frenzy! Every Friday left over lunch scraps are collected
to feed the worms inside the Curie Elementary Worm Bin. Curie has taken
vermicomposting school-wide. From kindergarten to 5th grade, each month
a different grade level maintains the bin.
Vermicomposting has also been
incorporated into the curriculum at Curie Elementary. Lessons are taught
on worm anatomy, composting methods, and the effects of worm castings on the
plants. Castings are harvested from the bin to help keep classroom garden beds
healthy and thriving without the use of chemicals and store bought products. Mary Ricci, P.T.A. President, believes that vermicomposting
has truly affected the students at Curie Elementary. Not only are students
learning about recycling, composting, and worms but they even seem to be eating
healthier! At a school garden event this year, Ricci said the children were so
excited about tasting the wonderful vegetables they had grown that plates of
cookies were left untouched. Some children are even asking their parents for
healthy snacks so they can feed the worms their leftovers! Parents are getting "hooked"
on vermicomposting as well and volunteer to help with the garden and worm bin.
Inspired? Get your child involved!
Vermicomposting Programs for Pre-K - 12th grade
offered by the Solana Center
Hands on learning about composting, recycling,
worm anatomy, ecosystems, and more! School programs meet funding
requirements for school garden grants.
- Classroom Vermicomposting Presentations: Start a desktop worm bin in your class!
- Lunchroom
Vermicomposting Program: School-wide composting!
- Group Presentations: For Girls/Boys Scouts, home schools, and other children's groups. Take a tour of the Solana Center garden and Compost Demonstration Site!
- Have a "Green" Birthday Party!
For more information about Vermicomposting Programs for Kids contact Leslie
Barnes, Compost Program Coordinator (760) 436-7986 ext. 217 leslie@solanacenter.org
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Sheet Composting
A Soil Enriching Alternative
By Master Composter Jerry Louis
Sheet composting, also called sheet mulching or lasagna gardening, is a great way to reclaim land previously overridden by groundcovers or weeds by simply lay ering materials that will decompose. Rather than pulling out sod and tilling the soil, sheet composting builds upon the soil that already exists. Materials added on top of the soil break down in a couple of months and help build a rich, loose soil. This process more closely mimics nature's soil-building process - imagine a forest floor covered with rotting logs, decomposing leaves, and animal scat.
While sheet composting may not replace other forms of
composting, it can improve the fertility of areas of your garden with
relatively little work. Converting a lawn into a food garden or flower
garden would be a perfect application of this technique. Both mulching
and sheet composting do much to not only enrich soil for later
cultivation, but also prevent soil erosion, reduce the evaporation of
water from the soil, and inhibit weed growth.
 Sheet composting includes many advantages, the key being the ability to create new and fertile garden sites without a separate compost pile. Sheet composting includes a slow rate of decomposition and is not compatible with composting all materials such as kitchen scraps or weeds, since this process does not create the appropriate temperatures to kill weed seeds and pathogens. The best materials to use are leaves, grass clippings, coffee grounds, straw, and paper.
Have space, organic materials and time? Try sheet composting! Click Here to learn how!
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The Value of Composting
By Stephen Rodrigues
Compost Program Intern
Not only does composting improve
your garden but it also helps fight climate change and is much cheaper in the
long run. For example, if Americans composted their kitchen scraps and green
materials from their yards, it would have the same effect on climate change as
closing down over 20 percent of U.S.
coal-fired power plants!
In addition to preventing climate
change, the "true cost" of composting is 60 percent lower than the
lowest alternative option, such as sending organics to the landfill, according
to a study done in Ontario, Canada.
When the value of the environmental benefits are factored in, composting has a
significantly lower cost than landfilling (with gas flaring and recovery for
electricity generation) and energy-from-waste. Add in the value of using
compost created for your garden or farm, and you'll see that when you throw
your organic materials in the trash, you are throwing money away!
Click here to read more!
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Master Composters Making a Difference
Jim Carleton
Master Composter since 1999
 For
the past 9 years Jim has assisted the Solana Center with countless
community events and constructed several large worm bins for School Vermicomposting Programs. Jim is an amazing mentor and his dedication to the Compost Program
is truly inspiring. Jim is also a skilled papermaker and very involved
in his community of Escondido.
Rebecca Randall
Master Composter since 2007
 Rebecca helped implement the high school mentorship program, training high
school students to give compost presentations at elementary schools. She has also given a number of school vermicomposting presentations and assisted many composting workshops and community events. Rebecca has made amazing contributions to the Compost Program at the Solana Center and is truly an inspiring educator and advocate. Rebecca is currently a massage therapist and doula with an office in Solana Beach. www.touchofarnica.com
Learn the art and science of composting, join a community of composting volunteers, and promote composting in your community!
Register online at www.solanacenter.org!
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