New event announcement: Composting and Soil Health

Composting and Soil Health

Saturday, June 15, 2013, 9:30am-3:40pm

Austin Community College, South Campus, Rm 1130

1820 Stassney Lane, Austin TX  78745

Learn about compost positive impact on soil health with an incredible program packed with information and how-to topics.  This is everything you need to know to treat your garden by embracing composting.

Talks include:

Composting – Life After Death

Sheryl Williams, Travis County Master Gardener

Learn how to improve your soil no matter what kind or how much you have by composting kitchen and yard waste.    Find out what compost is, how it fits into the Soil Food Web.  Discover the needs of the microbes in your soil and how to feed and maintain them. 

Some Like it Hot and Some Like it Cold

Acquire knowledge about hot and cold composting and how your plants should determine which type of compost you want to make.  Discover the equipment or supplies needed for success.

Ground to Ground

Lindsay Razzaz, AgriLife Extension’s Horticulture Program Assistant, will tell you about participating in Ground to Ground.  Ground to Ground is a city-wide campaign that diverts nutrient rich spent coffee grounds from landfills, and puts them back to work in our yard, farms, and garden.  Ground to Ground businesses provide free grounds to customers in bags, buckets, or bins.  Just ask how to get grounds at the counter.  And take all you can carry!

Worms Gift to Mankind – Vermiculture

Some of the very best compost is created by worms!  Clyde Adley, Travis and Williamson County Master Gardener, will share the secrets for success.  All phases of vermiculture will be discussed including supplies, worm sources, moisture, heat, food, and harvesting.

Who would like a drink of Compost Tea

Stretch your gardening dollars!  Produce your own “liquid gold”!  Set up a home compost tea brewing system using a 5 gallon bucket equipped with an aquarium pump and air stones to produce 4 gallons of aerated compost tea.  Learn how oxygen and an energy source can grow beneficial microbes to produce compost tea concentrate.  Tommie Clayton, Travis County Master Gardener - Compost Specialist, will share brewing recipes and tips for using this valuable liquid compost as a starter solution, foliar spray and soil drench. 

Zero Waste by 2040! 

The City of Austin’s goal is to reach Zero Waste by 2040, which means reducing the amount of trash sent to landfills by 90 percent.  Austin Resource Recovery has implemented multiple measures to achieve Zero Waste, including a home composting program and rebate.  Learn more about what Austin Resource Recovery is doing and how you can qualify for a rebate on a composting system.

  

$35 registration fee includes box lunch, water, and snacks.  Attendees must register at https://agriliferegister.tamu.edu, keyword: soil or by phone at (979)845-2604.  This event is presented by the Travis County Master Gardeners, a volunteer arm of the Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service in Travis County. www.tcmastergardeners.org. For information, call (512)854-9600. It is not sponsored by Austin Community College.