EDCO proposes green waste recycling facility in East County

www.nctimes.com

EDCO Waste and Recycling Services will apply for a major use permit for a green material processing, recycling, and composting facility this year. The facility would be located on a 197 acre site on Betsworth Road in Valley Center.

The facility would accept leaves, lawn clippings, brush, and other organic material that would otherwise go to landfills. EDCO expects that 406 tons of green material will be hauled to the site daily. EDCO currently plans to use covered, computer-monitored composting bins to turn the green waste into soil enriching products.

For more information about the proposed project see the full article by the North County Times here.

“Rotline” Question of the Week: Why should I compost?

Photo: www.sunset.com

There are many reasons why everyone should compost. Here are a few that we find most important.

1. Saves you money. Not only does using compost help conserve water but it reduces the need to purchase fertilizers and soil amendments.

2. Benefits your yard and garden. Compost improves soil health and fertility. It can also help prevent erosion. Compost is also great because it can be used instead of harmful chemicals that often run off into our waterways.

3. Conserves water. Compost helps the soil hold more water and reduces the need for frequent watering.

4. Helps the environment! Not only do organic materials take up an unnecessary amount of space in landfills but they also decompose extremely slow. When organic materials decompose in a landfill, they decompose anerobically (without air) which creates methane, a greenhouse gas. By recycling our organic materials, we reclaim them as a resource and greatly minimize the amount of trash we send to the landfill every week.

“Rotline” Question of the Week: How can I tell if my worm bin is too dry?

Moisture content is very important when composting with worms. This is because your red wigglers breathe through their skin and need appropriate moisture to do so. Often times the materials you add will give your bin moisture, but you will find that you will need to add water to obtain appropriate moisture content (especially with warmer weather).

Check your bin: To check your moisture content reach into your bin and grab a handful of the contents. It should feel like a wrung out sponge with few drops of water.

Too dry: A good thing to have near your worm is a spray gun, especially when the weather is a bit warmer. Lightly spray the contents of the bin until it reaches the “wrung out sponge” moisture content.

Too wet: Add some dry shredded paper. This will soak up the excess moisture and your worms will eat it too! Be sure to double check your worm tea level as well as this can often affect the moisture content of your bin. If your collection try is overflowing with worm tea it may be adding extra moisture to the bottom level causing it to be too wet.

View the June 2009 Composter Quarterly Newsletter online!

Click here to view the June 2009 Solana Center Composter Quarterly Newsletter! This edition includes Composting at the San Diego County Fair, how to select a compost bin, upcoming composting workshops and events, worm bin troubleshooting, and more!

To view an archive of the Composting Quarterly newsletter click here or visit the Composting 101 page.

Click here to sign up to receive the Solana Center Composter Quarterly Newsletter!

Solana Center at the San Diego County Fair Click here to read the article

“Rotline” Question of the Week: Do I need a thermometer to compost?

You can definitely compost without a thermometer, but thermometers do make composting a bit easier. Thermometers can help you know when to turn your pile, when to add more material, when to add water, and when your compost is finished. Many composters also enjoy the satisfaction of seeing just how hot their pile can get!

Optimal Temperature: The target range for optimum composting is between 100 and 140 degrees Fahrenheit, where thermophilic (heat-loving) bacteria thrive. This temperature is achieved by having the correct carbon to nitrogen ratio, moisture content, and optimal pile size (3′ x 3′ x 3′).

Low Temperatures: suggest decreased activity, at temperatures under 90 degrees beneficial microbes will go dormant, piles will still break down at low temperatures but will take longer to decompose

High Temperatures: At temperatures over about 130 degrees Fahrenheit, weed seeds and pathogenic organisms will be destroyed. Over 140 degrees thermophilic bacteria will die or go dormant. If your pile heats up over 160 degrees it is suggested to split the pile in half and water it down.

The Solana Center sells Compost Thermometers for $20 on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. during our bin sales. Click here for directions.

The Water Smart Pipeline

Concerned about how to garden in these water-challenging times? Call The Water Smart Pipeline!

866-962-7021 ext. 17
8:00 – 12 p.m. Tuesday mornings and 1:00 – 4:30 p.m. Thursday afternoons

Nan Sterman, instructor of “ByeBye Grass” class, author of California Gardener’s Guide Vol. 2, and host of the gardening television program “A Growing Passion” will answer your questions about water smart landscaping.

Provided by the Water Conservation Garden until the end of 2009.

Food, Inc. in theaters

“In Food, Inc., filmmaker Robert Kenner lifts the veil on our nation’s food industry, exposing the highly mechanized underbelly that has been hidden from the American consumer with the consent of our government’s regulatory agencies, USDA and FDA. Our nation’s food supply is now controlled by a handful of corporations that often put profit ahead of consumer health, the livelihood of the American farmer, the safety of workers and our own environment. We have bigger-breasted chickens, the perfect pork chop, insecticide-resistant soybean seeds, even tomatoes that won’t go bad, but we also have new strains of E. coli—the harmful bacteria that causes illness for an estimated 73,000 Americans annually. We are riddled with widespread obesity, particularly among children, and an epidemic level of diabetes among adults.

Featuring interviews with such experts as Eric Schlosser (Fast Food Nation), Michael Pollan (The Omnivore’s Dilemma, In Defense of Food: An Eater’s Manifesto) along with forward thinking social entrepreneurs like Stonyfield’s Gary Hirshberg and Polyface Farms’ Joel Salatin, Food, Inc. reveals surprising—and often shocking truths—about what we eat, how it’s produced, who we have become as a nation and where we are going from here.”  (www.foodincmovie.com) Visit the Official Web Site.

Click here for a list of Food Inc. release dates and locations.

“Rotline” Question of the Week: My worms ate all of the coconut fiber bedding. What should I do?

Wriggly Wranch Worm Bins come with a brick of coconut fiber bedding to get your worm bin started. It is often sold at hydroponics stores and nurseries. Coconut fiber is great for worm bins as it retains moisture, provides aeration, and gives your red wiggler worms nutrients. It is a renewable resource made from recycled coconut husks.

Coconut fiber is great for bedding but is not the only bedding material that you can use in a worm bin. Moistened shredded paper (newspaper, office paper, cardboard boxes, etc.) works great as well and is readily available. Paper shredders are often quite inexpensive and do a great job preparing the paper for the bin but hand shredding will work as well.

The bottom of a pile of decaying leaves can also be a great source for worm bin bedding. Just make sure to do a quick check for unwanted organisms. If you have manure at hand and would like to use it as worm bedding, make sure it has aged to ensure all salts have leached out and the ph has stabilized. Be sure that the temperature is appropriate for the worms as well. Manure also often contains other organisms such as sowbugs, mites, grubs, or centipedes which some people would rather not have in their bins.

To prepare your bedding for your worm bin, fill a clean bucket with water. Add your bedding and allow it to absorb the water. Wring out the bedding (it should be as moist a wrung out sponge). You can add your bedding by placing a layer on the top of the bin and adding food underneath.

“Rotline” Question of the Week: Where can I get more browns?

Greens, or nitrogen-rich materials, are often easy to come by. When using an outdoor compost bin, many people have trouble locating enough browns to maintain an appropriate nitrogen to carbon ratio. Here are some suggestions from one our Master Composters for locating some local browns for your pile.

Yard trimmings: dried leaves, wood chips, dried plant trimmings

Chipper/shredders: can be a great investment, especially if you have  a lot of wood to chip.

Local tree trimmers: Befriending a local tree trimmer and getting loads dumped of predominantly wood chips is a great method of obtaining browns. Some tree trimmers chip everything, including massive trunks and they will often bring it right to your residence.

Straw:  which is mostly carbon, not hay which has much protein (nitrogen/green) and is expensive.

Shredded paper/cardboard: If you are using very fine greens, paper and cardboard can often get too compact and dense for appropriate aeration. It tends to work best if moistened before added and used with materials that provide good aeration like wood chips.

Free Composting Workshop in Encinitas this Saturday

Don’t miss this free composting workshop this Saturday. The workshop, instructed by Master Composter Diane Hollister, will cover the basics of backyard composting and vermicomposting. Learn how to turn your food scraps and yard trimmings into a rich soil amendment for your garden! Workshop is sponsored by the City of Encinitas and provided by the Solana Center for Environmental Innovation.

Saturday, May 30th
10 – 12 noon
Quail Botanical Gardens
230 Quail Gardens Drive, Encinitas

Click here to pre-register now!