Over the next two weekends, folks from small farms, community gardens, parks, schools and some businesses can dig deeper into composting — and improve the world and stay ahead of the law — through a series of free workshops and field trips.
The first two workshops are scheduled to be held from 9:30 a.m. to noon and from 1 p.m. to 3:30 p.m. Saturday at the San Diego County Farm Bureau’s Escondido offices. The morning session will discuss composting basics; the afternoon session will talk about state and local land use regulations.
A third workshop, featuring a hands-on compost build, is scheduled from 9 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. Sunday at Terra Madre Gardens in Escondido. On Saturday, June 18, five separate field trips are scheduled at various times and locations around the county to give people guided, behind-the-scenes tours of working composting operations.
The events are free, but require registration and $10 to $20 refundable deposits to reserve space. Deposits will be returned at the events. There will be no refunds for canceled reservations, or after the individual events.
The events are being put on by the Solana Center, Farm Bureau and the County Department of Public Works’ Recycling Division to help businesses affected by a new state law. Assembly Bill 1826 took effect April 1. The law aims to cut greenhouse gas emissions and global warming, and it targets businesses that generate eight cubic yards a week — roughly eight small truckloads — of organic waste like leaves, grass, fruit, vegetable and food remains. Those businesses will now have to keep that waste out of landfills by composting it themselves, or paying to have it done.
San Diego County is ripe for composting education. It has more than 6,500 small farms (under 10 acres in size) — more than any other county in the U.S. — and a growing number of community gardens.
Composting advocates, meanwhile, say composting does more than keep organic waste out of landfills where it can create harmful methane.
Organic compost can re-inject helpful nutrients into the soil, cut water use, improve crop production and save growers money by not having to buy soil amendments.
The full series of workshops and field trips include:
- Building Healthy Soil: Saturday, June 11 9:30 a.m. to noon San Diego County Farm Bureau, 1670 E. Valley Parkway, Escondido
- Mid-Scale Composting Regulations Presentation: Saturday June 11 1 p.m. to 3:30 p.m. San Diego County Farm Bureau, 1670 E. Valley Parkway, Escondido
- Mid-Scale Compost Build Workshop: Sunday June 12 9 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. Terra Madre Gardens, 9928 Protea Gardens Road, Escondido
- Field Trip; Composting at Pathfinder Farm: Saturday June 18 9 a.m. to 9:50 a.m. Pathfinder Farms, 2101 Marilyn Lane, San Marcos
- Field Trip; Composting at Costanzo Family Farm: Saturday June 18 10:15 to 11:10 a.m. Costanzo Family Farm, 20089 Elfin Forest Lane, Escondido
- Field Trip to Ramona High School: Saturday June 18 Noon to 12:45 p.m. Ramona High School, 1401 Hanson Lane, Ramona
- Field Trip; Restaurant Composting at the Red Door Farm: Saturday June 18 2 p.m. to 2:45 p.m. The Red Door Farm meeting location, 1201 Avocado Blvd., El Cajon
- Field Trip: Composting at Cuyamaca College: Saturday June 18 3 p.m. to 3:45 p.m. Cuyamaca College Intergenerational Garden, 900 Rancho San Diego Pkwy, El Cajon
- Field Trip: Composting at Sweetwater Regional Park: Saturday June 18 4:10 p.m. to 4:45 p.m. Sweetwater Summit Regional Park, 3218 Summit Meadow Road, Bonita For more information about composting in general, go to the County of San Diego Department of Public Works Recycling Composting Web page.