If not, sign up right away for Long Beach’s free composting class, and instructor Lisa Harris will school you. She is so full of information and enthusiasm that it’s worth it even if you never get around to composting.
The city sponsors the class on the third Saturday of each month to Long Beach residents as a way to lighten the loads of refuse that our valiant garbage collectors must dispose of. Getting compost-ible items like lawn clippings and vegetable scraps out of the garbage trucks and landfills and into gardens and flowerpots is a win-win proposition. To sweeten the deal, the city offers nearly 50% discounts on a selection of composting bins for people who take the class.
“Composting isn’t rocket science,” Lisa reassured us at the beginning of class, pointing out that only four ingredients were necessary – nitrogen (grass and vegetables), carbon (dried leaves and shredded paper), water (moist as a wrung out sponge), and air (turn regularly with a pitchfork or shovel). Between her expert demonstration and the questions from the class, we got all the dirt on the ins and outs of composting.
Saving the best for last, Lisa pulled out the vermiculture trays and had us form a circle to get up close and personal with red wigglers. Yes, as if snails and grubs weren’t enough, we got to sniff worm poop, which is called castings by those of us hip to the composting scene. Holding a pile the rich, dark soil supplement in her cupped hands, Lisa said, “This stuff is the real deal. You’re going to have your friends calling you up in the middle of the night for a supply once they find out how fast it makes their plants grow.” To find out about how she handled twenty thousand runaway worms, you’ll just have to take the class.
Being the nervous Nellie that I am, I opted for the cheapest model, a Presto, for $10, but many in the class of about twenty-five people went full bore, buying two or three different composting bins. Several teachers were eager to set up vermiculture trays in their classrooms. So all you squeamish school kids out there, beware the red wigglers!
The city sponsors the class on the third Saturday of each month to Long Beach residents as a way to lighten the loads of refuse that our valiant garbage collectors must dispose of. Getting compost-ible items like lawn clippings and vegetable scraps out of the garbage trucks and landfills and into gardens and flowerpots is a win-win proposition. To sweeten the deal, the city offers nearly 50% discounts on a selection of composting bins for people who take the class.
“Composting isn’t rocket science,” Lisa reassured us at the beginning of class, pointing out that only four ingredients were necessary – nitrogen (grass and vegetables), carbon (dried leaves and shredded paper), water (moist as a wrung out sponge), and air (turn regularly with a pitchfork or shovel). Between her expert demonstration and the questions from the class, we got all the dirt on the ins and outs of composting.
Saving the best for last, Lisa pulled out the vermiculture trays and had us form a circle to get up close and personal with red wigglers. Yes, as if snails and grubs weren’t enough, we got to sniff worm poop, which is called castings by those of us hip to the composting scene. Holding a pile the rich, dark soil supplement in her cupped hands, Lisa said, “This stuff is the real deal. You’re going to have your friends calling you up in the middle of the night for a supply once they find out how fast it makes their plants grow.” To find out about how she handled twenty thousand runaway worms, you’ll just have to take the class.
Being the nervous Nellie that I am, I opted for the cheapest model, a Presto, for $10, but many in the class of about twenty-five people went full bore, buying two or three different composting bins. Several teachers were eager to set up vermiculture trays in their classrooms. So all you squeamish school kids out there, beware the red wigglers!
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