Composting
Your New Year’s Resolution—turn over a new leaf, or lots of them. Start composting. Recycle your fruit and vegetable waste, and yard and garden trimmings into a rich soil amendment for your garden, all in your own backyard. Composting is simply the natural process of organic matter decomposing. The end product is a soil, a humus-like material—a multivitamin for your garden soil.
Compost:
- improves soil structure by adding organic content, thereby increasing the water-holding capacity of your soil and reducing your need to water
- helps keep heavy clay soil from compacting, making it easier to work; root systems develop better
- gives sandy soil better structure
- promotes soil fertility
- stimulates healthy root development
- aids erosion control
Visit our calendar for composting demonstrations offered at all Fair Oaks Horticulture Center (FOHC) events and other locations.
Below is a collection of resources just for the home gardener.
All About Composting - everything you need to be a successful with compost.
FOHC Composting - demonstration of composting methods at the Fair Oaks Horticulture Center.
Master Gardener Publications and Videos
Note: PDF files open in a new window/tab.
- Composting for the home gardener (PDF 143KB). (EHN 98)
- Composting with worms (PDF 99KB) - basic steps for creating a bin and caring for worms. (GN 144)
- Composting is Good for Your Garden and the Environment (PDF)
Videos
- Problem Solving for Healthy Worms (4:52 min.) - UCCE Master Gardeners of Sacramento County
- Making a Worm Bin (4:57 min.) - UCCE Master Gardeners of Sacramento County
- Harvesting Worm Castings (3:10 min.) - UCCE Master Gardeners of Sacramento County
- Composting: Getting Started (3:47 min.) - UCCE Master Gardeners of Sacramento County
- Composting: ABCs (4:32 min.) - UCCE Master Gardeners of Sacramento County
- Composting: Hot vs Cold (5:29 min.) - UCCE Master Gardeners of Sacramento County
External Resources
- Compost in a Hurry (PDF) - essential steps for creating finished compost in as little as 2 to 3 weeks. (ANR 8037)
- Cornell Composting - composting educational materials, including fact sheets, developed by Cornell University.
- Composting in the Home Garden - University of Illinois Extension.
ANR = free publication from the UC Agriculture and Natural Resources Catalog
PN = free publication from UC Integrated Pest Management
EHN = Environmental Horticulture Notes from the UCCE Master Gardeners of Sacramento County
GN = Garden Notes from the UCCE Master Gardeners of Sacramento County
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