It’s clearly spring, when a young man’s fancy turns to…compost – as does the fancy of all kinds of folks, judging from the phone calls, emails, and drop-in questions we’re getting these days. Just in time to meet your cravings to compost, there are some great events and resources you should know about.
Need a bin?
On Saturday, May 22 nd, the Boulder County Master Composters are hosting a compost bin sale from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the Boulder County Recycling Center, located in east Boulder at 1901 63rd Street, just north of Arapahoe. (All you recyclers know where that is.) The bins will be sold for a special one-day only price of $50. This is a deal, because the same bins regularly retail for $60 to $80.
The bins are easily dismantled, so you won’t need to borrow a truck. They hold 12 cubic feet, are durable, and feature a locking lid to keep wildlife out and keep moisture in. They’re Greenline’s Soilmaker TM bins and are the number one recommended compost bin by Boulder County Master Composters.
Need the advice of a compost expert?
Drop by the bin sale, because Master Composters, experts in the community who are trained to educate others about composting, will be on hand at the Compost Bin Sale to answer individual composting questions. There will also be two free Basics of Composting seminars from 10 a.m. to noon and from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m. You can also buy plants from Boulder County Master Gardeners at the same location from 9-11am. If that bin sale date doesn’t work for you, you can pre-order a compost bin by calling the Center for ReSource Conservation at 303-441-3278. When you call, ask about more extensive Master Composter trainings.
Looking for compost to use as a soil amendment?
You can buy bagged, finished compost at any garden store, or from Farmer John at the Boulder Farmers’ Market. Eco-Cycle has a new compost product available called “compost tea” made from worm castings, available at our new booth at the Saturday Boulder Farmers’ Market. While there’s been a lot of buzz from folks wondering if the tea helps regulate your digestive system or increase your chi, you don’t want to drink this tea, it’s for your soil.
As organic material passes through the gut of a worm, it is converted to “castings” – stable little balls of nutrients teeming with beneficial soil organisms that are readily available for uptake by plant roots. Eco-Cycle brews the castings into a tea that can then be used as a liquid soil amendment – it’s Boulder County’s first microbe-brew. Many soils have very low levels of microbial activity due to pesticide and fungicide use, and depletion. Applying the tea immediately boosts soil microbe populations which go to work digesting organic material and stimulating plant growth.
If that’s a lot of “blah blah blah” to you, let me give you the bottom line. Eco-Cycle has been doing our own scientific trials on different plants, and people passing by our booth stop in their tracks when they see the difference between plants watered with the casting tea and plants given only water. In our houseplant trial, the tea-fed plants are using 1/4 the water because the microbes help maintain moisture. If that translates into water savings on our turf trial, it could mean dollar savings for your water bill. All the plants are clearly hardier, larger, and the resistance to pests has been phenomenal. Come to the market to see the difference yourself or view pictures online at www.ecocycle.org!
page last modified June 2004
