The Benefits of Composting as a Family

Teaching kids how to be responsible stewards of our home planet can start in their early years! Along with spending time in nature, composting is a great way to introduce children to the environment and the science behind many natural systems. When we teach kids how composting works and get the whole family involved, they…

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Rotline: How often do I turn my compost pile?

Rotline Question: How often do I turn my compost pile? Answer: We love this question, mainly because the answer is so incredibly forgiving. How often you turn your compost depends on what you are planning to do with it.   For example, will you be feeding your house plants once in a while or amending the soil in your six…

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3 Composting Myths Debunked

Composting is a rewarding practice for so many reasons. It allows you to prevent waste by creating healthy soil, provides organic material to help store more water in the ground, and can even benefit your wallet by decreasing the need for frequent trash pickup. But we’ll be the first to admit that getting started with composting can be intimidating – especially…

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Join the Kitchen Caddy Challenge!

putting food into kitchen caddy for composting

We’re encouraging you to join the Kitchen Caddy Challenge! Why a Kitchen Caddy Challenge?  For even a single day, setting aside the amount of organic food waste you produce in your kitchen into a portable caddy or bowl separate from the trash receptacle can be an eye-opening endeavor. If you commonly throw organic waste such as food scraps or…

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Mental Wellness And Gardening

Written by Master Composter Volunteer Mary Purpura, MA, HTR If you garden and compost, you know there are many physical benefits. Digging, hand tilling and turning compost piles can all increase your heart rate, offering a boon to your cardiovascular system. Weeding and planting maintain and improve hand strength. All that time spent outdoors tying…

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Carbon Farming for Climate Resilience

Did you know that San Diego is fortunate to have more small farms than any other county in the nation? With the unique combination of urban and rural landscapes, San Diego was one of the first southern California regions to adopt the framework for carbon farming pioneered by the Marin Carbon Project.  Carbon farming describes a variety of agricultural…

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Interview with Sarah Owens | Food Cycle Feature

We connected with Encinitas-local cookbook author of Sourdough, Toast and Jam and  Heirloom: Time Honored Techniques, Nourishing Traditions, and Modern Recipes. Sarah is a naturally-leavened baker, professional horticulturist, and culinary instructor who believes strongly in the power of baking to foster community and social change. She is an advocate of regenerative agricultural practices to rebuild…

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Biochar: A Valuable Composting Ingredient

Article written by Master Composter volunteer, Melody Plan. What is biochar? Before the bins, compost thermometers, and subsidized compost vouchers, our ancestors buried char: wood, manure, or leaves cooked at a relatively low temperature in a low-oxygen environment over a long period of time, directly into the ground to fertilize the soil. You may say “That sounds…

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Benefits of Compost and Mulch on Fire-Damaged Land

2020 has become the largest wildfire season recorded in California’s modern history as wildfires have devastated many parts of state this year. As of October, 4,267,386 acres have burned so far and we’re still not quite in the clear yet. We are all looking to the coming months to bring much-needed rainfall for our state, allowing us to start to…

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Food Cycle Participant Spotlight: Sustainable Shelby

We love our Food Cycle participants! Solana Center is proud to bring the Food Cycle program to the County of San Diego. The community compost program makes it possible for Food Cycle members to divert organic materials from the landfill without having to compost it on their own. Participants simply collect their food scraps and…

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