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…

Read More

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…

Read More

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…

Read More

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…

Read More

Sustainability in the Great Outdoors

Summer time and holiday weekends are commonly filled with camping trips and outdoor adventures. As more of us venture into the great outdoors, it is important to pause to make sure you are being aware and considerate to your impact on these beautiful places. Check out a few of our favorite tips and camping-hacks to…

Read More

Are Compost and Soil the Same Thing?

Have you ever found yourself wondering if compost and soil are the same thing?While they are both beneficial, they are not quite the same. We’ll tell you why!  Compost is a small but important part of soil. Compost is made from your decomposed kitchen and yard waste and becomes the living part of soil. Soil is…

Read More

4 Tips For Processing Your Organics at Home

Knowing Food Cycle is so important to many and helps prevent thousands of pounds of food scraps from going to landfills, we wanted to share four ways you can process your food waste at your home during the interim period when our Food Cycle program was on hold. 1. Ensure that you’re maximizing the volume available in your bucket. This…

Read More

Build Better Soil and Improve Profitability with Regenerative Farming

Changing environmental regulations and increasing water costs are a challenge to the profit margins for San Diego farms and ranches. But current scientific research on regenerating soil health shows that carbon farming in addition to growing cash crops can be beneficial both economically and environmentally, including: Improving water retention Restoring degraded soil leading to better,…

Read More

Sifting Compost: What a Fine Idea

Our fervent followers may have noticed and supported our recent trommel fundraising campaign for the Food Cycle program. Thanks to generous donations the trommel was fully funded and is now benefiting Food Cycle “tromm”endously. We are extraordinarily grateful. While our fundraising pitch explained that a trommel can expedite the composting process, we’d like to share…

Read More

Benefits of a Mechanized Trommel

How will Solana Center’s mechanized trommel benefit you? Investing in a trommel has multiple benefits, but the primary purpose for acquiring this equipment is to accommodate the growth of the Food Cycle program and process compost faster. A trommel will: allow the Food Cycle program to grow, serving more local families, individuals and organizations; divert more food…

Read More