Free compost available to residents in pilot recycling program
Here's why it's called "black gold" -- it doesn't get much richer than this compost from Sacramento County's Waste Management and Recycling program. (H/t Laura Cerles-Rogers) Kathy Morrison
Since July 1. Sacramento County residents have been throwing all kinds of things into their organic waste (formerly green waste) bins: Chicken bones, greasy pizza boxes, used wine corks, snubbed cat food, moldy cheese, salmon skin and many other organic items, not just leaves and grass clippings.
A bizarre combination, to be sure, but the County Waste Management and Recycling program assured us that it would all be acceptable and put to good use.
Over the subsequent months we may have forgotten what the end result might be. But the county's been working hard and, nearly 11 months later, "it's soup." Specifically, all those bits and bones have been cooked into the black gold known as compost.
And it's free for the taking. Monday through Friday, between 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., the county will make compost deliveries to its property at 3843 Branch Center Road (near Bradshaw and Kiefer roads), based on demand.
There are some details. First, you have to shovel the compost yourself, with your own tools, into your own containers. No mechanical loading is allowed. It's available on a first-come, first-served basis, but can be loaded up anytime, 24/7.
The county says it plans to have compost available on demand from spring until early fall. The compost pile will be restocked as necessary.
This process started in California with Senate Bill 1383, which requires that organic materials be kept out of landfills. Each county or city had to come up with its own organic waste recycling program. We previewed the Sacramento program's start in this post last summer. Many people now have the little buckets under their sinks and empty them into the organic waste bins each week.
So what to do with this free compost? (Or any compost, for that matter.) Well, it's a spectacular soil amendment, and also an excellent mulch. What compost is not is plant fertilizer -- though plants certainly benefit from it. Because compost can be made of so many different things, and can be different in each batch, it has no guaranteed list of plant nutrients. That goes for commercial compost as well as the county's -- see photo at right of a bag of commercial organic compost.
So if your roses need a dose of nitrogen or melons require some phosphorus, don't rely on just compost. But the soil they grow in will love it.
Find out more on Sacramento County's compost program here: https://wmr.saccounty.gov/Pages/Self-Serve-Compost.aspx
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Some of our previous posts on compost and composting:
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Garden Checklist for week of April 21
This week there’s plenty to keep gardeners busy. With no rain in the immediate forecast, remember to irrigate any new transplants.
* Weed, weed, weed! Get them before they flower and go to seed.
* April is the last chance to plant citrus trees such as dwarf orange, lemon and kumquat. These trees also look good in landscaping and provide fresh fruit in winter.
* Smell orange blossoms? Feed citrus trees with a low dose of balanced fertilizer (such as 10-10-10) during bloom to help set fruit. Keep an eye out for ants.
* Apply slow-release fertilizer to the lawn.
* Thoroughly clean debris from the bottom of outdoor ponds or fountains.
* Spring brings a flush of rapid growth, and that means your garden is really hungry. Feed shrubs and trees with a slow-release fertilizer. Or mulch with a 1-inch layer of compost.
* Azaleas and camellias looking a little yellow? If leaves are turning yellow between the veins, give them a boost with chelated iron.
* Trim dead flowers but not leaves from spring-flowering bulbs such as daffodils and tulips. Those leaves gather energy to create next year's flowers. Also, give the bulbs a fertilizer boost after bloom.
* Pinch chrysanthemums back to 12 inches for fall flowers. Cut old stems to the ground.
* Mulch around plants to conserve moisture and control weeds.
* From seed, plant beans, beets, cantaloupes, carrots, corn, cucumbers, melons, radishes and squash.
* Plant onion sets.
* In the flower garden, plant seeds for asters, cosmos, celosia, marigolds, salvia, sunflowers and zinnias.
* Transplant petunias, zinnias, geraniums and other summer bloomers.
* Plant perennials and dahlia tubers for summer bloom.
* Mid to late April is about the last chance to plant summer bulbs, such as gladiolus and tuberous begonias.
* Transplant lettuce seedlings. Choose varieties that mature quickly such as loose leaf.
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