Grow your own

UPDATE: A hundred residents attended the workshop and learned practical tips about how to turn yard and kitchen waste into garden gold!

When it comes to saving water and recycling trash, Ventura residents rank among the best in California. Despite growing by almost a third, we use less water today than the community did back in the mid-Seventies. And in response to the need to keep waste out of the landfill, Ventura diverts 70% of our trash through recycling, composting and waste reduction programs.

Part of this conservation ethic means changes to our landscapes at home. Less green lawns and more green vegetables. Less pesticide and more organic ways to naturally control pests. And composting both garden clippings and kitchen waste to turn into rich soil.

This Saturday, October 10, the City is hosting a "Composting and Gardening Workshop" at Green Thumb Nursery at 1899 S. Victoria. The first hour is a hands on demonstration of how to compost -- including "vermiculture" (putting worms to work for you.) There is a sale on compost and worm bins for more than half off, plus refreshments and prizes.

The second hour gives planting tips for the fall.

I decided to give composting another try after seeing Daryl Wagar demonstration at last year's Summerfest. I started at Lowe's looking for a compost bin, but they were out. I found one at Green Thumb and I invested in a small plastic container from Vons for the kitchen. I bulked up with old bark from our low-water front yard and soon had rich, dark soil in abundance (except to sift out the bark I have to shake it through one of those plastic mesh flats that plants come in.)

This spring/summer, we had quite the harvest from that soil. A big crop of heirloom tomatoes (still coming); green beans; eggplant; pumpkins; squash; carrots; potatoes; basil; mint; and rosemary. The corn and broccoli were the only disappointments. I also used the soil to plant fig, pomegranate, grapefruit and orange trees. It also came in handy on the periodic transplants and replacements of plants in the front (which was featured in Sunset Magazine here.) Check out Surfrider Foundation's "Ocean-friendly gardens" suggestions here.

Hope to see you at Green Thumb. I'm thinking about getting worms . . .