Whether experienced or aspiring, St. Louis Composting encourages gardeners from across the bi-state area to join in celebrating International Compost Awareness Week (ICAW), May 5-11, 2013! This year’s theme is “Compost… Nature’s Way to Grow!”
Planned activities span the globe with events scheduled across the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, Ireland, Europe and Australia. Compost-ing advocates will encourage everyone, everywhere, to compost.
St. Louis Composting is doing its part by hosting community events May 7 and at two of our composting centers plus a workshop May 11 at Valley Park. Enjoy complimentary BBQ, snacks and veggies that grow GREAT in St. Louis Composting’s compost and soil blends. All events start at 11 a.m.
May 7 – at the Fort Bellefontaine Compost Facility in Florissant, Mo. (13060 County Park Road)
May 8 – at the Belleville, IL Facility (5841 Mine Haul Rd.) and then, at noon, Saturday,
May 11 – at Valley Park, St. Louis Composting will present its popular “Give Compost a GROW at Home” workshop. Learn all about compost from the experts – including alternative composting methods and options – and how to start your own compost pile.
Home composters will be available to order plus those who complete the workshop will receive one free cubic yard of compost to take home! (Free compost available only May 11, 2013.)
If you’d like to put your garden on the path to producing an abundant crop in 2013 and beyond, this is the workshop to attend! No registration required. Just show up ready to COMPOST!
For many families in the bi-state region, “Nature’s Way to Grow” means planting a backyard vegetable garden – the ultimate way to go green and assure that the produce they set on their tables is same-day fresh and packed with nutrition. As any seasoned vegetable gardener will attest, the best way to boost yields is to condition garden soil with compost. Compost delivers four primary benefits, all of which are beneficial to the environment.
- Compost improves plant/turf quality. Compost reduces spring transplant shock and over the long term, decreases plant stress response to drought, disease and insects. Because compost piles generate intense heat, compost is free of weeds, insects and insect eggs/larvae. Compost also reduces salt damage and provides nutritional balance.
- Compost helps soil stay productive year after year. Water, whether from clouds or from a sprinkler, leaches chemical fertilizers out of soil, quickly stripping it of nutritional properties. Conversely, compost binds with soil and releases its nutrients over multiple years.
- Compost “fixes” problem soils. Compost reduces compaction in heavy soil, enhances the productivity of sandy soil and increases top-soil and soil fertility in rebuilding worn-out soil. Over time, compost makes any type of soil easier to work.
- Compost holds six times its weight in water. This magical property reduces the need for irrigation during periods of drought.
But, perhaps most important to remember when planting is that using all-natural, STA-certified compost completes a 100% efficient recycling cycle!
Join St. Louis Composting in getting hands-on with a heaping helping of compost May 7-11, 2013. If you are unable to attend any of our ICAW commemorative events, participate at home! Take a stab at starting your own compost pile or stop by for some of our Black Gold Compost to incorporate into your lawn, landscape beds and/or garden. You’ll see the benefits!
To learn more, visit our website at www.stlcompost.com.