Use Food Scraps Saturday’s education and entrepreneur support day is coming together wonderfully. Here is a list of the classes and offerings during the day. Thanks to everyone who is making this possible!
Title: Compost Demystified
Instructor: Leif Olson
10 am – 12 pm
Creating rich fertile soil is one of the most important activities we can do as people, and compost production is one of the best ways to do this. However, not all compost is created equal and people following textbook prescriptions often fall short of making top quality compost.
The good news is, with a basic understanding of the art of building a compost pile and the science of what’s going on inside the pile, anyone can create top-notch compost in their backyard that will surpass the quality of anything that can be purchased at a gardening store. Not to mention the added bonus of diverting waste streams like food scraps, coffee grounds, and cardboard from burdening our landfills and recycling facilities.
In this workshop we will go through lectures and hands-on activities to learn about the microorganisms that make compost so important, how to build, monitor and tend to compost piles to maximize their nutrition and fertility and then perform hands-on diagnostics of real compost and soil to see, feel, and smell what the process of soil generation could and should be like. By the end of it, participants will be versed in the mysteries of compost and ready to make skillfully designed and artfully crafted composting systems.
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10 am – Noon
Fermenting
Instructor: Noel Thurner
We will start off by fermenting a medley kitchen-sink kraut, ensuring folks understand fermentation and using ‘good’ vegs. Then use the scraps from that for several gut shots ‘flavors’ then go for a palatable scraps relish and then make FUR-ments with anything left over. A FUR-ment is a probiotic supplement for one’s dog or cat. They have a gut biome, too!
10 am – 11 am Making your own soil through Lasagna gardening – Susan Sunflower
10 am – 11:30
Biochar Basics by John Wiseman
Noon – 1 pm
Live Music with Mark and Sally Wingate and Friends.
Community zero-waste potluck. Bring a dish to share and a non-disposable place setting and beverage.
Noon – 2 pm: Community Art Project. Help us create a community art piece!
1 pm Community Conversation on solutions for diverting food from the landfill
2 pm – 3:30 pm
Instructors: Willow Walker
Collecting Food Scraps for Composting? Tips and best practices for home, event, and venue collection.
Mushrooms – Nature Decomposers
Instructor: Greg Carter of Deep Woods Mushrooms
Booths
Kenn Webb – Transylvania County Solid Waste Director will have a booth.
Jan Foster of Waste Reduction Partners (WRP) will have a booth
WRP provides client-focused, technical assistance to help North Carolina businesses and institutions with energy efficiency, water conservation, and solid waste reduction. Based out of the Land of Sky Regional Council in Asheville, WRP recruits retired engineers and scientists all across NC to provide no-cost, non-regulatory assistance. WRP considers opportunities to divert organics from the waste stream in every solid waste reduction assessment we conduct. We have helped K-12 schools, universities, local governments, manufacturers, restaurants, event centers, equestrian centers, country clubs, trout farms, and commercial composting operations, with strategies to reduce food waste, transition to biodegradables, enhance composting efficiency, or otherwise keep organics out of the landfill.
3 pm – 4 pm
Expert Panel Discussion
Ask your questions.
4 – 5 pm
Entrepreneur support lab
Gutter garden raffle – This has been canceled.
