Click here for more information on class gift certificates
Click below for upcoming
class dates:
Backyard
Composting
Vermicomposting (worms!)
LEARN
MORE:
Read this New York Times article about urban composting with worms!
See
PRC discuss the backyard and vermicomposting classes in this At Home With the Environment Segment on
KDKA’s Pittsburgh Today Live.
Interested in starting your own garden and/or meeting other gardeners in the Pittsburgh area? Join the Pittsburgh Garden Experiment here.
Backyard Composting
Composting is nature’s way
of recycling. By utilizing the natural process of decomposition, organic
materials often considered “waste,” such as grass clippings, food scraps,
autumn leaves and even paper, can be recycled back into a rich soil
conditioner. Through this transition, soil organisms, many of which are too
small to see, break down the organic material in a compost pile so that
valuable plant nutrients can be released for future generations of plants to
use. Composting helps you reduce your waste stream, it improves the health of
your gardens, and most of all its easy to do and enjoyable.
Read about backyard composting in this article from
the Pittsburgh Post Gazette. It features our
very own composting educator, Lauren Seiple.
Class
Details:
This
workshop thoroughly covers the importance of
composting,
setting up a compost pile, proper maintenance and ways of using finished
compost. Participants will receive an Earth Machine
Compost Bin with attendance. This bin, approved across the
state as an ideal bin for urban and suburban areas, has an eighty-gallon
capacity.
PRC West Backyard Composting Classes
(Southwestern PA)
Sign up for a Backyard Composting Class and turn your yard waste and food scraps into a valuable resource for your garden. If you would like to receive class updates by email, please send a request to the contact information below.
For more information or to sign up for a Southwestern PA class, email Lauren Seiple by clicking her name, or call the composting hotline at: (412) 488-7490 ext. 226
BYC Cost: $40 Single/$50 Couple (Includes one compost
unit per registration)
To sign up for a backyard composting class, click the registration button below! Prepayment is not required for registration.

July 13th (Tuesday)
CCI Center (South Side, Pgh)
6:30pm - 8:15pm
August 21st (Saturday)
Castle Shannon Library
11:00am - 1:00pm
September 12th (Sunday)
Hahn Nursery (North Hills, Pgh)
3:00pm - 5:00pm
September 18th (Saturday)
Urban Gardener
(North Side, Pgh)
11:00am - 1:00pm
September 25th (Saturday)
Whole Foods Market (East Liberty)
11:00am - 1:00pm |
October 6th (Wednesday)
Regional Environmental Education Center
(Upper St. Clair)
6:30pm - 8:15pm
October 16th (Saturday)
Frick Park Environmental Center
11:00am - 1:00pm
October 23rd (Saturday)
Boyd Community Center (O’Hara Twp.)
11:0am - 1:00pm
November 10th (Wednesday)
CCI Center (South Side, Pgh)
6:30pm - 8:15pm |
For more information or to sign up for a Southwestern PA class, email Lauren Seiple by clicking her name, or call her at: (412) 488-7490 ext. 226
PRC East
Backyard Composting Classes
(held at PRC Office at 3606 Providence Road, Newtown Square unless otherwise indicated)
BYC Cost: $35 Single/$45 Couple (Includes
one compost unit per registration)
 |
September 2nd (Thursday)
6:30 pm |
| |
|
For more information or to sign up, email Diana Andrejczak by clicking her name, or call her at: (610) 353-1555 ext. 232
Worm Composting
“All the fertile areas of this
planet have at least
once passed through the bodies
of earthworms.”
-- Charles Darwin |
 |
Worm composting or vermicomposting ("Vermi" is Latin for "worm.") is an effective way to recycle both food and paper waste. According to the EPA, approximately 10% of the waste stream is food and over 38% of the waste stream is paper. These materials can be removed from the waste stream and used as resources, specifically food and bedding, for a worm bin. Not only is vermicomposting valuable in reducing volume in the waste stream, it also produces two highly marketable products: worms and castings. Red worms are sold as bait within the fishing industry and worm castings are for sale in many lawn and garden centers as an organic fertilizer.
Worm your way into composting with one of
nature’s most efficient recyclers, the earthworm! Worm composting is an easy
way to recycle organic kitchen waste and turn it into valuable and
nutrient-rich soil fertilizer.
Read
about worm composting in the news (featuring PRC’s
vermicomposting class)
Class
Details:
Learn
about the benefits of composting with worms. It’s easy, fun, odorless and
produces a great soil additive! Class participants will learn how to house,
feed, harvest and care for their own worms. Be prepared to roll-up your sleeves
and make your own worm composting bin! Each participant or couple will be
provided with a bin, instructions, and worms. You will go home with a complete,
ready to use vermiculture system!
PRC West Vermicomposting Classes
(Southwestern PA)
Vermicomposting Classes are scheduled based on public interest. Please join our mailing list so we know to schedule another class! (contact info below)
Cost: $45 Single/$55 Couple (Includes one compost unit per registration)
To sign up for a vermicomposting class, click the registration button below! Prepayment is not required for registration.

September 9th (Thursday)
Mt. Lebanon Library
7:00pm - 8:45pm
For more information or to sign up for a Southwestern PA class, email Lauren Seiple by clicking her name, or call her at: (412) 488-7490 ext. 226
PRC East Vermicomposting Classes
(held at PRC Office at 3606 Providence Road, Newtown Square unless
otherwise indicated)
Cost: (Includes one compost unit per registration)
Cost: $35 Single/$45 Couple at
PRC’s Eastern Campus in Ridley Creek State Park
For more information or to sign up, email Diana Andrejczak by clicking her name, or call her at: (610) 353-1555 ext. 232

September 20th (Monday)
6:30 pm |
| |
HOME | CONTACT US | SITE MAP | SEARCH
|