Composting and Your Local Master Gardening Program

Honestly, my husband is the master gardener of our household. Long before I could see the benefits of composting and the use of compost, my husband was making it happen. He was diligent in composting our yard waste for years. He would make leaf tea before you really heard about that. We even had water collection barrels in the garden that I added fish to in the spring to control mosquitoes and for watering plants. I did this with him because he was so passionate about it but my heart was not really in it. We did have a beautiful garden, lawn and trees. If something was unhealthy, he would dispose of this and would not add it to the pile. That meant no rotten vegetables or leaves with mold on it. As we moved around to different states each area presented us with new problems in the garden. Then we moved to Schuylkill County. The clay soil was so bad. I could hardly get a shovel into the ground. Our lawn was full of weeds and bare spots. A garden was not happening anytime soon. Then we received a letter in the mail inviting us to a composting class given by the local Master Gardening Cooperative Extension. I thought to myself what a waste of time. After all, I lived with the Master Composting King! What could he learn and more importantly, what could I learn? Well, I leaned a lot. A lot about the area, how to amend the soil using composting and honestly, my heart was in it this time. I just needed to hear everything from a fresh prospective. Your local Master Gardening Program is worth a look. They deal with environmental issues, wildlife challenges, gardening and of course composting. Every event I attend I learn something new. They work with reclamation projects with other agencies like Waste Management. It is true dedication on the part of your Master Gardeners. Did I mention they volunteer to educate us all? Most of this is volunteer work for them. If you are not yet a member or have not attended a meeting or class, do this for yourself. You will not regret it. This is a great way to socialize with others who have the same love of gardening you have and you might even learn something from it. If you need help finding out information about a local gardening program in your area, let me know. I would be more than happy to look into that for you.