An example of a backyard compost pile!

Each year, we send about 130,000 tons of garbage from Ulster County to the Seneca Meadows landfill, 235 miles away. About 40% of that trash is organic waste – food scraps and yard waste! We can reduce the amount of methane-producing waste going into the landfill and the number of trucks making that round trip (and their emissions) by simply composting kitchen scraps and yard waste at home in backyard bins easily made from upcycled or new materials. Finished compost adds beneficial nutrients and organic matter back to your soil and increases moisture retention. A win-win, no matter how you look at it!

Learn the simple steps to successful backyard composting with Cheryl Alloway, a long-time Ulster County Master Gardener volunteer and the owner of Alloway Garden Design. She specializes in garden coaching and designing pollinator-friendly, native gardens with a nod to xeric, deer-resistant plantings. In between garden assignments, she volunteers for the Wallkill Valley Pollinator Pathway and can often be found tending the gardens and compost bins at the Reformed Church of New Paltz Community Gardens.

Rain date June 5.