Compost provides multiple benefits to garden soil, and homemade compost is one of the easiest, most sustainable ways to reap those benefits.

Master Gardener Emi Carvell will share her method of building a custom compost bin using inexpensive, reused and repurposed materials, as part of the university’s CSUN-al Gardening series on Saturday, Sept. 15, from 10 a.m. to noon. Carvell will explain the benefits of compost, how to keep a composter productive and why homemade compost is preferable to municipal-sourced compost.

The next CSUN-al Gardening session will offer information on composting. Photo courtesy of the CSUN Botanic Garden.

“Emi is an engaging speaker who will show us how to build an inexpensive, but effective, compost bin,” said Brenda Kanno, manager of the CSUN Botanic Garden, which hosts the series. “She makes the entire process look so easy that everyone will want to rush home and build their own bin after the class.”

Carvell has spent more than 2,000 hours working in the community as a master gardener, teaching a variety of classes on vegetable and organic gardening, succulent container gardening and vermicomposting (composting using worms), as well as motivational programs. Master Gardeners are volunteers from the community who are trained by University of California Cooperative Extension specialists and other qualified instructors. The Master Gardeners use research-based information to promote environmentally responsible and sustainable horticultural practices in the home, community and school landscapes.

Registration is required to attend this free class. To register, send an email to botanicgarden@csun.edu, and include a first and last name as well as the number of class spaces you are requesting. Driving and parking instructions and the class meeting location will be sent with the confirmation of registration.

CSUN’s Botanic Garden is operated by the university’s Department of Biology, and serves as a field site for botany, entomology, photography, painting and other classes. In addition to geographically themed plantings and a butterfly garden, the garden also features greenhouses where noteworthy botanical specimens are grown. The garden is open to the community.  Visit the Botanic Garden website www.csun.edu/botanicgarden/for more information.

College of Science and Mathematics, composting, CSUN-al Gardening, Department of Biology