On-Farm Composting Virtual “Compost Tea Talk” August 5th!

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On-Farm Food Scrap Composting and Solid Waste Regulations

You are invited to participate in the "Compost Tea Talks" series - online trainings and discussions to support community-oriented on-farm food scrap composting.

This month we will be discussing the relevant Solid Waste Management rules with guests:

• Ben Gauthier from VT Department of Environmental Conservation, and

• Mike Nork and Paige Wilson form NH Department of Environmental Services

Do you know how Solid Waste Rules apply to on-farm food scrap composting in Vermont and New Hampshire? This will be an informal Q&A session, so be sure to bring your questions!

When: Friday August 5th from noon-1pm

Where: Register for this free event to get the Zoom link

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Funded by a USDA Rural Utility Services Solid Waste Management Grant, the purpose of this project is to reduce solid waste, avoid water pollution, and increase soil health by providing technical support and training for community-oriented food scrap composting and manure management on farms in rural and small communities in Vermont and New Hampshire.

While developed and extended to farmers in these two states, these Compost Tea Talks are open to all and are applicable to rural small-scale farming communities. Recordings of the Compost Tea Talks will be posted on CompostingVermont.org

On-Farm Composting Virtual “Compost Tea Talk”

Press Release

June 6 2022

On-Farm Composting Virtual “Compost Tea Talk”

The Composting Association of Vermont (CAV) is hosting its first in a series of “Compost Tea Talks” on Friday June 10th from noon-1pm. These free virtual events are being offered through CAV’s project—On-Farm Community-Scale Food Scrap and Agricultural Organic Waste Management in Vermont and New Hampshire. The Compost Tea Talks will be an opportunity for farmers and farm advisors to share information about on-farm food scraps composting and hear from experts on a range of topics.

Funded by a USDA Rural Utility Services Solid Waste Management Grant Program, CAV’s project offers participating farms and communities a cost-effective solution for diverting food and organic waste to composting and improving manure management, resulting in significant benefits including: 1) solid waste diversion; 2) the use of compost for farming, 3) exploring the use of compost for meeting erosion control applications; 4) helping to create a more “waste-aware” mindset through local management, diversion, and composting of food scraps and other organic materials; 5) increasing adoption of creative food recovery to benefit communities and build resiliency; 6) diversifying farm income streams for increased farm viability.

The project involves four small, diversified farms from Vermont and four from New Hampshire; all are located in towns under 6,000 in population. Project components include a multimedia ‘toolkit’ for both farmers and community members about how to establish and sustain community-based composting sites on farms; vIrtual and onsite, hands-on technical assistance and support for the management of food scrap and agricultural organic waste through community-oriented composting sites on farms; and, remote, local and regional trainings covering all aspects of community food scrap and agricultural organic waste composting.

Registration is required for the free June 10th event. The topic will be Troubleshooting On-Farm Food Scrap Composting.

More information about the project, as well as links to project resources and a recording of an On-Farm Community-Oriented Composting Models and Systems Webinar training are available on the CAV website. The virtual Compost Tea Talks will be held approximately every 4-6 weeks.

Food Cycle Coalition Meeting + discussion about Microplastics, Depack, and Composting in Vermont

Wednesday, December 15th from 2-4:30pm

This FREE meeting will be held in two parts:

1. 2-3pm: Updates on recent Food Cycle Coalition work and developing the 2022 work plan

2. 3-4:30pm: A special session on "Microplastics, Depack, and Composting in Vermont" with UVM's Dr. Eric Roy and graduate students, Kate Porterfield and Sarah Hobson

You are welcome to attend one or both parts of this meeting!

Learn more and register for this free event.

March 23rd: Soil Builders Webinar - Compost-Based Best Management Practices

Learn about Best Management Practices for compost and compost-based products

• Live webinar via Zoom

• Tuesday March 23rd

• 10am-Noon

This webinar is free, but requires registration.

Join the Composting Association of Vermont with speakers Chuck Duprey (Naturcycle) and Brian Jerose (Agrilab Technologies Inc.) to learn about best management practices for using compost in landscaping and athletic fields, direct erosion control in construction or roadside projects, low nutrient applications, and agriculture.

This is the second in a series of interactive Soil Builders Workshops where you can:

1. Gain a deeper understanding of the connections between soil health & water quality

2. Increase your technical know-how about compost, including specific compost Best Management Practices for a wide range of interventions.

3. Learn how to support change of practice for road construction, development projects, stormwater control & site remediation.

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Organized by the Composting Association of Vermont, the Soil Builders Project is funded by the New England Interstate Water Pollution Control Commission, in partnership with the Lake Champlain Basin Program.

February 25th: Soil Builders Webinar - Soil Health & Water Quality

Learn about the connections between soil health & water quality, and get an overview of compost-based Best Management Practices.

• Live webinar via Zoom

• Thursday February 25th

• 10am-11:30am

This webinar is free, but requires registration.

Join the Composting Association of Vermont with speakers  Marc Companion (Lake Champlain Sea Grant) and Athena Lee Bradley (independent compost consultant) to learn about the connections between soil health and water quality, and to get an overview of compost-based best management practices.

This is the first in a series of interactive Soil Builders Workshops where you can:

1. Gain a deeper understanding of the connections between soil health & water quality

2. Increase your technical know-how about compost, including specific compost Best Management Practices for a wide range of interventions.

3. Learn how to support change of practice for road construction, development projects, stormwater control & site remediation.

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Organized by the Composting Association of Vermont, the Soil Builders Project is funded by the New England Interstate Water Pollution Control Commission, in partnership with the Lake Champlain Basin Program.

Save the Date! Tuesday, April 7, 2020*

14th Annual Vermont Organics Recycling Summit

“2020 and Beyond”

At VTC in Randolph, VT

The Vermont Organics Recycling Summit (VORS) has helped advance organics and food scrap diversion in Vermont forward for over a decade. VORS provides a statewide forum to think boldly, learn, and network about transforming food waste and other organic materials into valuable products.

We have reached 2020, and the ban on landfilling organics that Vermonters have been gearing up for comes into effect this July! To help promote “2020 and Beyond”, this year’s Summit will include sessions on the use of compost products for storm water management, organics hauling, research, and outreach models to help communities and residents meet the State’s organics diversion, food rescue, and food scrap recycling goals.

The one-day Summit at Vermont Technical College in Randolph features a morning plenary with a State of the State by Josh Kelly, ANR/DEC’s Materials Management Section Chief, and a Keynote (to be announced shortly), followed by four concurrent morning and afternoon workshops.

Continental breakfast, lunch and afternoon ice cream social are included in the registration fee.

Registration Opens February 18th

Sponsor and Exhibitor information online or by contacting Natasha@CompsotingVermont.org

VORS is hosted by the Composting Association of Vermont and the Vermont Agency of Natural Resources, Department of Environmental Conservation.

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The Composting Association of Vermont (CAV) is a nonprofit organization. It promotes organics recycling that protects and benefits the environment. The Vermont Agency of Natural Resources, Department of Environmental Conservation (ANR/DEC) is dedicated to protecting and improving the health of Vermont’s people and ecosystems and promoting the sustainable use of Vermont’s natural resources.

*Please note the day has switched from the first Thursday in April, to the first Tuesday (April 7) for this year.

Vermont Compost Operator Certification Training

Hosted by Compost Technical Services

• November 1, 2019

• Registration 7:30-8:00

• Workshop 8:00-4:30

• Cost $30

Through this workshop, participants will receive a Compost Operator Certificate, which meets the requirements of ANR for small, medium and large compost facility site operators. Current or future compost site operators will be certified to manage composting facilities handling food scraps or animal mortalities in Vermont.

This webinar, followed by a daylong workshop is focused on operator competency in compost management and regulatory compliance, and includes a dynamic combination of lectures, demonstrations, and hands-on exercises.

Vermont residents and site operators working in the state have priority registration. Out of state attendees may register for any open spots on October 25th.

Topics Covered Include:

• Principles of Composting

• Compost Recipe Development

• Materials & Blending

• Windrow Construction

• Pile Monitoring & Management

• Windrow Aeration

• Aerated Static Pile Composting

• Storm Water & Leachate Management

• Neighbor Relations

• Site & Operating Permit Requirements

Presenters:

James McSweeney – Compost Technical Services

Chris Duff – Compost Facility Operator

Dan Goossen – Green Mountain Compost

Ben Gauthier – Vermont Agency Of Natural Resources

Free Community Food Scrap Composting Training in Charlotte

The training is free and open to the public. Please register at https://forms.gle/XUm8grD7pwnsxFWPA

When: Saturday, May 11 from 10:00 am – 1:00 pm, followed by an optional tour of the CCS Community Compost shed

Where: Charlotte Library, 115 Ferry Rd, Charlotte, VT 05445

Community composting offers a local option for recycling food scraps and garden/yard materials, putting these valuable resources to good use, and keeping them out of landfills. You can help build healthy soils, right where you live!  Small compost systems can be established at homes, in neighborhoods, at community gardens, CSA’s, farms, or schools, or at other locations, such as churches, senior centers, Town Halls or libraries.  Residents will learn about collaborative composting (it can be easier than solo home composting!), and how using compost products can benefit their community.

This training is designed to help people and communities determine the composting system that will best meet their goals for collecting and composting food scraps. Participants will gain the knowledge to: choose the best system for their site; manage composting basics; safely collect food scraps; accumulate and store carbon sources; communicate “work flow” with family or fellow composters; and more.

Training Overview:

• The “what” and “why” of community composting

• Community-driven goals

• Compost system options, siting, set up, winter preparation

• Composting basics: inputs & outputs, system management

• Gathering needed materials: sourcing, quality, community engagement & training

• Discussion and Q&A

• Hands-on exercises

For more information, contact: Natasha Duarte, natasha@compostingvermont.org or 802-373-6499

Refreshments will be provided; please bring a brown bag lunch, water bottle, and drink mug.

Sponsored by Northeast Recycling Council, Composting Association of Vermont, Town of Charlotte, Charlotte Library,Champlain Valley Cohousing; with funding from a U.S. Department of Agriculture grant.

Webinars: Phosphorus Movement and Compost Use in Stormwater Management

In February2019, the Vermont Department of Environmental Conservation, the Composting Association of Vermont, and the Lake Champlain Sea Grant Institute, hosted 2 webinars discussing phosphorus movement in soil and water, and uses for compost as a soil amendment and in erosion control and stormwater management.

The recordings of the two webinars are below. For more information, please contact Natasha.

Phosphorus in Soil and Water: Important Concepts and Emerging Questions

Presenter: Dr. Eric Roy, University of Vermont (2/12/2019)

Update your understanding of how phosphorus interacts with soil, water, and the various best management practices being employed today. We begin with a look at the chemistry of phosphorus and how it changes based on surrounding physical and biological conditions. For example, what’s the difference between total, dissolved and particulate phosphorus, and why does this matter? How do soil characteristics affect the storage, leaching and movement of this nutrient in the watershed? What about compost and the role of healthy soil?

We then explore broader topics like a region’s phosphorus budget over the long term. How can we better store imported phosphorus, and what questions do we have about the long-term effectiveness of various strategies we rely upon? What are the prospects for exporting phosphorus?

The Science of Compost and Innovative Uses for Soil Amendment, Erosion Control and Stormwater Management

Presenters: Geoff Kuter, Agresource, Inc. and Britt Faucette, Filtrexx, Inc. (2/26/2019)

Broaden your understanding about compost and better ways it can be used to improve water quality and soil health.  We review the science of compost and the soil it amends, including how it impacts nutrients like phosphorus.  We then explore effective strategies and techniques for using compost in a variety of applications, such as to prevent erosion, contribute to site stabilization, remediate compacted soils, establish vegetation, and manage stormwater within various GSI installations. Particular attention is paid to minimizing the risk of leaching phosphorus back into the water.

This webinar also discuss larger concepts as related to compost, such as the pros and cons of meeting Vermont’s goals for diverting organics from landfills and how this relates to limiting phosphorus loads within a watershed.

Due to some technical difficulties during the second webinar, we ran out of time during Britt’s presentation. For those interested, here is a pdf of his full slide deck.

The Soil Series: Grassroots for the Climate Emergency

Where: Bethany Church, Randolph
When: Wednesdays 6:30 PM – 8:30 PM

A collaboration between Building A Local Economy (BALE) and Vermont Healthy Soils Coalition (VHSC)

Calling all land managers, farmers, gardeners, seed savers, citizen scientists, conservationists, town planners,  educators, healers, and advocates! Join us for a series of critical conversations about soil health and how we can become response-able to meet the climate emergency we face with confidence.

There will be great food provided before and, following powerful panel dialogues guided by VHSC members, audience discussion on topics of food, soil, water, health, climate and hope. Together, we can explore what is possible in rehabilitating Vermont’s soil health to hold our landscapes and communities together.

Suggested donation $5 (donations not necessary).

Each program features a social half-hour with great food provided by Black Krim Tavern, Randolph

Schedule of events:

• February 27: Ground to Body: Soil Health & Human Health
  Speakers: Didi Pershouse, Grace Gershuny, Michael Denmeade

• March 13 Shielding Soil with Plants and Animals
  Speakers: Tatiana Schreiber, Graham Unangst-Rufenacht

• March 20 Storytelling Panel
  Speakers: Katherine Oaks, Maddie Kempner, Sha’an Mouliert, Cheryl Herrick

• March 27 Building the Soil From the Ground Up
  Speakers: Juan Alvez, Jessica Ruben, Cat Buxton

• April 10 Social Mycelium: the Fiber of Community Resilience
  Speakers: Mindy Blank, Simon Dennis, Chris Wood, Henry Harris

• April 24 A Soil Sponge to Cool the Planet
  Speakers: Judith Schwartz, Jan Lambert, Henry Swayze

For details on individual events, visit www.vermonthealthysoilscoalition.org