Burlington—Want to start a compost pile, but not sure how to start?
Consider signing up for the online Vermont Master Composter course, which starts on September 1. The course will run for eight weeks with all course materials available to participants until November 16.
You will learn the basics of backyard composting, including site and bin selection, “recipes” to make healthy compost and tips for keeping rodents, bears and other animals out of your compost. The course also will cover the biology of composting, the decomposition process and Vermont's Universal Recycling Law (Act 148).
The registration fee is $50 for Vermonters and $150 for out-of-state residents and includes all materials. You can register at https://go.uvm.edu/mastercomposter. The deadline is August 31.
You have a choice of two tracks. The at-your-pace track allows you to view the modules at your own convenience. If you want to become a certified Vermont Master Composter to teach people in your community how to become better composters, then sign up for the volunteer track.
This track includes live discussion sessions with instructors offered through Zoom on Thursdays from 6-7:30 p.m., beginning September 7. You also will have the opportunity to attend in-person workshops to see community composting in action.
To become a Vermont Master Composter volunteer, you must commit to a minimum of 10 hours, providing education and service around small-scale composting. To fulfill these volunteer hours, you may give presentations at local libraries, schools and other nonprofits or work with school and community composting projects around the state.
If you live out of state or are not interested in the volunteer component, you may take the online course at your leisure and earn a Backyard Composter Certificate of Completion.
The course is sponsored by the University of Vermont Extension Community Horticulture Program with financial support from the Vermont Agency of Natural Resources.
For more information or to request a disability-related accommodation to participate, contact Deb Heleba at debra.heleba@uvm.edu or (802) 656-1777.