Master Composter Course – Escondido

Become a Master Composter! Join us at the beautiful Deer Park Monastery, tucked away in the hills of Escondido, to gain composting knowledge you can pass along to others.

• Minimize your carbon footprint. Keeping food and yard waste out of the landfill reduces harmful methane gas emissions.
• Use food and yard “waste” to create amendments for your soil. Compost use reduces the need for synthetic fertilizers and pesticides. 
• Reduce water use and increase water retention at your garden, ranch, or farm. Compost increases your soil’s water-holding capacity and improves water retention. 

The Master Composter course provides training in the art and science of composting through lectures, demonstrations, and a field trip.

The course covers the following topics:
• Traditional composting & vermicomposting
• Compost bin building and troubleshooting (in teams!)
• Microbiology of composting
• Bokashi fermentation
• Macrodecomposers in your compost pile
• A tour of Deer Park Monastery’s composting system
• Environmental impacts

Master Composter certification requires attendance at all 5 classes, as well as 30 volunteer hours of related community service. Meet new people in this fun, hands-on course and develop your composting knowledge, all while serving your community! Class size is limited. Residents of unincorporated County of San Diego will receive preferential registration. All others will be placed on a waitlist and apprised of space available 1-2 weeks before the start of the course.

Before registering, please enter your address here to check your residency. You can select the County of San Diego Residents ticket option ONLY if your jurisdiction boundary result is “S.D. COUNTY.” All others must select the waitlist option. If this course fee presents a financial hardship, it may be waived upon request. Please contact Erin Stone at erin@solanacenter.org before registering to inquire.

This course has been made possible through generous funding from the County of San Diego and County of San Diego Recycling. Thanks to our site host, Deer Park Monastery.

Saturdays, February 24 through March 23 from 9:30 a.m. - 12:30 p.m.