2025-10-25 Composting at Home 101 on Zoom

Composting at Home 101 Zoom lecture on Saturday, 10-25-2025 @ 2pm

1. COMPOSTING
101
Ellen Book,
UF/IFAS Extension
Miami-Dade County
Master Gardener
Link to slide presentation:
TINYURL.com/SoilPower
Welcome!
We’ll begin at 2pm

3. FREE: 25 pages per person per day
Color or B&W
https://mdpls.org/mobile-printing

8. Plastic to Purpose- Learn How to Make
Plarn to Earn Community Service Hours
Saturday@ 2-5pm

11. 1
3

12. 1
4

13. 1
5

14. WELCOME

15. Upcoming
A Good Book Book Club Titles
November 6, 2025 December 4, 2025

16. Ebooks, Eaudiobooks, Emagazines

17. Movies, TV shows,
Music albums, comic
books, ebooks &
eaudiobooks!

18. Health Emergency Life Protection (HELP) Training
by Miami-Dade Fire Rescue
THURS., DEC. 2025 5:30PM – 7:30PM

19. Wed., October 22, 2025
Pinecrest Library 10am-2pm

20. Composting at Home 101
repeats
Saturday, Dec 20, 2025
2:00pm - 3:30pm
On Zoom
Voucher
giveaway
post-lecture

21. Saturday October 11, 2025 @ 2-4pm

22. SEED SWAPALOOZA
Saturdays, November 15 & December 6, 2025
2pm-4pm

23. PARTICPANTS RECEIVE FREE NARCAN
Thursday, Oct., 30, 2025,6:00pm - 7:30pm
SAVE A LIFE
RECOGNIZE A FENTANYL OVERDOSE

25. Saturday December 13, 2025 @ 2pm
The Miami Pioneers & Natives of Dade
Historical Society

26. MONDAY , NOVEMBER 24, 2025 @ 2:00PM
HOW TO BAKE PUMPKIN CHALLAH IN AN AIR FRYER

27. COMPOSTING
101
Ellen Book,
UF/IFAS Extension
Miami-Dade County
Master Gardener
Link to slide presentation:
TINYURL.com/SoilPower
Welcome!
We’ll begin at 2pm

28. AGENDA
SLIDES 33-43 What is IFAS?
SLIDES 44-45 ZONE 10-B
SLIDES 46-50 IFAS PUBLICATIONS
SLIDES 55-62 COMPOSTERS
SLIDES 63-69, 72-76 WHAT TO FEED
AND NOT TO FEED A COMPOSTER
SLIDES 70-71 CHEMISTRY
SLIDES 77-85 ORGANISMS
SLIDES 86-92, 104 TEMPERATURE
SLIDES 92-101 COMPOST BREAKDOWN

29. AGENDA
SLIDES 102-103 TESTING
SLIDE 105 VIDEO
SLIDES 107-109 PESTS
SLIDES 110-114 WORMS
SLIDES 115-119 COMMUNITY DROP OFF
SLIDES 121-122 FARMS
SLIDES 123-125 LANDFILLS
SLIDES 126-130 SURVEY / VOUCHER

36. Institute of Food and
Agricultural Sciences - IFAS
https://sfyl.ifas.ufl.edu/miami-dade/

40. 2023 USDA Plant Hardiness Zone

41. Everyday Information Source

42. https://tinyurl.com/MiamiVeggies

46. Was NOT me
http: //lostinsuburbia blog . files. wordpress. com/2013/10/ma rtha 103994pr_027_4. jpg

47. Kitchen food scraps. Photo: Tia Silvasy, UF/IFAS

48. Too much
too wet
too long…
Anaerobic bacteria
kills worms
UF/IFAS

50. A Tumbler Bin Composter
UF/IFAS

55. Adjustable size allows
you to set it up
“skinny” for low
capacity or make it
large enough to hold
246 gallons of
materials.

36.5″ in height

Adjustable size allows
you to set it up
“skinny” for low
capacity or make it
large enough to hold
246 gallons of
materials.
36.5″ in height

56. HOW TO SET UP A GEOBIN

58. Sheet Composting Top-dressing on
the soil surface like a garden
lasagna right onto a future
growing space.
Trench Composting - composting
directly in the soil
Cold Bin Composting Fill your
compost bin halfway with browns
and bury kitchen scraps
Bokashi Bucket anaerobic
bacteria (grass-like inoculated
bran, rice, dried leaves sprinkled
over scraps). 10 days to ferment &
“pickle” waste, forming an acidic
organic matter that must be dug
into the soil or added to a
compost pile.
TYPES OF COMPOSTING

60. .

61. .

64. .

65. .

66. GREENs = nitroGenBROWNs = carBon
NitroGen = ProteinCarBon = Energy
From: https://small-farm-permaculture-and-
sustainable-living.com/how-build-compost-pile/

67. THE RECIPE

70. Citrus
green/nitrogen
cut in half or quarter before composting
mix with browns &
add a 6-inch layer of browns on top

71. Can I compost this?
Material Can ICompost? Comment
Banana skins Yes
Bird cage "waste" Yes
Bone meal Yes
Bread Yes
Cereal Yes
Citrus(e.g., oranges, grapefruit,
lemons, tangerines)
Yes
Green/nitrogen - must cut in
half or quarter before
composting; mix with browns &
add 6-inch layer of browns on
top
Coffee grounds(with paper
filter)
Yes Green/nitrogen
Corn cobs Yes
Cornmeal Yes
Cottonseed meal Yes
Crop waste Yes
Egg shells Yes Adds calcium

72. http: //www. riv erpa rk fa rm. com/Riv erpa rk F a rm/Blog I ma g es/8_6_13%20compost%20py ra mid. jpg

75. Attribution to:
KidsGardening: A Kids’ Guide to Messing Around in the Dirt by Kevin Raftery

79. Photo www.bobvila.com

80. From : https://www.emnz.com/article/microbial-imbalances-in-the-soil

81. “The secret world beneath our feet is mind-blowing – and
the key to our planet’s future : Don’t dismiss soil: its
unknowable wonders could ensure the survival of our species”
byGeorge Monbiot in The Guardian, 5/7/2022
I

87. AS PILE TEMPERATURES  & 
TIME IS NEEDED FOR VARIOUS
MICROORGANISMS TO COLONIZE

88. Left: (1 year old) Last year’s material all garden stuff, grass &
leaves, kitchen: banana peels veg. trimmings from the pile’s top.
Middle: (2 years old) bottom of this year’s pile put into bags
Right: (3 years old) Finished product from the bags to be used in
the garden & greenhouse this year
GUESS WHERE THIS
COMPOST WAS MADE?

89. STUBBORN GARDEN WASTE
Photo from the LA Times

91. http: //recla img rowsusta in. com/sites/defa ult/files/CO M PO S T%20PI LES _0. jpg

92. Attribution to:
KidsGardening: A Kids’ Guide to Messing Around in the Dirt by Kevin Raftery

93. Aeration
keeps
microbes
alive.
Anerobic
microbes
STINK!

94. Compost
Crank Aerator

99. Compost maturity test with radishes

102. HEALTHY VEGGIES AND PLANTS
START WITH HEALTHY SOIL!
UF/IFAS Leon County Extension

103. Five “Pests” in a Compost Pile
Ants, spiders & centipedes: compost is too dry
Slugs & flies: compost is too wet

106. NOW LET’S TALK ABOUT…
I ma g e result for y ellow ta ils worms v ermiculture

107. Red Wigglers

108. Vermi-Composting Definitions
•Vermiculture – Work farming process of
culturing worms to decompose organic
food waste, turning it into nutrient rich
material
•Casting – Worm waste, digested food
•Omnivores – Animals that eat plants and
animals
•Hermaphrodites – Animals with male and
female sex organs.
http://clipart-library.com/

109. Contains
•5Xs the available nitrogen
•7Xs the available potash
•50% more calcium
than 6” of good topsoil
•Water soluble nutrient immediately
available for plant intake.
Will not burn root system
unlike fresh raw manures
Red Wigglers
UF/IFAS

112. 7701 SW 76 Ave, Miami, FL 33143

113. KITCHEN SCRAP COLLECTION
FOR FERTILE EARTH WORM FARM

114. Pinecrest Farmer’s Market
Sundays from 8am – 2pm

119. LANDFILL SITES

120. Photo: Miamidade.gov
Photo: Bizjournal.com 5/3/19

122. In a few months a
will be emailed to you

123. Fill out the questions & click the orange button
Fill out the evaluation to access the Composter voucher

124. Fill out the questions & click the orange button
Fill out the evaluation to access the Composter voucher

125. IS DISPLAYED AT THE END OF THE 10/25/2025 LECTURE
The weblink to the evaluation & voucher
This evaluation will be
accessible until Monday
at 8:00AM
GeoBin pickup starts
Wednesday, 10/29/2025

126. Evaluation
& Voucher
The Miami-Dade voucher
will be accepted for three
months while supplies last
The link to the evaluation
that leads to the voucher
will be up until
this Monday at 8:00am.
Vasquez,Laura A
[email protected]
Urban Horticulture Agent and
Master Gardener Coordinator
Link to slide presentation:
TINYURL.com/SoilPower