Interested in starting your own garden and/or meeting other gardeners in the Pittsburgh area? Join the Pittsburgh Garden Experiment here.

Composting is nature’s way of recycling. By utilizing the natural process of decomposition, organic materials often considered “waste,” such as grass clippings, food scraps, autumn leaves and even paper, can be recycled back into a rich soil conditioner. Through this transition, soil organisms, many of which are too small to see, break down the organic material in a compost pile so that valuable plant nutrients can be released for future generations of plants to use. Composting helps you reduce your waste stream, it improves the health of your gardens, and most of all its easy to do and enjoyable.

Read about backyard composting in this article from the Pittsburgh Post Gazette. It features our very own composting educator, Lauren Seiple.

composting, setting up a compost pile, proper maintenance and ways of using finished compost. Participants will receive an Earth Machine Compost Bin with attendance. This bin, approved across the state as an ideal bin for urban and suburban areas, has an eighty-gallon capacity.

PRC West Backyard Composting Classes

(Southwestern PA)

Summer is on its way! Sign up for a Backyard Composting Class and turn your yard waste and food scraps into a valuable resource for your garden. Also, there will be another round of classes scheduled in the fall; the best season to begin composting! If you would like to receive class updates by email, please send a request to the contact information below.

For more information or to sign up for a Southwestern PA class, email Lauren Seiple by clicking her name, or call her at: (412) 431-4449 ext. 325

Harrison Hills Park Environmental Education Center (Natrona Heights)
10:00am - 12:00pm

For more information or to sign up for a Southwestern PA class, email Lauren Seiple by clicking her name, or call her at: (412) 431-4449 ext. 325

(held at PRC Office at 3606 Providence Road, Newtown Square unless otherwise indicated)

For more information or to sign up, email Diana Andrejczak by clicking her name, or call her at: (610) 353-1555 ext. 232

Worm Composting

“All the fertile areas of this planet have at least

once passed through the bodies of earthworms.”

-- Charles Darwin

Worm composting or vermicomposting ("Vermi" is Latin for "worm.") is an effective way to recycle both food and paper waste. According to the EPA, approximately 10% of the waste stream is food and over 38% of the waste stream is paper. These materials can be removed from the waste stream and used as resources, specifically food and bedding, for a worm bin. Not only is vermicomposting valuable in reducing volume in the waste stream, it also produces two highly marketable products: worms and castings. Red worms are sold as bait within the fishing industry and worm castings are for sale in many lawn and garden centers as an organic fertilizer.

Worm your way into composting with one of nature’s most efficient recyclers, the earthworm! Worm composting is an easy way to recycle organic kitchen waste and turn it into valuable and nutrient-rich soil fertilizer.

Read about worm composting in the news (featuring PRC’s vermicomposting class)

Class Details:

Learn about the benefits of composting with worms. It’s easy, fun, odorless and produces a great soil additive! Class participants will learn how to house, feed, harvest and care for their own worms. Be prepared to roll-up your sleeves and make your own worm composting bin! Each participant or couple will be provided with a bin, instructions, and worms. You will go home with a complete, ready to use vermiculture system!

PRC West Backyard Vermicomposting Classes

(Southwestern PA)

Vermicomposting Classes are scheduled based on public interest. Please join our mailing list so we know to schedule another class! (contact info below)
Cost: $45 Single/$55 Couple (Includes one compost unit per registration)

September 10th (Thursday)
7:00pm - 8:30pm

October 20th (Tuesday)
6:00pm - 7:30pm

November 17th (Tuesday)
6:00pm - 7:30pm

For more information or to sign up for a Southwestern PA class, email Lauren Seiple by clicking her name, or call her at: (412) 431-4449 ext. 325

PRC East Vermicomposting Composting Classes
(held at PRC Office at 3606 Providence Road, Newtown Square unless otherwise indicated)

Cost: (Includes one compost unit per registration)
$30 per person at PRC’s Eastern Campus in Ridley Creek State Park

For more information or to sign up for an Eastern PA class, email Diana Andrejczak by clicking her name, or call her at: (610) 353-1555 ext. 232

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