FREE Home Composting & Urban Gardening Workshops - Gaffey Nature Center

The first half of each workshop will teach you how to turn kitchen scraps and yard trimmings into a nutrient-rich soil amendment. Home composting is taught by a team of ten rotating LA Sanitation & Environment green waste specialists. The second half of the workshop will focus on the monthly urban gardening topics as noted below. Our friends from the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power will be there to offer water conservation tips and rebate information.

Monthly Urban Gardening Topics:

• June - cactus and succulents
• July - citrus and avocado
• August - water saving practices/dealing with drought
• September - pollinators, herbs, and drought-tolerant CA friendly plants
• October - healthy soils and fall harvest
• November - winter vegetables
• December - winter gardening do's and don'ts
• January - fruit tree pruning and planting bare root
• February - healthy soils, compost, and worm farming
• March - spring fruits and vegetables

Compost bins ($20), Wing Digger aeration tools ($8), and worm bins ($20) are available to City of Los Angeles residents for purchase at these discounted rates, while supplies last. All locations accept checks and Griffith Park also accepts credit cards. All sales are final. Proof of City of Los Angeles residency is required such as a recent utility bill or a valid state-issued ID with your current home address.

Free mulch and compost are available for residential use. At Griffith Park and Lopez Canyon, we offer free compost and mulch in bulk; please bring your own shovel and container to take as much as you need for your residential gardening project. At South LA Wetlands and Gaffey Nature Center, bagged mulch and compost are available free in limited quantities.

Parking on the residential street is at your own risk. Please do not block any driveways as there is a possibility that the vehicle will be towed.

Please note that events may be cancelled in the event of inclement weather; if the workshop is cancelled we will notify you via email. We will also post cancellations to Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.

Due to pandemic precautions and the need for social distancing, attendance is limited. Registration is a requirement and unfortunately walk ins will not be permitted to enter. All registered City of Los Angeles residents who attend the workshop will be entered into a drawing to win a FREE rain barrel! Please note that if your household has received a rain barrel from the City of Los Angeles in the past 12 months, you are not eligible for the drawing.

Visit our website or call our friendly 24-hour Customer Care Center at 1-800-773-2489 if you have any questions.

We look forward to meeting you!

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Steve List is a landscaper and teaches agriculture at Sylmar High School. He has been cultivating high school horticulturists at LAUSD and Sylmar Charter High School for the past 25 years. Since taking over the school’s 2-acre Agriculture Center, he and hundreds of students have launched a green revolution of flowers, fruits and vegetables across the northeast San Fernando Valley, many parts of Los Angeles and Southern California. At the same time, he has taught his students urban agriculture, nutrition, edible landscaping, and values. He and his students have designed, built and given away over five hundred raised-bed gardens for families without easy access fresh fruits and vegetables. To date, Steve and his horticulture students have secured homes for an estimated 100,000 trees, plants, and seedlings, ensuring that thousands of Angelenos benefit from healthy, fresh produce.

Scott Henley was a sales manager at Ag Natural farm supply where he educated the public on farming in the Urban Gardens. Before becoming a teacher, he directed Whisper Farms Inc. Scott now teaches Horticulture at John C. Fremont High School in South Los Angeles. His passion is helping to educate the community with urban gardens and healthy eating.

Pacoima Beautiful is a grassroots environmental justice organization that provides education, impacts local policy, and supports local arts and culture in order to promote a healthy and sustainable San Fernando Valley. The organization was founded in 1996 by 5 relentless mothers who became distraught by the unpleasant sight of trash and toxic smells they endured while walking their young children to school. They knew that the only way to create a safer and cleaner community for their children and neighbors was through collective action, and so like good neighbors they joined forces to bring Pacoima some of its first major community clean-ups and tree planting events. The beautification projects of the founding mothers set the grassroots foundation that their historically women led organization has stood by for the past 22 years.

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As a covered entity under Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act, the City of Los Angeles does not discriminate on the basis of disability and, upon request, will provide reasonable accommodation to ensure equal access to its programs, services and activities. Registration for this event will automatically register you for our mailing list. You may adjust your preferences or opt out at any time.Notice to Paid Representatives:If you are compensated to monitor, attend, or speak at this event, City law may require you to register as a lobbyist and report your activity. See Los Angeles Municipal Code §§ 48.01 et seq. More information is available at ethics.lacity.org/lobbying. For assistance, please contact the Ethics Commission at (213) 978-1960 or [email protected].

Host or Publisher Los Angeles Sanitation & Environment