A hands-on composting workshop drew a crowd of 30 residents to Stanford Town Hall on Tuesday, April 29, when county officials and experts offered practical tips for turning household food waste into “black gold.”
Hosted by the Dutchess County Division of Solid Waste Management in partnership with the Cornell Cooperative Extension, the event marked the first in a three-part educational series taking place across the county this spring. The workshop covered composting fundamentals — from building a pile and balancing green and brown materials to avoiding common pitfalls like odor and pests.
“You don’t need to spend a cent to get started,” said presenter and master gardener Serena Starzyk. “But what you get in return is black gold — nutrient-rich compost that your garden will love.”
Attendees received printed guides, countertop collection pails, and demonstrations of various composting systems. The evening also included troubleshooting tips, a breakdown of different bin options, and resources for continued learning.
While the workshop was organized at the county level, it dovetailed with a pilot program in Stanford designed to encourage backyard composting. That initiative — led by the town’s Conservation Advisory Committee and Climate Smart Task Force — offers free backyard bins to residents who commit to participating in educational events.
“We originally looked into creating a centralized composting system at the transfer station,” said Dennis Wedlick, secretary of the Climate Smart Task Force. “But the costs were high, and the logistics complicated. So we sent out a survey to 750 residents, and 75 responded — almost all of them said they’d prefer to compost at home.”
With those results in hand, the town used a $2,500 Green Pastures Fund grant to purchase 40 backyard compost bins. Half were distributed on Tuesday night to homeowners who attended the workshop.
“This is a more affordable and realistic option for our rural town,” Wedlick said. “If the pilot is successful, we hope to expand it and get even more people composting in their own backyards.”
Lou Mallozi, a Pine Plains resident who attended the workshop, left with a better understanding of the composting process — and a bin to take home. “Now we know we need more brown stuff and somebody strong enough to stir it,” she said.